Walk It Out

I like thinking, but I don't like having to think so hard while playing a game that I get frustrated.  If you think finding things out for yourself makes a game fun, then don't read this.

I had read good and bad reveiws about Walk It Out (by Konami) - some said it was a lot of fun, other said it was boring because all you do is walk.  We have a contest at work that involves walking and I can't walk in cold weather, I can't tolerate hot weather, and I don't like walking when I'm not going anywhere so I decided to try Walk It Out because I had to walk to play so why not play while I walked?

I've been using Walk It Out  on the Wii for less than two months so I'm definitely not an expert, but I want to share what I have learned about it - and I learn something new all the time.  Personally, I found the directions that come with the game are a little vague about some things.

First, it's not boring to me.  I've played it for almost every day for almost two months - sometimes twice a day - and I'm not bored yet.  (Tired, yes, bored, no.)  It will take me at least another month if not 2 - 5 to finish building the island.  It probably would be boring to teenagers and other kids who like action type, shoot-em-up, or sports games.  There's no blood, violence, or sex - but the designers' taste in music is questionable (just an old lady's opinion).

The premise of the game is that while you are walking around Rhythm Island you earn points (called chips) that you can exchange for items to decorate the island.  These items include at least 4 kinds of trees, houses, stores, hotels, flower gardens, barns, windmills, a lighthouse, suspension bridges, cars, carts, and music.  Your points can also "buy" access to new routes and areas like the beach, farm, business district, cherry tree orchard, and look-out mountain, also zodiac signs and time-changing clocks. 

Playing is fairly simple.  As you walk, you use the Wii Remote to point to "event capsules" (round orange circles).  If you hover the remote arrow over the capsule, you'll see what item the capsule represents and how many points it costs.  More about event capsules later.

You can use the Wii remote with a nunchuk, a Wii balance board, or a DanceDanceRevolution controller pad.  I use the Wii remote and a nunchuk.  (I'd recommend a wireless nunchuk, but I don't have one and I haven't hung myself on the connecting cord yet.)  Note: to pick a controller click on the controller you want to use, then you go to a new screen, read it and do what it says then click the square orange button on the bottom right, this takes you back to the Select a Control screen where you have to click the orange button again to "confirm" your selection.

I like the remote/nunchuk the best because I don't have to just walk in one place  - I dance, I walk around the room, I do "aerobic steps" like grapevine, and occassionally I just stand still and move my arms.  You're supposed to put the nunchuk in your pocket and walk in place, but it doesn't always pick up my steps.  I found that I could hold the nunchuk and move it in time to the music and it worked better.  (Let me say here that I think this game would be fun for people who are in wheelchairs - as long as they can move their arms they can participate on a par with other players.)

The first thing you do is walk around the inside of a stadium where your trainer/motivator tells you how to play.  I admit that this is where I almost gave up on the game.  I just could not figure out how to get out of that stadium.  The trainer said to look for the arrows and click on them.  For some reason I just could not see the arrows.  (I wasn't the only one who had that problem - I saw forums on the internet where other people asked how to get out of there.)  Anyway, there are fairly large arrows just barely above the avatar's head when you get near the exit.  The red arrow points in the direction you are walking. Click on the white arrow that points right and it will turn red.  Then you can leave the stadium.   You will see these arrows all over the island as you walk and the red arrow always indicates the direction you are going while the white arrows indicate alternate routes.

That gets you out of the stadium and on to the island.

Before you leave the island for the day, you need to know that you must click on the little box in the lower right corner of the screen to save what you have built.  Konami refers to this box as the "portable player".  You can also click this button when you wish to take a break.  Inside the portable player is the Pause Menu where you can do things like view your records, change the song list, or play some mini-games as well as save the game.  Warning! The points you have earned won't save so spend them before you quit the game.