Wii Fit showed us that exergaming can be fun. The TV show The Biggest Loser showed us that Jillian Michaels is one tough cookie. Of course it’s cookies that got me into the whole ‘needing to lose weight’ thing anyway, but I digress. Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 (or JMFU2K9 for short) is the latest in a long line of exergaming titles for the Wii. Seems everyone wants to cash in on the Wii Fit craze, and a lot of times the games seem to be complete failures, but not always.

I love Wii Fit. I love The Biggest Loser. Do I love JMFU2K9? Find out after the break!

First things first: if you are a graphics snob, do NOT play this game. This is definitely sub-PS2 level graphics. I have honestly seen better 3D on the DS. And the menus, good lord. It’s like a flash based website from 1999. Not pretty, but at least it’s functional. You can generally tell when a game is not really that professional when on the main menu screen there is a button to watch the credits.

But for a game like this, it’s not really the graphics that matter, it’s the fitness aspect. Luckily, JMFU2K9 has some pretty fun exercises. You pick how long you want to work out, and the game randomly chooses different workouts for you to do. I haven’t tried all of the exercises yet, but most of the ones that I’ve tried have been pretty fun to do. Granted, if you don’t have a Balance Board, this probably won’t be the case. And if you have the Balance Board, you probably have Wii Fit, which means you probably don’t really NEED another fitness game. But for $40, you can do a lot worse.

My favorite part of the game is the trainer tips. As you work out, you earn more and more of them, all voiced over by Jillian herself. The tips can be pretty informative, plus just wait until you see the “high quality” graphics some of the videos use. Remember when Homer Simpson started his website, and at first all it was was a bunch of stolen animated GIFs? Well, that is exactly what some of these videos look like. The first time I saw one I nearly shot water out of my nose. Maybe it was their secret plan. You see the first couple as you try the game out, and you just want to do more and more exercises to unlock more and more videos to laugh at. If that’s their plan, it’s been working on me. Oh 3G Studios, you crafty bastards.

Is it as polished as Wii Fit? No way. But is it fun? I’d have to say yes. The exercises are fun, the weight management seems a bit better than Wii Fit, and the Trainer Tips may teach you a thing or two. Plus it can be shortened to JMFU2K9, which is just plain fun to type. Seriously, try it. I’ll wait. Dum de dum… Done? Wasn’t it fun? JMFU2K9! It sounds like some booming voice from a mountaintop should be shouting it, followed by a crash of thunder and lightning. If you’re looking for a fitness game and are done with Wii Fit, I’d have to recommend this one over any others.

Pros
+ For a fitness game, some of the exercises are pretty fun
+ The weight tracking seems pretty nifty
+ The videos!
+ Pseudo-budget priced at $40
+ JMFU2K9

Cons
- Graphics are awful
- Really pretty unpolished
- Really need the Balance Board to make the most use out of it
- “Gamers” will hate it. Though maybe that’s a pro. Stick it to ‘em, 3G Studios!

Arbitrary Numerical Score: 7.5/10