EA Sports Active 2

• Type: Exergame
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Equipment: Resistance band, heart rate monitor and wireless motion tracking straps.
• Price: $99.95
• Fitness Level: Beg, Int, Adv
• Fitness Challenge: 6/10

• A 9-Week Program - This plan starts you at a beginner level, giving you a complete workout schedule over 9 weeks.
• Cardio Kick Start Program - This shorter 3-week program is designed to help you slowly build endurance.
• New Bands and Weight Options - EASA 2 comes with a stronger resistance band and the game also allows you to use weights instead of using the band.
• Profile and Tracking - You can import your profile from previous versions, create new characters and track stats like calories burned, heart rate history and more.
• Workouts - There are 162 workouts to choose from and you can also create your own. You can also have your trainer generate workouts based on duration and type of workout you want.
• New Exercises - There are a variety of new strength, fitness and cardio exercises with 72 different exercise stations. New moves include more high intensity exercises like Mountain Climbers, Jump Squats, Skipping and Foot Fires and there are great new fitness activities like mountain biking, mountain boarding, soccer and basketball.

You can also view (or skip) exercise tutorials and there's a trainer showing you how to do each exercise while tracking your movements.

• Heart Rate Monitor: I love the addition of the heart rate monitor, which shows your heart rate on the screen and rates the level of intensity (e.g., 'healthy' zone, 'fitness' zone, etc.). The new leg strap is easier to use than the previous version, which required putting the nunchuk into a leg strap.
• Weights: I also love the ability to use weights instead of the resistance band and the included band is much stronger than in previous versions.
• New Moves: The are a variety of great new strength exercises with compound moves like squats with overhead presses, rows with kickbacks and a wide variety of squats and lunges. I also love the new core exercises - Bent arm side planks, hip bridges, planks and crunches with punches.
• Fun Fitness Activities: The new fitness activities are fun and unique, with everything from mountain boarding, which is like skateboarding through the mountains, to soccer where you can do goalkeeping, heading, juggling and more. I do miss the activities and obstacle courses from the previous game, which aren't included in EASA 2. There are more options for step aerobics and you can use your own step, but the moves are basic and the pace may be too slow for more advanced exercisers.
• Warm Up and Stretches: There are new warm up moves and stretches like knee tucks, hip circles, pretzels and good mornings.
• The Workouts: Like the previous version, there are a variety of workouts to choose from, ranging from short timesaver workouts to longer, more intense workouts with a focus on different aspects of fitness like sports, cardio, total body strength and more.

• Variety – Like the previous version, there are so many exercises and workouts to choose from, that anyone kind find something they enjoy. The workouts are fresh, giving this game a staying power that other exergames may not have.
• Weights and Exercises – I love that I can use weights with the new version and that there are so many new strength exercises included.
• Motivation – It's motivating to have a program to follow to track your workouts, like the 3- or 9-week programs and you can also see your progress from day to day while winning trophies and scoring points.
• Great for all types of exercisers - Most exergames don't offer much of a workout, but EASA 2 can be basic or challenging depending on what you want. I like that you can choose the intensity of each exercise when creating your own workouts.

Cons

While I've always been a fan of EA Sports Active, this version didn't excite me as much as I would've liked. While I liked the addition of the heart rate monitor, there were several times when it showed my heart rate in the 170s when there was no way I was working that hard. The new leg controller worked well but I had problems with it, particularly during the running exercises. I watched with frustration as my virtual self lagged behind and my trainer scolded me for going too slowly. I missed the activities from More Workouts and wish there was some way to import those from previous games.

Despite these minor issues, EASA 2 is just as good as previous versions and a great choice for people who want more exercises, more intensity and more Wii-kouts.