This is an on-going review, as the game has a large number of different things you can do, and they take enough time that I can't fit it all in today.

Go Vacation is a new game from Namco/Bandai, the same people who brought us Step To The Beat/Walk It Out. It takes place on Kawawii Island, which bears a superficial resemblance to Wii Fit Plus's Wuhu Island - round-ish sun-drenched island with a port, beach-bound bay, and central spiky mountain.

The similarity ends more or less there, although some of the mini-games clearly come from the same background as Wii Sports Resort.

From a fitness standpoint, the fifty mini-games are quite variable, with some requiring relatively little movement, but a great deal of fine-grained control, while others are more active.

GV is a relatively free-format game - while you can play the fifty different mini-games, you can also just move around the island. Indeed, to get to the location of the next mini-game you must do this.

The island is divided into four zones, distinguished by where they are - beach/sea, city, inland, and mountains. (So far, I have only played in the beach zone.) Each zone has a set of mini-games that you can play, each being one of the sort of activities you might find on a sub-tropical resort like this.

You start with a brief tutorial on how to move around, both on foot and on a jetski, before moving on to a jetski race.

Points worthy of note:
* The sadistic members of the audience will be pleased to hear that you can run over other Miis. It doesn't appear to injure them, but they do yelp when you hit them.
* You may drive the jetski wherever you like on the water.
* In the same way, when you get off the jetski, you can run around, and then get on a quad-bike.
* Quad-bikes can be driven in shallow water, and over a wide variety of terrain.

The island as a whole has a very Japanese feel to it. Indeed, the name, "Kawawii" (properly written with a hollow five-point star, just like the name of the J-pop Idol band Passpo*) is a portmanteau word from "kawaii" and "Wii". "Kawaii" is normally translated as "cute", but always in a positive sense.

((More to come...))

Wow! You can hit other miis. The game is worth trying for that alone. Do they stand there and clap?

How do the games you have played so far rate for fitness level? Are they mainly balance games or do they make your muscles work a bit? I can't wait to hear more!

I haven't seen anyone clapping, or just jumping up and down. I guess they don't do that stuff because they are on vacation, too. Well, except for the mini-game hosts, who are working, as is Lily, the equivalent here of Nancy on STTB/WIO.

I've played three of the games so far: Jetski Races, Parachuting, and Beach Volleyball. The first two are principally manual control dexterity games - the jetski is controlled using Wiimote+Nunchuck, while the parachutist is guided using the Wiimote by itself (OK, with the Plus attachment). The beach volleyball is at the level of Wii Sports tennis, I'd say.

Even though the Miis aren't clapping, it still sounds great that one is able to hit them! They should make more games like that. OK, I'll admit it is a bit sadistic, but...

So there is at least one game that give a good workout. Good. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review of this game.

I've had time to play this some more. The open-world nature of this game continues to reveal interesting oddments.

The island is divided into four zones: beach, city, forest, and snow. Each has its own set of activities in keeping with the theme of the zone (although the beach zone does include a jungle area). Scattered around the zones are treasure chests which unlock clothes when found and opened. In each zone there is a tourist information centre where you can change your clothes and redecorate your transportation. The first chest I opened contained a Japanese outfit - long kimono and sandals - and the second contained some beach / watersports gear.

The activities give badges when completed for the first time, and when you have 20 badges, they let you have a villa which you can then decorate using furniture bought with silver keys. These are earned by raising your levels in the different activities to the maximum. (Note: I haven't actually done this yet, as I only have 8 badges, but I saw a review on the French TV channel NoLife (http://nolife-tv.com/ - warning: in French) that described this.)

Although the activities themselves are a lot of fun, it is also fun to just zoom around on the quad bike or jet ski. There are areas within the beach zone where you can practice aerial tricks on both vehicles, which is good, because there are activities where you must do that for both of them.

One day, I'll actually travel to the other zones, and when I do, I'll post more information.

To be noted: most of the activities I've done so far have been control-oriented rather than particularly physical, so it isn't a substitute for cycling or running on Wuhu Island.

I, too, saw the review on Nolife. It was fascinating. The reviewers usually aren't that impressed by what they call 'casual games', but the reviewer this time was impressed by the open world aspect of Go Vacation. The game was described as being rich in detail and it certainly looked it.

The review mentioned that there was a problem with the camera. Have you found anything like that?

The camera handling isn't ideal, sure, but it isn't that bad. When you are on a vehicle, the camera tends to stay looking forward over your shoulder, but it can be swung up and down using the Nunchuck stick. So, no problem there.

When you are on foot, the camera tends to lag behind direction changes. You use the stick to move, and if you suddenly decide to change direction, e.g. from ahead to back-left, the camera will swing around (not super slow, but not super fast either) to become behind you again. As it does this, the direction you have to push the stick changes if you want to continue running toward your intended destination. It's slightly annoying, but you get used to it quickly, especially as it's a recurring theme in Wii games - Monster Hunter Tri does the same thing.

I've got it and I've tried it a bit. The quad bike is a blast!

I did one of the activities, the jet ski race, and that was fun. Then I found a quad bike and had even more fun racing around the place, crashing into things, falling off of cliffs, and jumping as high as I could go. Wow! I love this open world concept. Go where you like, do what you like.

The steering takes a bit of getting used to, but it's fine. I didn't notice any problems with the camera. Problems with my steering, yes, but I wasn't always exactly watching where I was going.

It's a great game, well worthing buying and out in time for Christmas.

There is also the place where you can drive the quad bike while it is completely underwater. On the beach there is a swimming pool, by the hotel Yggdrasil, with ramps at the ends. These ramps allow you to drive the quad bike in and out of the water, and you'll find that the water is deep enough to submerge the quad bike, but leave your head and shoulders above the surface. Bizarrely, the quad still works. Sea water, on the other hand, is only OK when it is up to hub-deep. Above that, and you "die" just like when you ride too deep in the water in the Wii Fit Plus cycling game.

(Yggdrasil in the name of the hotel is most likely a reference not to the Old Norse world tree, but to the Digimon character, as Namco Bandai owns the video game rights to the Digimon franchise.)

In the urban zone, by the way, you get around by inline skates or a skateboard. These represent a small amount of exercise as they won't move unless you waggle your hands up and down. Among the events are motor racing, skateboard or roller skate trickery, and bungee jumping.

In both the beach and urban zones you can get a tour of the zone - on the beach you ride in a sight-seeing boat or a float-plane, while in the big (ok, small) city you ride the trams.

(I have unlocked the ski zone, but have yet to actually go up there.)

If you like FPS games, have you tried Red Steel II? It is a sort of fitness game that has a story and is an FPS featuring sword work. You really have to put some effort into the sword, so it's a good upper body workout. Give it a try if you can.