Ahhh summer. As the mercury starts to creep up the thermometer, it's the time of year when countless women start to worry if those extra few pounds are going to make them look like a whale in a bikini, as they look for ways they can lose some weight fast. In years gone by, your search to shed some pounds for the summer would inevitably result in a costly gym subscription as a master plan to get yourself into bikini shape - but these days, trimming yourself down is a lot more straightforward. In fact, if you have a games console, there are a wide variety of Xbox 360, and Wii fitness games available for as little as £15. But with a plethora of choices staring at you from the supermarket shelves, each with its own special set of features, which one's going to be best at helping you tone up for the summer? Here at Everybody Plays, we've road-tested six of the most popular, so you don't have to - so chuck out your Bikini Workout books, bin the Special K and give up that GI Diet, and let's lose weight, and have some fun!
Wii Fit Plus
Platform: Wii (Balance Board required)
As the oldest game, and arguably the most well known out of our line-up, Wii Fit is the "original" fitness game, and is at least partially responsible for selling umpteen million Wii consoles to women around the world, bringing workouts into the living room - and, most importantly, making them fun. The game revolves around the Balance Board (which is also required to play the game) - an interesting device which works like a pair of glorified scales, and tracks the distribution of your weight across the body. Stand on the balance board (shoes off), and you'll be able to choose from a selection of pre-built routines, each of which has been designed to target a different area, and offers a great mix between fitness and fun, consisting of a few exercises (split between "muscle" and "yoga"), and a fun, balance board controlled minigame to break up the action. It's a setup that lets you start out all serious, before finishing with your Mii (your in-game avatar) dressed as a penguin, and you on the floor in stitches. There's a decent range of exercises on offer too, from light squats, to push ups and balance bridges, although it's nothing that'll really leave you doubled over and out of breath. In fact, that's probably Wii Fit's biggest weakness - if you're even approaching being fairly fit, it's actually pretty easy. Most of the exercises start off with between 5 and 10 reps, and we had no trouble with the advanced exercises from the off, with no trouble, and although you do unlock more reps as you play, it's certainly a beginner's fitness package. The mini-games are slightly harder, but the only ones that seem to work up a sweat are the jogging, hula hooping and obstacle course - but, in their favour, they are a lot of fun, and often more than a bit random - like having your Mii dressed up as a penguin, sliding from side to side on an iceberg to catch fish; or flapping your arms dressed up as a giant chicken, who you have to try to land on various targets for points (this one's really hard).
Probably the biggest plus point for Wii Fit is that, unlike the other fitness games in this round-up, it actually uses the balance board to weigh you every time you turn it on - and doesn't chastise you if you've put on a few pounds - which is quite useful for those wanting to seriously lose weight. It also awards you with FitCash, based on how long you did an activity for and how hard it was - making it easy to compare how much exercise you've done from day to day, regardless of your time spent. Letting you choose to target your 'Tummy', or tackle your 'Overindulgence' through pre-built routines, as well as the ability to create your own (although you can't add mini-games into yours - boooo!), if you're looking to get fit, Wii Fit is a great place to start - although it's probably not the best thing for losing weight in a hurry.
The best Wii Fit mini-game. Period.
Best Price: £14.95 from Zavvi on its own, £64.99 from Game with the Balance Board
Sweat Rating: 2/5 
Fun Rating: 4/5 
Dance Central
Platform: Xbox 360 (requires Kinect)
Like Just Dance, but kicked up a notch, Dance Central makes use of Microsoft's Kinect sensor to track - and score - your entire body as you dance. Following the pictures at the side, and the character in the middle, it's up to you to match the dance moves the game asks you to do - only this time, it's tracking your hands, feet, legs, arms, and head. It can be a little bit intimidating at first, when you find yourself missing every move, and tying your limbs in knots, but thankfully, there's a 'Break It Down' mode, which'll take you through the steps to each song slowly, letting you get the hang of it in your own time - which is no bad thing, seeing as because of it's difficulty, you may find yourself having to invest a fair amount of time in getting your head (and the rest of your body too) round the necessary moves before you can get down to some serious calorie burning...… Which is where Dance Central's own workout mode comes in handy. Simply input your height and weight, and as you strut your stuff to the game's funky selection of tunes, the game will keep track of the calories it reckons you've burnt, based on your performance. Judging by how we feel after a few songs, it's probably quite a few. To complete the package, it's actually a fair amount of fun too - once you've got your head around the routines. It's just a shame the setlist is full of urban dance songs we don't know... If you fancy learning a bit more, why not head over to our Dance Central review for the full lowdown?
How much are you sweating? About this much.
Best Price: £31.99 at Zavvi
Sweat Rating: 4/5 
Fun Rating: 4/5
Zumba Fitness
Platform: Wii and Xbox 360 (Kinect needed on Xbox 360)
I was a bit apprehensive about buying Zumba Fitness to begin with. Having heard it was quite hard, and not exactly being the world's largest fan of obscure Latin music (five minutes in Nandos is about enough for me), it's fair to say Zumba Fitness didn't hold quite the same appeal as the mix of songs everyone knows on Just Dance did. But in the name of journalistic integrity, I went out, I bought it, and I played - and my word, is it one hell of a workout. You can see why they reckon an hour of the Zumba workout burns 1000 calories.
The Wii version comes with a velcro-fastening belt with a pouch to slot your Wii remote into - fasten it round your waist, with the Wii remote on your hip and you're good to go. You then get a choice between various 'classes' - such as a 20-minute beginner class, or the expert, 60-minute Zumbathon (sounds quite intimidating to me) and everything in between. Each class has several different songs in, each about 4 or 5 minutes long, as well as a warm-up song and cool-down track - all with different dance moves, ranging from Beyonce-like wiggles, invisible bongos and air hula hoops, as well as more traditional dance moves - all at an incredible tempo. I dread to think how I must have looked playing it, wobbling as I attempted to copy the moves - by the end of it, I was glad I'd closed the curtains first. You'll find yourself sweating in places you've never sweat before by the time you're even halfway through the first workout, and the pace really doesn't let up until it's all over. And while the music isn't really my sort of thing (crazy latin pop and dance), it certainly gives you something to dance to - and helps keep the fiery pace going.
To play, you basically need to copy the neon person in time with the music - if they glow green, you did it perfectly; if they glow orange, less so. The moves do seem a bit hard to follow sometimes, but it's all quite forgiving - as long as you vaguely do as it asks, it seems pretty happy. On the other hand, this does only apply to the Wii version - as the Kinect one tracks your entire body, probably more accurately than a Wii Remote strapped to your hip, it's fair to say that the Kinect version's the game for the Zumba pros. If you do find yourself struggling, there is a tutorial section, where it slows down the moves, gradually speeding them up as you start to get the hang of it, which can certainly help when you're learning the ropes - but before too long, you'll be away. Because it only uses the Wii Remote (or Kinect), Zumba Fitness can't really track your weight, and also, sadly doesn't tell you how many calories you've burnt, but the rate your heart's going and the amount your sweating should give you an indication of how hard you've worked anyway.
Zumba Fitness also has the option for multiplayer, although you'll have to get an extra belt for the Wii version.
Best Price: £22.99 at Game on the Wii, £26.99 at Game on the Xbox 360 (requires Kinect)
Sweat Rating: 5/5
Fun Rating: 4/5
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
Platform: Xbox 360 (requires Kinect)
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved has good intentions. As a fitness game, it takes the no-nonsense approach, offering a professional looking, and rather strenuous workout for those who want to lose weight fast. Somewhat disappointingly, it does require an awful lot of space - if you have just about enough space for pretty much any other Kinect game, you won't manage with Your Shape.
Because Kinect scans your entire body and uses that to control your games, the people behind Your Shape: Fitness evolved have decided to go a step further, and give you measurements for every part of your body. Although it can't calculate your weight, the game starts by scanning your body in, giving you (fairly) accurate readings of your vital statistics. At the end of each workout, you'll get a summary of your rating for each exercise and how many calories it thinks you've burnt.
If you're looking for a more serious workout game, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved may be your cup of tea - it's far more like going to the actual gym than any of the other games mentioned. It lets you pick workouts tailored to specific muscle groups and areas you might want to tone up, as well as letting you pick goals like "I want to be able to climb the stairs without running out of breath". As a word of warning, if you're out of breath when you're climbing the stairs, this isn't the game for you.
Disappointingly, though, while Your Shape's a heck of a workout, it's all a little bit clinical. If you're a fitness fanatic, then you'll likely get a lot of mileage out of this - but if you like your fitness games fun, you may be better of looking elsewhere.
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved quite literally sets your limbs on fire...
Best Price: £14.98 at Game
Sweat Rating: 5/5
Fun Rating: 2/5
Just Dance 2
Platform: Wii
Just Dance is the franchise that knocked Call of Duty off the top of the charts, and still continues to sell in droves. Letting you dance to a variety of popular songs by wanging a wii remote to the shape of some silhouettes, it was, and still is, a phenomenon, and something of a party staple. It also happens to be a pretty good workout, with Just Dance 2 featuring a mode called 'Just Sweat', which is supposed to keep a track of... something. They call them "Sweat Points", but they don't really relate to anything like calories or mets or whatever; and you can pick a target to reach by the end of the week - mild, tough or intense, ranging from 1 song a day to 3 to 6 on the most intense setting.
But even without the rudimentary fitness mode, Just Dance 2 is a lot of fun. You strap your Wii Remote to your right hand, and copy the moves of the on-screen stickman to get points - it's simple and it works. Each of the songs has a rating for how difficult it is, and how much it should make you sweat - there's nothing like a round of Rasputin to get your heart racing, and there are plenty more where that came from. It's the setlist that makes a game like this, and Just Dance 2 is full of cheesy pop and party hits such as 'Wake Me Up Before You Go', 'Monster Mash' and It's Raining Men to name but a few, and with songs like 'Barbie Girl' and 'Spice Up Your Life' as downloadable extras, there's sure to be plenty you'll know.
How intense your just Dance 2 session is depends on how much you get into it - while it's only tracking your one arm, the actions do suggest that you move the rest of you too, and if you do do a few of the most intense songs properly, and you will begin to sweat.
Hands up if you're starting to get tired now.
Best Price: £22.99 at Game
Sweat Rating: 2/5
Fun Rating: 5/5
Michael Jackson: The Experience
Platform:
Wii and Xbox 360 (requires Kinect)
The King of Pop makes his dancing game debut in Michael Jackson: The Experience, where you get to dance to some of his most iconic songs. The gameplay doesn't really differ all that much between Xbox 360 and the Wii - on both platforms, you'll be copying the on-screen prompts, strutting your stuff, and moonwalking about your living room to a selection of Jackson's greatest hits.
Assuming you're doing the moves properly, you'll be building up a sweat pretty quickly. Of course, as with Just Dance 2, a lot depends on how into the dancing you get - it's a lot easier to be half-hearted on the Wii version, as it's only tracking your one arm (because it works in a similar way to Just Dance 2), while Kinect tracks your entire body, but with a soundtrack like this, you'll be hard pushed not to give it your all. If you'd rather have an easy to pick up and play version - it's the Wii version you should be looking for, but if you'd like a more rewarding game where you'll initially tie yourself in knots before eventually nailing it - take the Kinect route.
Neither format come with any sort of workout mode - even in the form of a tacked on, probably rather inaccurate, calories burnt calculator - although, in all honesty, it's not really a problem. After a few songs, when your heart's racing and you're sweating like anything, you probably won't need it. For more information, why not check out our Michael Jackson: The Experience review.
Just don't lean too far, otherwise you might be saying hello to the carpet.
Best Price: £17.85 at Zavvi on the Wii, £17.85 at Zavvi on the Xbox 360.
Sweat Rating: 3/5 
Fun Rating: 4/5
Ultimately, the fitness game you go for depends on what you're looking for in a workout. If you're looking for some intense cardio to melt away your spare tyre, Zumba Fitness and Your Shape are probably the way to go. But if you're looking for a fun way to inject a bit of exercise into your daily schedule, Wii Fit and Just Dance 2 may be just what your after. For more information on games, written by, and for people like you, why not head over to our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter to stay in the loop? We'd love to have you along.
