Out of all of the family-centric games introduced during the lifetime of the absurdly popular Nintendo Wii, only a handful have seemingly thrived and continued into the present day. Perhaps the most prevalent is the Just Dance franchise, which releases every year like clockwork, but the Zumba series is just about hanging by a thread, doggedly determined to remain relevant nearly a decade after the first game’s release.
Zumba Burn It Up! is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch and plays very similar to the Just Dance games in that the Joy-Con track your movements as you follow the on-screen instructions. Featuring over 30 songs ranging from low to high intensity, you dance along with one of the game’s real-life instructors with the aim of burning off as many calories as possible. Keeping up with the instructors can be pretty difficult (these folks can move), but the game does try and make things slightly easier by signposting the next required move ahead of time, so you’re not just flailing around when the instructor suddenly changes things up.
The game respects your time quite well by giving you a range of different modes to choose from. You can play one track at a time if you wish, or you can take part in a ‘Full Class’, which features a range of routines of varying intensity lasting for either 15, 30, or 60 minutes depending on how much time you’re willing to commit. Additionally, if you want to work out with a partner, the multiplayer-focused ‘Fitness Party’ mode only accumulates an overall star rating if every player manages to get a star rating of their own, so there’s good incentive here for everyone to pull their weight.
Ultimately, Zumba Burn It Up! knows its audience, and thankfully there’s really nothing much to complain about with this new iteration; it’s a perfectly fine addition to a series that continues to truck along relatively painlessly. A bit more variation with the songs would have been nice, and whilst we appreciate that this is targeted to people who likely already have a certain degree of fitness, the game could do a much better job at easing in newcomers. Look, we’re not getting any younger...
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Comments 27
I have every intention of getting ring fit adventure. Just waiting to get a little more money.
This game... Not so much.
If Ring Fit Adventure is too crazy for you, get Fitness Boxing
I think it would just be better to stick with Ring Fit Adventure..
Zumba... I haven’t heard that name in years.
@Kalmaro Hey can you chill out with trying to be the First Comment every time .At the end of the day do what you want but it's pretty bad when every time not only do you have to be the first comment you say some kind of back handed negative thing more than half the time.This doesn't just go for you but there's one other person I see doing the same thing.So don't worry you're not alone.
Thought Zumba was for people who used the term ‘Wine O’Clock’. Glad to see that demographic getting some representation, I guess 😂😂
Just get Ring Fit Adventure. It's a great work out and a fun game. If for whatever reason the Adventure Mode is too much for you to handle, than the mini games and sets are also fine and a good work out.
Unless you REALLY need to dance and that's all you want than sure, Zumba. I guess.
@LoveEmpath U mad bro? 😜
@HobbitGamer mildy annoyed at best
I probably didn’t stick with Fitness Boxing enough, but I found many of the combos difficult. There was customization, but it was more vague and I couldn’t find the right customization.
Ring Fit Adventure does a great job of customizing for my level and letting me choose the exercises that I want.
I was interested in Zumba until Ring Fit was announced. May still get it for my wife.
@LoveEmpath Heh. I couldn't help but think your comment was funny.
@Tandy255 I hope your wife is into Zumba otherwise she might think you’re hinting at something by buying her this game 😂😂😂
The last time I played Zumba, was a few years ago. I was going all at it and feeling good. I mean, I was going so fast that I started on fire and then all hell broke loose. I kind of ran outside screaming and somehow started the rest of the village on fire and everything burnt down. I kind of felt responsible so I apologized to everyone and ran as quickly as I could to another village for protection, I mean to relocate. Oh boy, I lost a lot of calories that day. And then I woke up. Hah none of this happened and so you just lost a minute of your life reading this. Sorry.
@LoveEmpath No, I will not stop, but I do appreciate you reaching out to me.
I will continue to offer my thoughts because that is what this section is for. I did not say anything negative about this game, just that it is not for me.
You're more than welcome to comment before me though, I'm not trying to beat anyone, I just happen to be pretty attentive to this site since I like it so I tend to be able to comment before anyone else.
Throw in the lady on the front cover and I’m all in.
I'm much more keen on Ring Fit Adventure, but my wife might want this for herself. She had good times with Zumba on the Wii. I played with it a few times and it's a surprisingly good cardio workout, but I'm just not much of a dancer.
I love my switch and Nintendo Always some thing cool even if awkward or not popular. They always try bring interesting things out. Ring fit looks super fun and awesome. I'm going try it out when I can afford it
The picture for this article is scary ⊙﹏⊙
I have abs again because of Ring Fit. I do it 4 times a week for about 40 min. A little under 200 calories burned. I do also go to the gym but I only have been going twice a week. I have only lost 9 lbs. but I didn’t need to loose much. I have maintained my diet because of the routine.
My wife is going to want this. She plays the heck out of it on Wii U. However I wonder if you need to hold the joycon in your hands. The Wii U version has this leg belt where you put the a Wii Controller and off you go.
@Anti-Matter That comment had nothing to do with the article in question and neither did the image, which is why I have deleted your comment. I hope you understand.
@Matthew010
I don't understand.
Both DDR and Zumba are same Rhythm games.
The different is DDR have tons of interesting songs and way much better gameplay than Zumba with just a few Mainstream songs and less interesting way to play.
The other users also showed their disinterest with Zumba and compared with other Rhythm fitness games (Ring Fit Adventures) but why i didn't allowed to compare between Zumba with DDR arcade ?
@Anti-Matter The other users didn't post images of the game. If you prefer DDR, that's great, but just say you'll stick with DDR and leave it at that. You're very welcome to post a rephrased comment, but just don't post pictures. Hope this helps!
Edit: Also, the article itself mentions Ring Fit which will have prompted users to compare this Zumba game to Ring Fit.
@Matthew010
Ow, i see.
But my DDR score picture just want to explain the exact detail from my explanation so the other users can see what i talked about.
Edit: Also, when i heard about Zumba, i will think about Rhythm / Dancing games, not a Fitness game like Ring Fit Adventures. So in my mind, only DDR that will popped up from my head when i heard about Zumba or other Rhythm games. If i didn't allowed to think about DDR from other Rhythm games articles (Just Dance, Project Diva, etc) how could i tell my opinion ?
@Anti-Matter You can express your opinion about DDR. Say that you like DDR, but leave it at that. No pictures and you'll be fine!
@Kalmaro I'll be honest with you ,not that I was being deceptive but I was mostly just venting about what you and that other person have been doing but I am not complaining with any kind of expectation or demand that you change your behaviour. I just wanted you to know how what you've been doing annoyed me.It just kind of acculumated the anyonece over seeing it at least 10 times.But feel free to continue for I do not seek to discontinue your existince I only needed you to recive my fury and I do feel a little better regardless if I feel the problem isn't resolved.
@LoveEmpath No worries, I wasn't offended or anything, and if venting helped you feel a little better then I can't complain 👍🏾
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