WARIOWARE: SMOOTH MOVES
Nintendo
Rated E10+
Available on WiiTHE VERDICT:
“WarioWare” brings its hyperactive microgames to the Wii with a fervor that can only be rivaled by the game’s multiplayer mayhem.
3/4 stars
Innovation and unconventionality are definitive of Nintendo’s Wii hardware, and now those terms can accurately describe “WarioWare: Smooth Moves,” the system’s most addictive and all-around insane game since the console’s November debut.
Following the ADHD-friendly style of previous “WarioWare” titles, players take on fast-paced, quirky “microgames,” which typically last no longer than 10 seconds, using different forms of the Wii remote. Forms range from standard (“Remote Control”) to awkward (“The Big Cheese”) to surprisingly creative (“The Mortar and Pestle”). With 19 forms altogether, “Smooth Moves” offers new gameplay controls on a frequent basis throughout the storyline.
There isn’t much of a story to “Smooth Moves,” just something along the lines of Wario (Mario’s doppelganger) stumbling upon the Form Baton (Wii remote) and Balance Stone (nunchuck attachment). The player apparently assumes the role of Wario, who finds himself at a high school football game, a discotheque, a haunted mansion, in a taxi, a laboratory, a line of customers buying Chinese bread, a videogame store, in outer space and finally back to the ancient temple where he originally found the Baton and Stone. Each location and theme serves a specific purpose, mostly to just introduce players to the different control schemes.
In typical Japanese fashion, the creative elements, characters, action and dialogue of “Smooth Moves” don’t make a lick of sense, but for some strange reason it adds to the overall quality of the game.
The crazy story has nothing on the microgames, which sometimes stumble into the realm of the bizarre. Players will complete tasks that range from grabbing a woman’s hand to save her from falling from a skyscraper to plucking out an extremely long nose hair, balancing a broom on one hand, shaking bugs off a banana, doing squats, fishing, making a stubborn pen write, making a Mr. Bill-esque puppet hula-hoop, shredding paper and forcefully inserting dentures into an old woman’s mouth. And those are only 10 examples. There are more than 200 microgames in all, each with its own quirks.
The most memorable stage of the game brings players into a nostalgic bliss, using short-but-sweet portions of classic Nintendo games such as “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” “Star Fox,” “Super Mario Bros.” and “Animal Crossing.” There’s even a new 3-D take on the NES classic “Balloon Fight.”
After beating the story mode, which lasts only about 3 hours, players unlock the multiplayer mode, and that’s when the real fun begins.
Up to 12 players can partake in the game’s multiplayer mode. All players use just one remote, and modes include a footrace in which players try to beat each other out by completing as many microgames as they can before time runs out, a balloon-pumping mode in which players take turns using the Wii remote to inflate a large balloon while being careful not to pop it and an “angel” mode in which players eliminate each other by taking turns and trying to win microgames consecutively.
Although the game can be completed relatively quickly, “Smooth Moves” has an excellent replayability factor, much like party games such as those in the “Mario Party” and “Fusion Frenzy” series.
The game is not without its flaws, however. Sometimes unresponsive controls will set players back during the solo mode, and though most of the Baton forms are fun to play with, some feel tedious or unnecessary, such as the “Mohawk” (remote on top of the head) and “Elephant” (remote on the nose) forms.
One of “Smooth Moves'” most underappreciated features is the “Diet Mode,” in which players do a light Wii workout. Minigames that require more active involvement are used to burn in-game “kelories,” and one particular dance mini-game will have players breaking a sweat while their friends simultaneously laugh hysterically at them.
Definitely one of the most bizarre titles in the history of videogames, “Smooth Moves” is essential for any Wii owner’s library, but only if they aren’t too shy to make a fool of themselves in the presence of others.