WarioWare: Smooth Moves Review

WarioWare: Smooth Moves (WII)
Developer: Intelligent Systems

Publisher: Nintendo

AT-A-GLANCE:
Rating: 9.4

Graphics: 8.5

Sound: 8.5

Gameplay: 9.5

Replay: 9.6

.:What's WarioWare?:.

This franchise starts with Wario, its lead character, stumbling into some kind of situation wherein he finds contraptions that "coincidentally" bear resemblance to the current Nintendo platform that is playing said game. This time, he finds something shaped like a Wii remote called a "Form Baton"... and it's not christened Form Baton without a reason (more on that later)...

Anyway, the franchise has spawned games for the GameBoy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo DS and Wii of course and though its main idea is very weird (more on that later as well), it's a bestseller.

OK, so here's the core gameplay idea for this franchise, the system lays a so-called "microgame" which are smaller than minigames and lasts for as little as 5 seconds. In this duration, you have to do the task by doing different motions. Though the game will be slow and steady in pacing at first, the speed will progressively go up and up until you run out of lives. In that process, the microgames of different varieties are thrown at you, failure to do these microgames will cost you a life in which there are 4 by default.

CAPTION: A riotous party when you make the darn pen write... the weirdness doesn't even start there...

.:The Game Review:.

Now that you know what the heck this one's about, let's get started.

.:Graphics:.

Every microgame has its own style but the graphics outside the microgames, though very cartoonish, look great even on a widescreen HDTV (Wii only supports Standard definition and progressive scan). But in the microgames, all of them seem to have a different style. For example, you need to insert a 2D finger to a polygonal rendering of a nose or maybe there's a pastel-colored banana waiting to be rid of flies for gorilla consumption. Of course, as WarioWare tradition states, it also has its share of past and recent Nintendo games like Metroid Prime or The Wind Waker, etc.

.:Sound:.
Sounds are typically quirky in a Wario game and also come in different styles in the microgames as well. And when the signaling of 'FASTER!' shows up, everything becomes more intense just because of the accelerated audio. Of course, in a Nintendo game, all features in a console are showcased. The same can be said for the Wiimote's speaker which also gives a significant boost to the experience because of the sound effects that come out of it.

.:Gameplay:.
WarioWare in general is very unpredictable, meaning that you won't even have the ability to foretell the next microgame it throws at you. Of course, the poses or "forms" (thus the name 'Form Baton' on the Wiimote) that you are required to do will show before the game proper but though there are over 300 or so microgames and more than 20 different poses, it never fails to NOT be repetitive at all despite the ratio of microgame to pose being approximately 15:1.

CAPTION: So this is what Heavenly Sword's aftertouch feels like!

The outcome of every action made in a microgame is also very unpredictable at times and humorous most of the time. Some can be a bit gross, though. Like, let's say, drinking a glass of water. If you're successful, the character on the screen will grow lots of hair in a gross-out fashion (much like a "Rogelio", I'd say). If you turn the Wiimote with too much force, the water spills, and if you do nothing, well, the character also does nothing.

Being a party game, this game is of course best played with up to 12 players on one remote due to the fact that the game itself gives time for posing correctly according to the picture. Of course, due to this, the Wii safety guidelines for the wrist strap is not followed but what the hell, it's fun!

.:More about forms:.
There are different kinds of forms ranging from very cool to mind-bogglingly weird. Let's say you need to make a ball fall from a circular maze, though you can do it the regular way, 'the chauffeur' form, wherein you hold the Wiimote like a steering wheel, will make this easier. Maybe you should cut something to serve as practice in a dojo, if you think swishing the Wiimote to do that in Cooking Mama is cool, wait till you see 'the Samurai' which is my favorite form to date. This is the form wherein you place the remote on your left hip and 'slash' the Wiimote to the right like a real samurai. Delayed effects are even put in for more wow factor! Other forms include 'the Umbrella', 'the Remote Control' and more.

CAPTION: Yes, there's even a 'Mohawk' -->

.:Overall:.
This game is totally not for a niche audience of weird people but also for the mainstream audience because it's the perfect party game. It seems that the franchise has never come out at a more opportune time than the Wii's release... and its combination of wacky antics and fun, pick-up-and-play gameplay even sweetens the deal.

Never have I seen a game strike such a balance of being a great Wii technological showcase and being a very fun game in the process! Kudos to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems for making such a cleverly and creatively crafted game for people ages 2 to 92! Too bad the Story mode's too short...

Another Wii game to look forward to?

Featuring cute sprites, full customization, silly quests and eyeball trees?! This is the new mySims for the Wii. It seems fairly interesting... (also available for the DS)
PHOTO CREDIT: GAMESPOT/NINTENDO/ELECTRONIC ARTS