The original Wii Fit offered you a variety of yoga, strength training and aerobic exercises, but with no real guidance as to how to string them together into an effective workout. With Wii Fit Plus, you will be able to access pre-made workout routines that can accomplish specific goals using the different exercises. These are broken up into categories called "lifestyle," "health," "youth" and "form." If the pre-set routines aren't exactly what you're looking for, "My Routine" will allow you to set up your own workout, selecting from the yoga and strength exercises (there are three new ones in each category, as well). As you add to your list, a counter at the bottom lets you know how long the workout will take. There's also a way to tell the game how much time you have to work out, and Wii Fit Plus will randomly select a series of exercises that will take just that long. And if you don't like it? Just switch off it and switch back for another random list. But hey, it's a workout — it's supposed to be work!

There's also a calorie counter, where after exercise, it counts up the calories you've burned, and then gives you a real-world example of food worth that many calories (from the UDSA National Nutritional Database). For example, you can set a piece of yellow cake as your calorie goal, and as you play Wii Fit Plus, it will let you know when you've burned enough calories to account for it. This is an interesting way to turn the numbers into a real-world equivalent that people might understand better, although it's not as though this is some kind of diet plan or anything.

Finally, I got to try out some of the new Balance Games. There are fifteen total, with three of them being advanced versions of Wii Fit Balance Games. First I was thrown into the obstacle course, which was surprisingly challenging. Stepping on the balance board moves you forward through the course, and the same squatting-standing movement makes you jump over obstacles. It's actually quite physical and immersive, and actually kind of feels like you're in a Mario game. (If they could make a Mario game using the Balance Board as the controller, it might be the ultimate stealth workout game!) Next up was the flying game where your Mii wears a chicken suit and you literally flap your arms to propel yourself from one goal to the other before time runs out. It's amazing to me how they're finding new ways to use the Balance Board. It actually registers each flap of your arms, and you can also flap just your wrists for little flaps when you're coming in for a landing. I did much better on this one, coming in first in the rankings of other guests.

I also did well with the mushroom math game, where you shift your hips in the direction of the mushrooms you want to hit, so the numbers on them add up to a specific total. Halfway through, things got tricky, with negative numbers, but I was told this was the kind of game where they're attempting to merge physicality and brain power. There are others where you have to use the balance board in conjunction with the Wiimote and Nunchuck that will also test your brain/motor coordination, but I didn't have the time to test them out today. The last one I was able to try was the rhythm Kung Fu. Similar to the Rhythm Boxing I enjoyed in Wii Fit, this is choreographed Kung Fu-style movements using the Balance Board to register your feet and the Wiimote and Nunchuck for your arms. It was pretty responsive, and kind of fun.

All in all, I came away pretty impressed with Wii Fit Plus. It really expands upon the first game, and has found some interesting new ways to use the Balance Board in mini-games. It's not an entirely new game, but if you've already got a Balance Board, at $20, it's looking like a decent buy. I'll let you know next week when I can deliver a full review!