{Holiday Gift Guide} Wii Game Review: Active Life Explorer

Active Life: Explorer With Mat

Developer:  NAMCO BANDAI

Released: October 19, 2010

ABOUT:

It’s time to explore with Active Life: Explorer, the latest game in the Active Life series. Get up off the couch into the action in this all new Active Life experience. Take on a bold new adventure and use the Wii Remote and the Active Life Mat to take on the role of a treasure hunter and explore exotic locales. Stop a getaway train, catch a bandit on horseback, run across a falling bridge, explore a dark mine cart, and more! Active Life: Explorer is a fun way to get everyone active and their hearts pumping!

Key Game Features:

• Multiple modes of gameplay – Play themed tours in the story based Treasure Adventure mode, or take on individual challenges in the Free Play mode for tons of replayability
• Tons to explore – 24 action-packed activities that will get the whole family moving with jungle, western, underwater, flying and snow themes
• Fun for the Whole Family – Play with up to 4 players simultaneously with fun co-operative and competitive challenges, or take turns exploring with up to 8 players with party mode
• The Active Life Mat – The specially-designed mat controller is bundled with the game so you can jump straight into the action (game also available standalone)

MY THOUGHTS:

Active Life Explorer is like no other game I played before because it comes with a mat.  In the game you travel to different missions and have to do things like cross a falling bridge, dive down into the ocean and unlock a porthole, duck under bridges while jumping over holes – there really is a lot to do in this game!  There are 24 themed activities (jungle, western, underwater, snowy, and more) to complete and explore.

First you choose your journey and amount of players you want.  My favorite is the Treasure Adventure, which stars you as a treasure hunter who has to accomplish tasks to open up new lands to find treasure on.  You also talk to villagers and learn tips and secrets!  Next there is Free Play, which is where you pick from the 24 games, set the difficulty, number of players and then try to get the highest record in the game!  Free Play is great if you just have a few moments to play and want to release some energy, or want to compete against a friend in a quick match!  Party Mode is the next journey and you can play with up to 8 players in 20 rounds.  You can choose a Quick Game or a longer game – you do obviously have to take turns with 8 players!  The Treasure Room is where you can try on new outfits, check your medals and times, and more.  Finally there is Treasure Trials, which you select your skill on and choose which Trial to conquer.  This journey has different games that you have to complete in a certain order to become a master hunter and unlock new content.

The first time I played this game I was so out of breathe and couldn’t believe how much of a workout I was getting from a game!  Most of the movements are walking in place, running in place, jumping, and tapping certain arrows with you hit or hands.  Yes you do use your hands!  For example, one of the activities has you running through a island and you have to run, jump, and use your hands to touch the top arrows on the mat to simulate ducking!  Now what is really nice is each activity has a quick description on what buttons you use, how to play, and the difficulty rating.

Overall I really like this game and can’t wait to play it with more players!  It is also as easy or hard as you want it to be.  For example, I set up the game where you have to run in place and cross the falling bridge and my son and the 4-year-old neighbor had a blast running on the mat.  It really gets you and your family up and moving, and all in some healthy competition!  I also read that you can use the mat with another game right now including Active Life: Extreme Challenge.  If you already have the mat, you can also buy this game separate.  Active Life Explorer is such a fun and different game that is definitely different than just using the Wii Balance Board since you have more movements you can do and that you can have two players on the mat at once!

BUY IT: Look for “Active Life: Explorer With Mat” wherever video games are sold or check it out on Amazon for $56.99 (Wii).

Mama’s Money Savers Disclosure: I was sent this game to review. My opinion remains my own. Please see my Disclosure Policy.