Hands- and legs-on with Nintendo’s mildly diverting Ring Fit Adventure ~ USA Latest Games

The new hula hoop?

The worst thing about regular exercise, in my book, is just how boring it can be. At their best, exercise video games can help alleviate this boredom, giving you a distracting and entertaining goal to chase that makes you forget you're exercising at all.

After spending an hour with Ring Fit Adventure—Nintendo's recently announced pilates-ring-meets-RPG for the Switch—I found it to be, most often, a mildly engaging distraction from the tedium of exercise. Occasionally, it even became an all-encompassing focus that made me forget my body's movements entirely. But I'm still skeptical that it will remain engaging enough to carry me through weeks and months of regular workouts.

Put a ring on it

From the first moment I held the Ring Fit itself, I found it to be surprisingly solid. It has a decent amount of heft and gives a fair amount of resistance both when pushing in and pulling out on the comfy cushioned grips (you can adjust just how much pushing and pulling is necessary to register via the game settings). And unlike some other (cheaper) Pilates rings I've tested, the Ring Fit doesn't twist or bend in unexpected directions as you push and pull on it. It doesn't feel like it's going to snap apart or succumb to wear and tear through normal use.

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