Let’s Get Fit

Genre: Sports (Exercise)

Players: 1

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Review:

Let’s Get Fit is an Exercise Application released on Nintendo Switch in 2022, and like most other Exercise Applications on the Nintendo Switch, this Application uses the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con’s motion-control to sense movements as you exercise. The physical version of the game was packed-in with a strap set that can also be found separately enabling players to strap Joy-Con controllers to their wrist and leg. I should note that while Ring Fit Adventure does include a leg strap, it has no wrist strap. And being the cheapskate I am, I opted not to buy the straps specifically sold for this game, so my experience will replicate the non-strap gameplay here.

A few things I should note right off the bat here. Firstly, this is not an Exercise game, it is very clearly an Exercise Application. While this title does have medals and trophies, you won’t find any of the gamification that was present in Ring Fit Adventure. So don’t expect to have fun with this one – this is strictly for working out.

Also, I should note that this Application only uses one Joy-Con to detect your movements if you’re not using the straps. Despite this, the game only supports a single player, and while it does tout an online leaderboard, this leaderboard did not appear to be working when I tested out the game.

I suppose the next question will naturally be how well the Joy-Con detects your movements, and in answer to that, I have to say the results were extremely mixed. Sometimes the detection seemed eerily accurate in detecting the angle of my wrist and the motions I was making. Other times, it didn’t seem to care what I was doing, and often it seemed to take a little while to catch on to the fact that I wasn’t moving the Joy-Con at all. In other words, don’t depend too heavily on this game’s motion-sensing capabilities – if you want to cheat, this Application will absolutely let you. You have to actually want to workout to get a workout here. But of course, if you didn’t want a workout, why get a game called Let’s Get Fit?

The presentation here is a bit more positive. The game features four different 3D trainers, each with their own exercise specialty and a workout studio to match. As you work out with a trainer, the studio will transform during the course of the workout, going from a neon-lit dance hall to a rooftop dance club under the stars backed by a fireworks show, or transforming from a serene yoga studio into a grassy mountaintop with butterflies and a waterfall. The 3D used for this is not particularly impressive, but nevertheless I appreciated the visual variety to keep my mind off of the strain of the workout.

Each of the trainers also has their own voice overs, and these were decent, though I definitely detected some repetition. Your workout will also be backed by exercise music befitting the style of workout in a variety of genres, though it’s all unlicensed stuff, so don’t expect anything recognizable or all that memorable. In short, the sound works, but does nothing special.

Given the lack of gamification, licensed music, or a strong theme, one might wonder what this title has to offer over the likes of Ring Fit Adventure or the Fitness Boxing games. The answer to that is that this Application is good about allowing players to customize a workout to fit their personal interest, with players able to select workouts in a particular type of exercise like yoga, cardio, or strength training, or even target specific parts of the body to work out, with workouts to do over a long term period of time, the ability to select a specific workout for a single instance, or even a daily challenge to mix things up.

Does Let’s Get Fit topple Ring Fit Adventure as the best Workout title on the Nintendo Switch? Nope, not even close. Sorry, but the lack of those gamification elements really makes this feel more like work than a game, and that’s simply not fun. However, as a useful tool for working out, Let’s Get Fit fares pretty well due to how easy it makes it to customize your personal workout, even if the Joy-Cons once again fail at properly detecting your movements and the music isn’t anything noteworthy. If you’re looking to use your Nintendo Switch to work out, this isn’t a bad choice, though I don’t think it should be your first choice.

tl;dr – Let’s Get Fit is an Exercise Application that lets players customize the type of workout they want. This title doesn’t have the fun gamification of Ring Fit Adventure, the Joy-Con motion detection is sub-par, and the soundtrack doesn’t offer anything noteworthy. But even so, the ability to create your own custom workout still makes this a useful Application to design your own workout.

Grade: C+

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