Ring Fit Adventure is the pseudo-sequel and younger sibling to Wii Fit. In its day, Wii Fit was an absolute phenomenon. Selling nearly 23 million copies overall, Wii Fit was one of the best examples of the popularity of the Wii and its ability to crossover into the mainstream. I’m not sure how many people actually became fit by using Wii Fit, but it was Nintendo attempting to broaden the definition of a video game and help its players be more active.
Now, 11 years later, Ring Fit Adventure is continuing that legacy. Ring Fit Adventure understands and capitalises on the gamification of exercise better than any other fitness product I’ve used.
It’s part RPG, part workout video and part collection of fitness mini-games. If you’re a casual player/fitness enthusiast, Ring Fit Adventure has enough content to last you for a long, long time.
Even if you play every day, it’s still going to keep you busy and exercising for ages.
Ring Fit Adventure Review
The bulk of Ring Fit Adventure takes place in the adventure mode. Here, you’ll be playing through Chapters and Levels, battling monsters and exercising your butt off. Seriously, Ring Fit Adventure is surprisingly, both a real RPG and a real workout.
It even comes with its very own story. Basically, an evil bodybuilding dragon named Dragaux is spreading darkness throughout the world. The only way to stop him is through exercise and fitness.
Righto.
So, as you play, you run on the spot to move through linear levels. By squeezing the included Ring Fit accessory you can send blasts of air to break crates or hit enemies and even jump by aiming the ring downwards. If you pull on the Ring instead, you suck air in and can collect far off coins and other objects.
Adventure Time
Moving through the levels can go at your pace depending on how fast you run on the spot, how high you raise your knees etc. Over time, you’ll unlock the ability to rowboats, fly and more. Each of these different modes of transport unlocks different exercise types which train different parts of your body. Even if you do try to go slow, you’re still going to work up a sweat.
That’s because, when you do come across enemies, you’ll be taken into a turn-based battle scenario. Here, you need to perform different exercises — squats, overhead raises, Yoga Chair pose — to deal damage to the enemies. Over time, you unlock more and more exercises and you can pick and choose which you take with you into the levels.
This is important because there are different categories of exercises which relate to the colour of enemies. Using the right exercise will deal additional damage. Think of it like Super Effective attacks in Pokémon.
During battle, you can’t just spam the same attack over and over either so you’ll need to use a variety of exercises meaning you are working on multiple body parts.
Ring Fit Adventure really tries to ensure that players are getting a workout that covers the entire body and works on both fitness and strength and flexibility. It’s a great workout but you don’t need to always play adventure mode as Ring Fit Adventure includes plenty of other options.
Sweat
Outside of adventure mode, there are mini-games, quickplay, custom workouts and even a multitasking mode. This mode puts the Switch to sleep and counts the squeezes you perform with the Ring. You can count up to 500 a day to earn a bonus in adventure mode.
Quickplay lets you tackle exercises as you like and mini-games are cute little collections of exercises with a special objective attached. Custom workouts are exactly as they’re described. You build your own workout from the available exercises and then complete them.
The best part about every mode and activity in Ring Fitr Adventure is that players are able to select a difficulty and level of resistance. This makes Ring Fit Adventure perfect for players of any level of fitness and it allows players to track their improvements over time.
Ring Fit Adventure may still feel like Nintendo trying to force its fans to exercise, but even still, it’s a lot of fun and a real game at its core. It easily makes you forget you’re actually doing a workout and entertains you while making you sweat.
If you’re looking for a way to exercise without having to sign up for the gym, this is a good start. It’s definitely Nintendo’s most successful lifestyle product and my favourite.
Ring Fit Adventure was reviewed on Switch using a retail copy provided by Nintendo.
PowerUp! Reviews
Game Title: Ring Fit Adventure
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The adventure is an actual, functioning and enjoyable RPG - 9/109/10
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The workouts are an ACTUAL workout - 9.5/109.5/10
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Great incentivisation - 8.6/108.6/10
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The best video game fitness product available - 10/1010/10
