Fitness has become more important than ever these days as more people try and find time to change their lifestyles and get a little healthier; a task which is easier said than done. A nice alternative that has become an overwhelming sensation is the recent trend of fitness videogames that appy the addictive power of games to helping people manage (and maintain) a coordinated effort to improve the quality of their lives through regular exercise.  Forget all that talk about them being 'just a fad', as Wii Fit, EA Sports Active, Julian Michaels, and several others have proven the genre isn't just here to stay, it's here to dominate.  Activision's 10 Minute Solutions: Knock Out Body, based on the best-selling series of workout DVDs, is a budget-ready addition that puts several sweat-inducing activities onto one reasonably priced disc.

The title from what most will gather is about fitness, albeit the emphasis is less on planning (and maintaining) a complete and thorough exercise regime than it is having quick 10-minute exercises at the ready for that quick burst of effort.  The game includes decent customization (such as picking the gender and vocal tone of your trainer) and allows you to pick between Instant Workout, Custom Workout, or Fitness Plan, with each functioning as you'd expect.  Many of the activities are largely variations of each other (such as boxing and pugil stick defense), and most involve simply mimicking the on-screen prompts to accomplish the intended action.  The aerobic exercises seem to fair better than most of the activities, largely due to good integration with the Balance Board, and almost exclusively rely on stepping motions.  For those who do like routine you can arrange exercises day-by-day within the week along with a progress graph to guide you, although serious players will find much to scoff at with this simplified layout.

The majority of the exercises seem designed to be played with the stock Wii remote + Nunchuk (or even two Wii remotes), such as badminton, disc grab, or even volleyball defense, which is a shame considering how inconsistent those controls are.  While simple motions like hand-waving work fine, performing anything more complex tends to confuse the game and can result in failed attempts.  Even after working through the in-game tutorials to make sure I was performing them correctly I still wasn't able to have them respond as I would have liked, even when I became familiar with the on-screen prompts.  I really don't know if this had more to do with the standard (i.e. non-Wii MotionPlus) controls or bad programming, but if the concept was to successfully mimic the commands to achieve maximum cardio effort, perhaps more forgiving controls would have been better.

Fortunately, the Balance Board helps save the day from some of the woeful motion-induced shortcomings of the stock Wii remote controls.  As these aerobic activities (hope you like stepping) rely more on shifting your weight on a physical board than flailing at uncertain symbols, the results are far more accurate and less stressful.  It's too bad more 'game' wasn't built around these moments, as the Balance Board itself is featured so prominently on the game's box (come to think of it, so is fitness instructor Jessica Smith, but you won't see her in the game, either).

While the 'budget' label isn't necessarily the Scarlett Letter it used to be, it's obvious that little effort was put into the game's presentation, as the visuals and sounds - while functional - leave a lot to be desired.  Considering the source material, it shouldn't come as any surprise that the game also includes a training video on helping you work on your abdominal muscles.  Frankly, I wasn't expecting a full-featured exercise program from this game and wasn't disappointed by the lack of content or in-depth features.  Other than to occupy shelf space and compete with its competition, there isn't much here to suggest the game needed to be a full retail game, and perhaps a downloadable (WiiWare) release would be wise.

What started out as a simple DVD fitness series has officially crossed over to the lucrative world of videogame fitness, and for those looking for a less expensive alternative to the myriad of other interactive exercises, 10 Minute Solutions: Knock-out Body may be a good entry point to gaming's fastest-growing genre.  The various activities included are involving enough to work up a sweat, but lack diversity and quite often hindered by inaccurate and confusing motion-controls.  The Balance Board isn't a requirement, but given how non-responsive and bland the standard Wii remote set-up is, you probably won't want to play the game without one.  There are much better - and far worse - fitness games on the market.