Favorite Wii games & accesories?

[bubbaray]

Getting a Wii bundle tomorrow (a little late, but Boxing Day sales here are hard to resist) + Wii Fit Plus balance board. Need to know some fun games & necessary accesories.

Bundle comes with Wii Sports, Sports Resort, NHL hockey & hockey stick

List so far:
We ski
Just dance 2
Mario Winter Games
DanceDance Revolution
Dora
Big Brain (is this worth it if we have the DSiXL Brain Age games??)
Jillian Michaels (OK, admitting it, i"ve eaten too many cookies and need to exercise, LOL)

Need some more kids games. Both kids love dance and DD#1 loves to ski and anything remotely dangerous/adrenalin junkie'ish. Would also like a yoga one for me and DH

Do I need the charging station + fan accessory? What about skins??

[bubbaray]

Anyone?

[spunkybaby]

We just got Active Life Explorer, and it's a lot of fun :)

[artvandalay]

Super Mario Bros & Mario Kart are great because you can have 4 players. Most games are just 2 players.

My boys love the Wii Lego games (Star Wars, Indiana Jones).

Wii Skii is fun, also Wii Fit.

We have the charging station, it works pretty good.

[justlearning]

We just got Active Life Explorer, and it's a lot of fun :)

No question about it. My recommendation would be for Active Life Explorer, which is only $30 on Amazon right now and comes with a big mat that works well for 2 kids.

Our kids LOVED this game yesterday and got a GREAT workout on it. They liked it so much that I told my friends about this deal and they've now purchased it as well for their kids.

When we got our Wii, it came with Wii Sports and Resort Sports. Those have gotten little playing time in our home. My boys were REALLY into Super MarioBros. until they got through all the levels so now they're not interested in it. So that was a hit too but doesn't require exerting any energy. They have also gotten Mario Kart, which they've played, but they haven't liked it as much as MarioBros.

But my 5-year-old yesterday (my big gamer) declared that the Explorer game is the best Wii game he's ever played!

ETA the link to the game on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Active-Life-Explorer-Mat-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B003LDKH2E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1293387611&sr=8-1-catcorr

[justlearning]

Super Mario Bros & Mario Kart are great because you can have 4 players. Most games are just 2 players.

As an FYI, though, it can be difficult to have more than 2 players with Super Mario Bros. We got a third remote recently so DH tried playing that game with our boys and they said it got too crowded on the screen that way--they preferred it with just 2 players.

[bubbaray]

Thanks everyone! Very helpful.

So far, DH has the Wii set up and working, accessing the internet nicely, etc. He is having problems syncing the balance board, but I'm sure he'll figure it out sooner or later.

I got We Ski (even DH loves this!), Just Dance 2 and also Active Life Explorer and EA Sports Active 2.0.

I just ordered Mario's Winter Olympic Games and Active Life Outdoor Challenge (only b/c it was such a great deal -- $15 Cdn) -- these will arrive next week I think (with all the statutory holidays).

Thanks for the advice! :)

[justlearning]

Thanks everyone! Very helpful.

So far, DH has the Wii set up and working, accessing the internet nicely, etc. He is having problems syncing the balance board, but I'm sure he'll figure it out sooner or later.

I got We Ski (even DH loves this!), Just Dance 2 and also Active Life Explorer and EA Sports Active 2.0.

I just ordered Mario's Winter Olympic Games and Active Life Outdoor Challenge (only b/c it was such a great deal -- $15 Cdn) -- these will arrive next week I think (with all the statutory holidays).

Thanks for the advice! :)

Where did you get the deal on Outdoor Challenge? I'd love to get that too.

[bubbaray]

Amazon.ca

[hanaum02]

We just got Active Life Explorer, and it's a lot of fun :)

What ages would you say are good for this game? I have a 6-year old and a 3-year old. (3-year old can really only do bowling at this point - and pretend to do lots of others.)

[bubbaray]

We haven't yet opened the Active Life Explorer yet (and haven't received the other Active Life Challenge game).

However, my nearly 4yo really enjoys the Just Dance 2 "game".

ETA: Dora saves the Snow Princess was a bit of a bust for her. The 6yo "plays" it for her.

[egoldber]

I agree that the Just Dance games are good for little kids. All they have to do is hold the remote and dance. ;) We also have an older Cooking Mama game that my 4 year old likes.

And I agree about the Dora game too. We have the Diego version (the Dora and Diego games are exactly the same game wxcept for the theme) and it is lame.....

[egoldber]

So Outdoor Challenge seems to be discontinued here?

I see Extreme Challenge and Explorer. Are they basically the same?

[bubbaray]

These are the two we were discussing upthread:

http://www.amazon.com/Active-Life-Explorer-Mat-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B003LDKH2E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1293562141&sr=1-1 -- haven't opened yet

http://www.amazon.com/Active-Life-Extreme-Challenge-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B0028A8PDY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1293562141&sr=1-3 -- haven't received yet

[egoldber]

Right those are the two I was looking at. Just wondering if they are different in any way other than the theming of the games.

[bubbaray]

Dunno -- I can post a comparison when the 2nd one arrives.

[egoldber]

Thanks! :)

[justlearning]

So Outdoor Challenge seems to be discontinued here?

I see Extreme Challenge and Explorer. Are they basically the same?

You can read the reviews on Amazon for Explorer and some of them address Extreme Challenge. From what I've read, Extreme Challenge was not a good game (poor reviews) so I did not buy that.

Explorer is themed like you're treasure hunters in the style of Indiana Jones. So the theming may appeal more to boys than girls--my boys love it.

To answer another PP's question regarding ages, I think a 3-year-old might have fun trying to do some parts of the game (like running as fast as you can) but will not be successful at all and thus would likely become frustrated and not want to try anymore. The fun part of the game is successfully accomplishing challenges so you can unlock other ones and also so they become more difficult.

DS2 just turned 5 and he likes the challenges but they're hard for him. He oftentimes needs DH to step in and do something for him. DS1 is 7 and he's much better at the game than DS2. Some tasks require a lot of coordination (in the style of Dance Dance Revolution where you hit certain squares and arrows in the pattern shown on the screen) so there's no way a young kid could do that. The game also requires reading instructions for the different tasks that you unlock so DS2 needs either DH or DS1 to read those for him.

[bubbaray]

Beth, the kids tried the Active Life Extreme Challenge today. Not impressed. DH says the game isn't worth the $15 I paid for it. He says the graffics aren't impressive and the game itself doesn't work as well as the others we have.

I am considering returning the still-unopened Active Life Explorer.

FWIW, we REALLY like We Ski, Just Dance 2 and Mario & Sonic Winter Olympics. Those are by far the biggest hits here. We also like the Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort (the flying game is fun, can't remember which one its on).

[Corie]

definitely get Just Dance 2.

I played it this weekend and it was a blast! Even my 6 yr. old
son loved it. My 65 year old Dad even danced but he LOVES to
dance!! :) We are a HUGE dancing family!! (everyone except
for my husband)

[Corie]

I just ordered Mario's Winter Olympic Games


This one is fun too! I like the figure skating!