Thanksgiving is over, so now it’s time to work off all that turkey you ate. And Zumba Fitness 2 for Wii is here to help. Based on the popular dance fitness classes and videos, Zumba Fitness 2 improves on the first game with new routines, songs, and unlockable goodies.

In the game, you can dance to a single song or take a full class with a group of songs. You can choose to do a short, medium, or long full class. The game comes with a Zumba Fitness belt for you to put the Wii remote in, so your hands can be free to do the dance moves. As you move around in time with the beat following the dance routines, the game lets you know how well you are doing with a ranking. It’s a little hard to know exactly how to time the moves right, but do well and the stage background will light up with pyrotechnics and lasers, and you’ll earn stars.

Stars can be used to unlock goodies like behind the scenes videos on the making of the game. But what’s weird is that you earn more stars by playing a single song than you do by taking a full class. But there are tons of unlockables, so you’ll be playing this game for a long time before you see it all.

You can play each of the modes with up to four players, and if you need extra fitness belts, you can get them at the Zumba Web site. I highly recommend this if you have a family because it’s much more fun with other players. You can also practice the moves in the Learn the Steps mode. One improvement they made with this sequel is that the dancers on screen look like actual people, not silhouettes, so it’s easier to follow the dances. It was still a little tricky for a klutz like myself, but luckily the game really doesn’t penalize you too much if you have two left feet. Up to eight players can save their profile so they can track their progress, view their awards, and see unlockable goodies. You can also create a custom playlist of your favorite Latin and hip-hop songs and dances.

The only problem with Zumba Fitness 2 is that sometimes it was hard to get the game to read your moves right. Again, the game is pretty forgiving and you’re not penalized aside from maybe not getting all the stars, but practice makes perfect! Make sure to have the Wii remote as perpendicular to the floor as you can when in the belt, and put it on the right side of your hip so it reads movement better. That’s what works the best, I’ve noticed. You move and bend your legs a lot, so if you have knee problems, you may need to be careful.  But despite the problems, Zumba Fitness 2 is still one of the best fitness dance games I’ve played on the Wii.

Kid Factor:

Zumba Fitness 2 is rated T for Teen with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Lyrics. While it may be a little awkward if your little ones start repeating some of the words to the songs, there’s really nothing here that’s worse than what you hear on modern radio stations. I’d be OK with kids younger than teens playing this, but reading skill is helpful for the menus. Since the game doesn’t really penalize you, young dancers can just have fun moving around without getting frustrated. Plus being able to play a single song or short class is better for short attention spans. And having fun is really the most important thing here. There’s really no secret to Zumba Fitness other than you are constantly moving around, and that’s a great way to stay fit.

Tags: Game Reviews