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The original Zumba Fitness video games, released in November 2010 for Wii and Xbox Kinect, sold millions of copies but were admittedly quite lackluster. While it was great to be able to dance Zumba routines to your TV screen, motion tracking on both systems was terrible (something especially disappointing on the then-new Kinect), and the so-called tutorials didn't do a very good job of teaching those new to Zumba.
I'm happy to say that Majesco listened to its users. In November 2011, they introduced Zumba Fitness 2 for the Wii which made great improvements. They added different beautifully designed venues (such as a Yacht in Miami or a Rooftop in New York) complete with crowds of synchronized animated dancers in the background that help put you in that "party mood". They also added a few licensed music tracks, and even used the cartoon versions of real-life Zumba instructors Beto, Tanya Beardsley, and Gina Grant as your virtual trainers. It was a huge improvement over the original.
It took them a few more months to release the sequel for the Kinect (which they're calling Zumba Fitness Rush). I'm happy to say it was worth the wait. The Xbox version has the same new features as the Wii version, and then adds three more Zumba instructors (Kass Martin, Jason Thompson and Erica Pierce), five new venues, and 10 additional music tracks. And of course the Xbox version has much more detailed graphics and glorious hands-free control that works the way it should.
When you start the game, you have six menu options:
1) Single Song: Here, you can just dive into dancing. You can scroll through the list of songs of many different musical styles, ranging from Cumbia to Samba to Batucada to Mambo to Hip Hop. The intensity of the songs range from Low to Medium to High. Most of the songs are Zumba originals, but there are a few licensed tracks (Pause by Pitbull, Poison Remix by Nicole Scherzinger, and We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP).
Dancing works the same way as with most dance games--a Zumba instructor will dance on the screen, and you have to mirror his or her moves. A visual cue card will show up to tell you what move is coming up next (it's animated, which I find much more useful than the cryptic icons in other dance games). Despite the similarities to other dance games, one thing to keep in mind is that Zumba Fitness Rush is an exercise game first. The dance moves are simpler and more repetitive by design. The game is less about fancy choreographed dance moves, and all about aerobic dance steps that get your heart pumping.
Your silhouetted image appears in the lower left-hand corner, so you can compare your poses to the trainer's. I liked the fact that even though my Kinect is only 6 feet from the TV (so my legs are cut off), the game still let me play and still had accurate motion tracking.
For some bizarre reason you don't see numerical scores as you're playing, you just see a row of 5 stars on the bottom of the screen. As you hit your moves, you'll be graded "NICE!", "HOT!", or "ZUMBA!" and your star count will go up accordingly. I found the accuracy to be vastly improved over the original version. You could get a couple "NICE" scores by faking it, but you really had to use to hit the moves precisely using your whole body to get the "ZUMBA!". If you miss a move, the part of your body that missed it will glow red.
After you finish a song, you finally see the numerical score along with the number of calories you burned, the percentage of moves you got right, the number of stars you earned, and a ranking (Zumba Fan, Zumba Rocker, etc.).
Calories burned is a useful addition, but since they don't ask you to input your weight (which is technically needed to calculate calories burned), it's only going to be an approximation. By my rough calculations, it looks like their calorie counts assume an average weight of 175 pounds; if you weigh more or less you'll have to adjust the calorie count higher or lower respectively.
2) Learn the Steps: The tutorial here is much more useful than the one in the first version. You're taught four basic steps of Salsa (Sidestep, Forward and Back, Travel, Backstep), Reggaeton (Stomp, Knee Lift, Destroza, and Bounce), Cumbia (Two Step, Forward and Back, Sleepy Leg, and Sugar Cane), and Merengue (March, Two Step, Six Count, Zumba Shuffle) by the animated Beto himself. You start out doing the steps slowly, and then once you've mastered that you can dance at normal speed. The system will accurately detect if you got the move right, and will check off that move once you do it successfully five times. There are of course many other steps and musical styles within the game, but learning these basic steps will get you warmed up and ready.
3) Zumba World: As of the launch date (2/13/12), the screen here still says "We're sorry, these features are not available yet. But check back soon!". They promise that under this menu option, you'll get the latest in Zumba news, let you locate a local class, and get new routines via DLC.
4) Full Class: Here, you can choose from 15 Short Classes, 15 Mid-Length Classes, 15 Full Length Classes. Classes are really nothing but individual songs strung together; the only real difference between Class mode and Single Song mode is that at the end of the class you can get aggregate statistics all the songs you played, not just one. Classes come in three lengths, short, mid length, and full-length which contain 20, 45, and 60 minutes of music respectively (add 5-20 minutes more to account for breaks between songs and rest time, and you're talking some major time investment). The good news is, you can also design your own class by stringing together your favorite songs. The one annoyance I found about the classes was that as you're going through the songs there's not any indication of how many songs you've danced to and how many there are left to go, which is particularly rough with the longer workouts.
5) Progress Tracker: Here, you can view Statistics (calories burned, total time played, and accuracy) by calendar day, week, or month, view Kinect Achievements (trophies you get for accomplishing various milestones in the game), or view "behind the scenes" videos that you unlock during the course of the game. I do like how you're incentivized to keep playing the game to unlock new trophies and videos.
6) Options lets you turn visual cues on and off, and adjust the sound effects and music volume.
There were a few minor annoyances with the game. Similar to what I said about Classes, while you're playing any song there's no indication of how much time has elapsed in the song and how much left there is to go. The result is an effect where, if you're not familiar with the song, you may start getting that "when is this going to be over?" feeling. I would have liked to see at least an option for displaying some kind of countdown timer on the bottom of the screen.
The graphics are much more stylized than the first version, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. On the good side, it makes the dancing experience a lot more exciting and immersive. On the negative side, some of the camera changes (e.g., from the trainer to the crowd and back) can really be distracting. Even worse, when you hit a series of moves right, you'll be rewarded with "Euphoria Mode", where the screen flashes a white so bright that you feel like you're being blinded (and ironically, you'll probably miss the next couple of steps because of it).
But the positive features of Kinect Fitness Rush outweigh any negative ones. It's definitely one of the better workout games available for the Xbox. Even with "Low Intensity" songs you'll get your heart rate pumping and will build up a sweat. The dancing is a lot of fun, and scoring is such that beginners won't get discouraged and yet experts will still feel fully rewarded for perfecting their moves.
If you're a Zumba fan, I'd say this is a must-buy if you want to have the Zumba experience at home; it's not quite the same as being in a real gym with a real instructor and fellow dancers, but it's probably the next closest thing to it. If you've always been curious about Zumba, this is a great and inexpensive way to learn it so that if you do sign up for classes you'll already have some experience under your belt.
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I had heard about the Zumba craze for a while and how good of a workout it provides. However, not only am I completely out of shape, the dancing gene completely skipped over me. Correction: there was never a dancing gene in my family that I could have inherited. After watching several Zumba classes from afar while sweating on the treadmill at my gym, the verdict was in: I would easily be the most uncoordinated person in that room, bustin' out moves reminiscent of Steve Urkel. Call me self-conscious, but this gal doesn't like making a fool out of herself.
Plus, those classes aren't included in most gym memberships. The thought of a one-time payment for an XBox game is rather appealing instead of dishing out cash for continued group classes.
In terms of a good workout... Oh. My. Gosh. It gets the heart pumping, sweat flowing, and muscles burning -which, of course, means that it's working.
The game breaks down in a lot of different ways. It offers an instructive session on the basic steps for four of the major dancing styles that are incorporated into the songs and routines (salsa, merengue, cumbia, and reggaeton). My one complaint here is that they don't offer instruction on other styles that are used such as mambo and cha-cha for those bumbling klutzes like me. You eventually pick up on them after repetition, but a primer would be nice. These sessions introduce four steps per dance style. They start off slowly to help demonstrate the actual step and then speed up to make sure that you actually have it down. This makes the actual workouts a LOT easier to follow, so I highly recommend going through this first.
The dance routines are classified by intensity levels: high intensity, medium intensity, and low intensity. When you are selecting a song or a workout, you are given a choice of intensity level. The choices also provide you with the "location" of your workout. Your instructor can lead the workout from a variety of backgrounds such as a yacht, Bollywood, a New York alley, a rooftop, Carnivale, etc. You can also preview each song or workout before beginning.
You can opt to do a single song, create your own workout from the available songs, choose a set workout, or try to find a live class.
With the set workouts, you can choose either a short workout (20 minutes), a medium workout (45 minutes), or a full workout (1 hour). The intro to each workout tells you how many songs there are, and each song is prefaced by an update telling you which song in the set you are about to begin. Once you select the length of your workout, you choose the intensity of your workout (low, medium, or high). Don't be fooled; even the low intensity workouts will make you sweat. The length and intensity options of the workouts give you a great starting point if you are really out of shape. You can start small and work your way up without killing yourself, yet still get a good session.
During each song, you will see several different things on the screen aside from the instructor and the background. On your left, there is a meter that grades each of your moves. Not only does it measure the accuracy of each of your steps, but it detects your intensity. More gusto = more points. Along the bottom of your screen are five empty stars. As the dance goes on, these stars will fill up, again based on accuracy and intensity. It doesn't take an expert or a Shakira to get all five stars, so it's actually somewhat of an encouragement. In the bottom left corner, there is a box that shows your silhouette so you can see how good you look. ;) Or in my case, the reason why you're doing this when no one else is looking!!! And as the steps are about to change, a box will appear in the upper right corner to show you the next move so you'll be a step ahead of the game and can keep up with the dance.
At the end of each workout, you are give a summary that shows you how well you did. You get an overall star rating, an accuracy percentage, and your total calories burned. From the main menu, you can also track your overall progress which documents your accuracy, calories burned, time played, etc. It also breaks it down by the dates of your workouts so you can track your fitness and weight loss goals. This also lists the different achievements that you have gotten throughout your different workouts, including hidden, behind the scenes dances that you unlock as you go. I've gotta say, unlocking one of these dances is definitely a good feeling, and it makes you want to keep going. With these achievements and "secret" levels, the workouts become like an actual game. It will engage your competitive side.
When you're going through a workout, the instructors change with every dance. Each instructor seems to have his or her own style or genre. Translation: as soon as the new song is about to start, I know whether or not I'm about to hate my life. One in particular makes me groan every time she pops up on the screen. However, as time goes on, you'll pick up on the steps and styles, and things will get easier.
If you have Zumba experience, getting the hang of this will be a lot easier for you. If you are a newbie like me, it will take some extra time and work -but don't get frustrated. For a while, you will probably get stuck a time or two during the workouts while you try to pick up a new dance move. But if you stick with it, there will be no regrets. Regularly pushing through the pain is well worth it. I was stunned by how quickly I began to see results. I use this as my cardio workout three times a week, and it's actually fun!
If you're serious about getting in shape, this is the way to go. Well worth the money.
Best Deals for Zumba Fitness Rush - Xbox 360
Zumba is back with Zumba Fitness Rush!! And what can be said about this sequel? Read on!!
The Cons:
Unlike it's predecessor, the developers decided to remove a crucial fun factor, online multi-player mode. That's right, you can no longer play online with friends in far away places.
Another issue that may affect a few people (especially those with epilepsy) are the constant flashes and de-focus in the game play. I found it quite irritating, especially when a new move was coming up.
The cue cards are a nice addition, but developers, if you're going add them, then put the whole routine of the move in there. It's like you put the move in but then decide to add something else to it. This option can be removed under settings.
In the manual it has a scale and tells you that you are able to edit, but I have yet to find where the edit option is or see the scale appear. You can only see Time, Technique and Calories Burned right now. If anyone sees the scale, please let me know where it is located.
Now for the Pros:
The navigating is great as you can use your hand, voice or controller.
The tracking has improved greatly.
The tutorials in learning the steps has improved as well.
All new music, routines and venues
Routine intensity go from easy to medium to high
The classes are fun and you will sweat your pants off big time.
Your choice of classes are Short Class (20 mins), Medium Class (45 mins) and Full Class (60 mins)
You can create your own playlist of songs (up to 12) and dance away without having to stop (you still have your choice of doing a single song as well).
It has a Dance Central type scoring system (the star system) and there you can get Nice, Hot or Zumba
It also shows the body part that needs work with a red silhouette.
So with all that said, would I recommend Zumba Fitness Rush? I'll say yes. Despite what it lacks, the pros still outweigh the cons!!
Enjoy, I know I will!!
Update: February 16th, 2012
After using it for nearly a week, I will say you will get use to the flashing which is Euphoria and they've updated it that you can now share on your awards on Facebook right from the game!! I'm loving it!! I can see this being my staple workout for a long time!!
Honest reviews on Zumba Fitness Rush - Xbox 360
I Zumba at a studio at least 2-3 times a week and this Zumba game is an amazing comperable experience. The game does a great job of breaking the moves down, but also allows advanced Zumba dancers to jump right in and get dancing. There are tons of new songs, new moves, and great graphics. If you Zumba you know you will work up quite the sweat all the while keeping a huge simpe on your face. Unlike the old game they dont have super long breaks between songs, so you keep your heart rate up your workout going. I'm so incredibly sore, and sweaty after I do this game and feel i can trade the gym off with this game a few times a week. I also noticed if your are doing the opposite/wrong move, the camera focuses on that spot so you can view it from several angles.
I also own dance central 1/2 as well as just dance 3 and this is way more fun and a better workout. I've even had some friends over to play this game with me and the dancing side-by-side scoring is accurate and easy for both people to use.
This game is fantastic! Best Fitness Game on Xbox Really what are you waiting for BUY it!
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Zumba Fitness Rush - Xbox 360
The video quality and menu navigation are 100% better than with the first game. I burn 500-600 calories on average with the full length class. I think this game comes in second only to dance central 2--with a slightly better calorie burn going towards zumba and higher fun factor to dc2. I love that I can do any class without having to first "unlock" it. The variety of classes and sets are fabulous.
I'd say this game is almost perfect. Things I dislike are:
1) The flashing lights are distracting but I got used to them.
2) I don't like when the screen sometimes navigates away from the main character at the start of a new step.
3) Animated cue cards are great but are not available for each new move.
4) Missing a sense of connection. Weird as it sounds I miss the occasional dialog from the first game. It gave me a sense of connection... The video quality is fabulous but some of the dancers have a really blank expression.
5). I wish there was more than one cool down. I hate that song and dance. :p. I miss the cool down from the first game. Since I only do this to work out I'll probably do my own cool down. Hey does anyone else think the cool down dancer would look like a character from avatar if she were blue? Phenomenal figure!
All in all I highly recommend the game for the workout and serious calorie burn---without the soreness the next day! This and
dance central 2 will tide me over until the next versions. I don't care about scoring. For me, the most important things are: Will it burn tons of calories? Yes! Will it keep me coming back for more? Yes!
