Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Jillian Michaels, celebrity personal trainer extraordinaire and fan of aggressive motivation (as seen on “The Biggest Loser” TV series), is back again for a bit of Wii-Fit cash-in action. 2010 is the sequel to last year’s uninspiring Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 – a game with graphics and controls that made lackluster 1st generation PS1 games look like masterpieces of game design...and a game in hindsight that we overrated a bit.

This year’s “fitness product” is thankfully much better and more accurate in every way, though it’s sorely lacking in comedic value – and oddly, in personality. Jillian’s plastered all over the cover and gives a great beachside speech upon popping the game disc in, but gone are Ultimatum’s copious video clips and “extras”. Like a proverbial “biggest loser”, Collision has trimmed the fat from the franchise and instead focused on the actual exercise component. The result is a perfectly serviceable, if somewhat bland, experience.

After a brief intro from Jillian herself, you get your main menu options – you can opt for a quick exercise – 1 round of a particular routine – or a meatier workout, incorporating a range of different activities. You can also set “resolutions” and goals using the new calendar, which tracks workouts for up to six months. There are 18 main exercises – and the preset routines make a great deal more sense than they did in last year’s game. You can choose to target your upper or lower body, work the core, or get a bit more cardio in. You can also build your own workouts, selecting the individual activities (and difficulty levels) as you see fit.

Gone are the throwaway activities like the canoeing and archery of last year’s game, replaced by legitimate things like push-ups, crunches, swing kicks, jumping jacks and obliques. Jillian’s avatar accompanies you on each workout, demonstrating proper form for each and every motion – a useful change from having a character model awkwardly mimic your own erratic movements. Audio from Jillian plays over every exercise, egging you on and/or yelling at you to keep you motivated.

Another major improvement is in the controls – whereas Jillian’s first game was insanely inaccurate and clunky, there’s a nice, simple “quadrant” interface that appears on the screen during all motions, allowing you to adjust your speed and range of motion in accordance with the proper exercise. It’s not as precise as say, EA Sports Active’s system (which has you actually wearing the nunchuck on your leg), but it works nicely.

The entire experience takes place on a tropical island, complete with crisp (if a little “dreamcast-era”) beaches, swamps and sunset vistas. The graphics and music are simple and serviceable, evoking a real “fitness video” vibe that’s peppy and inoffensive.

The claims of Wii Balance Board compatibility are a bit misleading – to get the full benefit of playing the game, you’ll really need the balance board. Many exercises (like a great deal of the ab/core activities) require it – and if you’re board-less, you’ll find yourself treated to a non-interactive video demonstrating the exercise, without any feedback. Sure, you can mimic the movements onscreen (you’re supposed to, anyway), but without interaction, it’s like watching a fitness video without all the sweaty pretty people in spandex – that is, its completely lame.

What we have here at the end of the day is a product that is light years beyond its predecessor, though it still can’t hold a candle to the infinitely superior EA Sports Active line. Big fans of Jillian Michaels and true fitness newbies may get something out of it, but I can’t recommend 2010 to anyone else when another game blows it out of the water so completely. If Collision can improve upon this with the inevitable sequel and make the same quantum leap in quality observed here – well then, I’m eagerly anticipating Jillian’s 2011 offering.