The Wii Balance Board was a running joke among gamers who saw the big, flat plastic rectangle and the Wii Fit game it came with as an example of the worst motion control had to offer. When Nintendo not only announced a Wii U($998.98 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) sequel, but revealed that the non-character “Wii Fit Trainer” would be a fighter in the next Super Smash Bros., most gamers, including me, were skeptical. Well, it’s amazing what a pedometer, a second screen thanks to the Wii U Gamepad, and a lot of variety can do for a game. Wii Fit U isn’t a joke, and the Wii Balance Board is finally getting the dust kicked off of it thanks to this new game. It’s engaging, encouraging, and sometimes actually fun, and at $19.99 for the game and the Fit Meter pedometer (after a free 30-day trial of the game itself, as part of a promotion that will last through the end of January 2014) it’s one of the Wii U’s best buys. The non-promotional price is $59.99 (list) for the retail disc version, which isn’t nearly as appealing a deal. It doesn’t say much for the system that it’s seeing more use as a fitness tool than a game console, but it could be what you’ve been looking for to pick up that big gamepad and put out your Wii Balance Board again.

The Fit Meter
Besides the Wii Balance Board, which is necessary for Wii Fit U, you need to purchase a Fit Meter or you can only use the software for 30 days. It’s a round pedometer that feels almost identical to the Poke-Walker pedometer Nintendo released with Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver for the DS, but black and silver instead of Pokeball red and white. It has three buttons and a large monochrome LCD screen, looking and feeling like a digital pet instead of a pedometer. However, it’s surprisingly useful as part of your Wii Fit U routine. It combines a pedometer, pseudo-altimeter (it senses when you step up and down to determine if you climb stairs), thermometer, and watch into one tiny device you clip to your waist.

Every time you start Wii Fit U, you can sync the data on the Fit Meter with the game by pointing the top of the device at the Wii U Gamepad’s infrared port and holding the middle button down. This sends your activity history to the game, which shows it in several charts. You can see when you were walking, running, jogging, or just performing some activity, in a color-coded timeline. Once synced, you can transfer your distance and altitude progress to Fit Meter Challenges, which compares your walks and climbs to different lengths and heights, like walking around New York City or climbing the Eiffel Tower. Each time you sync your data, you can see how much of each route or climb you made, and get a comparison of the distance you moved with some interesting factoid, like lengths of football fields.

You’re supposed to take off the Fit Meter when you use Wii Fit U directly, since the Balance Board and the game itself tracks your activity.

Activities
You can perform a daily Body Test when you play Wii Fit U. This measures your balance and BMI, and has optional additional tests to determine your Wii Fit Age (if you’re healthier or less healthy than you should be at your age). The game can show your BMI or weight, but it doesn’t take body type into account. I’m overweight and broad shouldered, but the ideal weight it suggested for me was less than 160 pounds, when with my build 200 pounds would be very fit. The body test offers a good frame of reference for your progress, but don’t look at it as a real BMI or weight test; the weight the Balance Board measured was several pounds off. Instead of seeing your progress as hard numbers, watch the graph it shows you to see if it’s generally measuring an increase or decrease in weight.

Wii Fit U offers two trainers, a male and a female, to guide you through your workout. They sound friendly and encouraging without being cloying, and offer verbal tips to keep your exercises on-track. Besides their tips, you can perform many exercises in Mirror Mode with your Wii U Gamepad, which uses the built-in camera to show you what you look like next to the trainer’s example.

Wii Fit U is chock full of activities, ranging from yoga to repetitive exercises to active mini-games. Different activities might require different accessories, like the Balance Board or one or two Wii Remote Plus controllers, often combining for particularly complex and active exercises. If you don’t have a Wii Remote Plus, you can filter the activities by which accessories they use and only select from ones that use the Balance Board. You can also have the game generate entire lists of exercises and a full workout based on how long you want to exercise or how many calories you want to burn.

Encouragement
Wii Fit U offers two trainers, a male and a female, to guide you through your workout. They sound friendly and encouraging without being cloying, and offer verbal tips to keep your exercises on-track. Besides their tips, you can perform many exercises in Mirror Mode with your Wii U Gamepad, which uses the built-in camera to show you what you look like next to the trainer’s example.

I can’t tell how accurate the Balance Board or Fit Meter are compared to actual scales and pedometers, but they combine with Wii Fit U to give you a good sense of how active you are and how your progress is over time. Wii Fit U isn’t a particularly comprehensive or scientific exercise tool and it can’t replace a gym and a trainer, but it offers so much variety, activity, guidance, and encouragement that it will keep you moving when you’d otherwise sit on the couch.

I’ve incorporated yoga and other exercises into my personal workout plan, and Wii Fit U’s Body Test has had me tracking myself daily. On days when I don’t go to the gym, I feel much better after booting up Wii Fit U and doing some exercises or mini-games for 10 or 20 minutes to stay active. Don’t look at it as a health plan or a workout regimen, but as a fun, easy tool you can add to anything you’re already doing. If you can find a Balance Board for cheap, Wii Fit U can give it the purpose as an encouraging fitness tool that Wii Fit didn’t quite do, and it makes the Wii U Gamepad seem more useful than otherwise, to boot.