Ware for art, thou Wario?
If you find any appeal in microgames, you will not be disappointed with
Nintendo's latest offering. Moving past the Gamecube controls and DS
stylus certainly took a leap of inspiration, and the over 150 members
of the WarioWare development team have embraced the Wii with gusto. The
variety of Wii-motions showcased in Smooth Moves will likely become a
template for other developers. The diversity of styles among the
microgames can be jarring, but never tiresome. The technical issue with
any Wii game is response, so it may be difficult to succeed if the
system has a hiccup. You can also "cheat" most of the form movements,
and I easily played every game sitting down, with the wrist strap
attached. The only source of frustration for me is that five seconds
may not be long enough to catch on to the correct motion. Certain games
are not forgiving! (It is worth noting that I feel the microgames here
do a better job of Wii sword battles than Red Steel. :-p ) And yes the
nunchuk does get used for particular single and multiplayer sets; you
won't need to madly plug and unplug, and it allows for four players
with only two pair of controllers.
The humorous style presented in the script and soundtrack makes for
absolute top-notch entertainment for player and bystander alike. The
droll voice-overs describing the forms for holding the "baton" can be
laugh-out-loud inducing. The majority of art is cartoony and charming.
Even more impressive than the humour is the retro games showcase. One
character, inspired by the classic Game and Watch portable, has levels
based entirely off other Nintendo properties. Culminating in a (yes I'm
going to spoil it) Starfox SNES boss run. For. The. Win.
While the core storyline is over shortly, the value is in replay and
multiplayer. There are dozens of games you won't see the first time
around. And if you are this easy to bore with this much variety, then
I'm amazed this review kept your attention this long.
WarioWare feels like those old 200-in-1 bootleg NES cartridges. But inspired.
