Family Trainer

You could be forgiven for thinking Family Trainer is a Wii Fit clone, after all the name ‘Family Trainer’ suggests training and exercise, no?  We reckon that’s just been done to cash-in on the Wii Fit phenomenon, however, because Family Trainer has almost nothing to do with exercise.

Inside the box is a copy of the game and a very large dance mat. This mat is used, in conjunction with the normal Wii remote, to control Family Trainer’s various mini-games. It doesn’t attempt at any point to guess your weight or provide a BMI reading, but presents you with a very colourful family-friendly game collection.

Using the mat you can take part in games like ‘Pipe Slider’, which involves sitting down and steering your Mii through a pipe with your hands, and ‘Sprint Challenge’, where you’ve got to run as fast as possible. We particularly enjoyed Mole Stomper, which tasks you with stomping moles by slamming your foot down on the mat.

This games sound weak, but they’re actually immensely enjoyable. The mat is very responsive and it makes them a joy to play, far better than we were expecting and superior to other Wii mini-game collections.

It is a shame there aren’t more of them, but at least each mini-game is quite distinct from each other, and they’re all suitable for every member of your family. It is one of those perfect party games the Wii does so well.

Verdict: 80%

A very enjoyable collection of very silly games, even if there aren’t enough of them. This comes highly recommended for families, who’ll love gathering round and watching each other play.