Walk It Out (Wii)

WALK IT OUT is a rhythmic walking game that helps families get fit by walking everyday. Kids create an avatar which represents them as they explore walking paths within the world of Rhythm Island. They start on a limited number of paths but the more they walk, the more the island expands. As kids walk in place in real life, their avatar walks in the virtual world. Each rhythmic step earns a chip to use to unlock additional walking paths, trees, buildings, landmarks, rainbows, new music, and even the ability to change the time of day. You choose what to spend your chips on by pointing your Wii remote at floating capsules. For example, if you click on a palm tree that costs 50 chips and you have earned that many steps, a palm tree instantly grows beside the path.

Walk It Out makes it fun to hit the pavement, counting steps. By turning walking into a game, Walk It Out turns exercise into an enjoyable experience for kids. It is easy to start up, and hard to stop, which is a good thing because it makes you want to keep walking. You can walk just holding the Wii remote with the Nunchuk tucked into your pants pocket or waistband; or you can walk on a DDR dance pad or by using the Wii Balance Board – they all work. You can even walk with another person with two avatars showing on the screen, so that this game is a great way for a parent and a child to play together. It is a video game that can help combat childhood obesity.

This is a game all ages will enjoy from as young as age 3 to 99. But if you are playing it with little kids, select your own playlist from the 120 songs because some have edgy lyrics. And don't elect to play the two optional mini-games that involve whacking humanoid figures. Also, you will want to fiddle with the options so that little kids don't lose points if you miss a beat while walking. You can even set how hard it is to earn the capsules that decorate and expand this world.