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Family Trainer: Outdoor Challenge (Wii) | 
 enlarge | From: Atari
Category: Video Games
List Price: £49.99
Buy New: £39.98
You Save: £10.01 (20%)
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 125
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Genre: action-games
Media: Video Game
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0
MPN: 1032903
EAN: 3296580805303
ASIN: B0019KAP9G
Release Date: September 30, 2008 (In 31 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet released
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| Customer Reviews:
Run for your life... July 28, 2008
Mrs. M. Simpson
45 out of 49 found this review helpful
Family Trainer: Outdoor Challenge (Wii)
(Review taken from NGamer magazine)
Twenty-two years ago, Bandai released the dancemat-style Family Trainer for the famicom with its first title, Athletic World. Unfortunately, this reimagined Family Trainer game hasn't progressed much since its first incarnation, but-as luck would have it- neither has exercise. So, with over two decades of experience, surley the original Wii Fit can put Nintendo's trendy imposter in it's place?
Well, there's the problem. Wii Fit is a naff-o game with a brilliant peripheral that has Wii developers foaming at the mouth with the novel ideas. Family Trainer, on the other hand, is a naff-o game with an equally rubbish peripheral. There are no press-ups or fancy balance tricks to be done here, just 15 minigames that wouldn't look out of place in Wii Play or Mario Party 79. It only takes an hour to see everything on offer, at which point you'll pack away the sweat-soaked mat, never to touch it again.
GYM'LL FIX IT
As an exercise tool, Family Trainer is a shameless fraud. With next to no upper-body focus, the games rely on you running and jumping to get fit. Here's a tip: stay in bed an extra five minutes and your morning sprint to catch the bus will shed just as many calories.
If anything, Family Trainer is dagerous. Whether it's two people trying to leap about the mat at the same time [The mat's fairly big, but unless you were both cast as extras in Super Paper Mario somebody's likely to go flying during the hurdles.], craning your neck during the see-saw minigame at an angle only Solid Snake's victims are capable of, or a workout on a super slippy laminated floor.
Okay, we'll admit the last hazard and the subsequent wobbly tooth was our own fault; in our eagerness to open the box we completely missed the mat's adheasive felt feet to stop these accidents from happening. But there's no explaining away the first two problems. While the theory behind the two player co-op and versus game is sound, the mat just isn't wide enough to make them work. And anyone with an elevated television will find squating down for some bongo-esque see-saw action a real[We apologise in advance] pain in the neck [Told you so].
Family trainer fares no better as a 'regular' game either. We say there are 15 minigames on offer, but when four of them turned to be hurdles, more hurdles, log jumping (yes, log jumping) and skipping we were sure, embedded somewhere deep in the deep hypnotic music, we heard the tell-tale scraping at the bottom of an oversised barrel.
HURDLES
A simple challenge to begin with. You'll soon whizz past the sprinting game (just run on the spot) and learn how to time your jumps for the blue hurdles. Which leads nicely on to...
MORE HURDLES
Almost the same game with logs instead of hurdles. Don't be fooled - occasionally hitting the left and right pads to change lanes doesn't mask the constant running and jumping.
LOG JUMPING
We hope you're not bored of jumping, because there's more. Standing in the centre, once more you've got to jump over the icoming logs. That's it. Quite simple really. Just jump...over logs.
SKIPPING
We hope you're not bored of jumping, because there's more. Stainding in the centre once more you've got to jum over the incoming rope. That's it. Quite simple really. Wait! We'e been duped...
WHACK-A-MOLE
This is more like it. The six arrows represent mole hills that need to be stamped on when animals pop up. It's cruel, but Whack-A-Mole is easily one of the better games.
CANOEING
It's a game dependent on the remote. But the paddling motions in the tutorial rarely translate to successful strokes in-game, making it one od the most frustrating in the package.
TOBOGGANING
Time to rest your weary legs. Tobogganing is easy, just sit down and hit the left and right pads. Boost pads and obstacles mix things up a little, so stay on your toes. While sitting down.
TRAMPOLINING
Just when we'd had enough jumping there was more, but with a twist! Prompts pop up when you're airbourne, and you must quickly tap the arrows DDR-style to perform tricks.
Jump for (no) joy
Our philosophy on exercise games is really quite simple: make them entertaining. We'd love to see a successor to the two Takeshi's Castle games for the original Family Trainer (later renamed the Power Pad), but untill that day we'll stick to our own patented routine: take one exercise bike, one DS and any Phoenix Wright game you've got to hand, and simply pedal while you play.
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OVERVIEW
Wii Fit meets Wii Sports but forgets the good bits from both. Just picture a handfull of atheltic-based mini games.
GRAPHICS - 5/10
The Miis stand out the best-looking on-screen objects, which speaks volume.
AUDIO - 4/10
You know the repeat button for playing tracks over and over? It's automatically sellected here.
GAMEPLAY - 3/10
Thoroughly enjoyable until you start to repeat game, which happens barely 20 minutes in.
INNOVATION - 3/10
And old product recycled. At least Wii Fit's balance board will be supported by future titles.
SUMMARY
As an energetic game, Family Trainer ticks the right boxes. But name another exercise, dance or minigame package and chances are it will offer more content and longevity.
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