Lawrence.com

It's been two years since the Nintendo Wii hit (and subsequently flew off of) the shelves, and there have been two major success stories: minigames and Wii Fit. Games like Warioware, Rayman Raving Rabbids, EA Playground, Mario Party, and countless others were stuffed with every gimmicky minigame you can imagine, and they sold splendidly. Wii Fit was released with the Balance Board earlier in the year, and it's still nearly impossible to find it in a retail store. It seems that Namco Bandai saw a couple of emerging fads and tried to capitalize on them, as Active Life Outdoor Challenge is an odd combination of both minigames and "fitness".

Rather than the precise Wii Balance Board, Outdoor Challenge opts for a Dance Dance Revolution-inspired floor mat. It's not high technology by any means, but it gets the job done when it comes to recognizing where you're putting your feet.

While the hardware may function well, the minigames are tiresome. Many of them are of the Mario Party variety, having you stomp moles with your feet or lean to make a mine cart turn. It doesn't actually seem to have much of a focus on the "fitness" side of things like Wii Fit does. While that title had you performing stretches and various exercises, most of the Outdoor Challenge games might make you break a sweat (especially the jogging in place games), but you'll never actually feel like you've exercised at the end of a session. It's more Rayman Raving Rabbids than Wii Fit, but disappoints as both a minigame collection and exercise tool.

Graphics: 6.5

Sound: 6.0

First Play: 6.5

Replay Value: 6.0

Gameplay: 6.5

Overall: 6.5