Review | Adidas miCoach (X-Box 360)

Jump to a section

Plot: What’s it about?Video: How does it look?Audio: How does it sound?

Plot: What’s it about?

Thanks to the Kinect, the X-Box 360 has a wealth of excellent exercise games available. Adidas miCoach is one of the newest exercise games for Kinect, but does it provide a competent workout? This game puts an emphasis on being able to train with real athletes, which is sure to attract attention. The roster of sports stars is impressive, with Ana Ivanovic, Dwight Howard, Tyson Gay, Eric Berry, and others all involved. The athletes coach you in their respective fields, so this is like having an expert personal trainer with a focus on strength and conditioning. The routines are intense and will push your fitness, with some workouts up to ninety minutes in duration. This is serious exercise, so if you want a real workout that will produce results, Adidas miCoach will provide that. At the same time, the game is able to ramp up your progress, with short and long term goals that will ensure you are never frustrated with the work you’re doing.

The main mode is Training Plans, which offers a number of sports to choose from, then matches you up with experts in that specific sport. The sports available are tennis, basketball, track, soccer, and football, so there is a nice selection. You’re able to focus on general fitness, speed, or strength exercises, so you’re able to tailor the workouts to your own needs. Then your coach will guide through exercises, explain the benefits, and talk about how the routine relates to that sport. This is great, as it lets you know why the routine was chosen and what to expect from your workouts. Most of the routines are staged for players to workout 3-4 times per week, over a 3 week period. So you will need to dedicate yourself to a regular workout schedule, but if you put the time and effort in, these intense workouts will give you results.

If you want a lower impact routine, then you’ll want Training Games. These are more “game” oriented, as you mimic the motions of the various sports. You can shoot baskets, hit tennis balls, kick soccer balls, and so on. These are obviously not going to get you into great shape, but they’re a fun diversion. The final mode is Conditioning, which has a shorter, but still intense workout routine and one of the training games. So you get a nice workout and then cool down with a brisk, fun game. I found Adidas miCoach to be quite good, with excellent Kinect tracking and some highly effective workouts. The routines are well designed and having real life coaches adds a lot to the experience. With over 400 exercises available, you are bound to find a number of routines that are just what you want to engage in. So if you want a real workout, not just a game driven exercise experience, Adidas miCoach is one of the best workout games around.

Video: How does it look?

The game’s visual design is quite good, especially for an exercise game. These kind of games usually have simplistic visuals since focus will be on the trainers, but this game provides a solid overall look. The trainers are great replications of the real life athletes, while the locations show a nice amount of detail and depth. You won’t often be still enough to soak in the visuals, but the colorful graphics are a nice addition. This is a refined, polished visual presentation, so great work in all aspects.

Audio: How does it sound?

The sound design is rock solid as well. The vocal work done by the coaches and such is crystal clear, while the various sound effects come through well. The game isn’t as audio driven as a Zumba style workout, per se, but the audio is well designed and adds to the overall experience.

Disc Scores

Plot: What’s it about?

Video: How does it look?

Audio: How does it sound?