Review - WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii)

Written by Dan Zuccarelli

Wednesday, 17 January 2007 07:02

WarioWare: Smooth Moves is like 1st-time teenage high-school sex. It's awkward, sometimes clumsy, and not everything goes according to plan. But while it wasn't as smooth or intuitive as you'd been led to believe it would be, in the end everyone involved had a damn good (albeit too short) time. And can't wait to try it again.

With any new Nintendo hardware release seems to come a new version of WarioWare, the collection of games so small you can't even get away with calling them mini-games. For anyone unfamiliar with the series, these microgames last 5-7 seconds, and usually incorporate some simple input to complete. The trick is figuring out what needs to get done and doing it in the time limit.

So how does this game stand up to others in the series?

Like WarioWare Touched! for the DS made all sorts of uses out of the touchscreen (and some of the mic), this one attempts to highlight the Wii-mote. The game gives you 15 different ways (called forms) you're supposed to hold the Wii-mote, like the waiter (hold the remote on your palm like a serving tray), the big cheese (hands on hips), remote control (point at screen), the handlebar (1 hand on each end), etc. The game also includes a strangely humorous "Jack Handy from SNL" type explanation of each "form" the 1st time you see them.

Even though the game claims 15 different "forms". About half of those are so similar that you can get away with substituting a few for each other and have no problems at all. And while the game wants you standing while you play, after about 20 mins you'll figure out how to do just about all the games whilst sitting on the couch.

You can get through the game (if you try) in about an hour. Of course if you're playing microgames looking for longevity you're really barking up the wrong tree now aren't you? That being said the game does runs it's course quick. Luckily there's a fair amount of unlockables and stand-alone games to keep you entertained. And this is the kind of game where you can always go back to beat your high score. It would seem multiplayer will really make the game shine... or rather beer and multiplayer. This will hopefully be in normal rotation when we have friends over, it'll get its 1st test this weekend.

The bizarre sense of humor is intact here, and you'll be doing all manner of things to sawing logs to picking nose hairs. And keep an eye out for the fun inclusions of your little Mii characters in various situations.

Now for my problems. With any WarioWare game sometimes it gets frustrating not understanding what it is you're supposed to be doing. Usually this goes away after playing the game a few times but here I'm not so sure. More than once I just sat there not getting what they were telling me. And since some of the "forms" require you to point the remote at the screen and others don't, sometimes it's hard to stay orientated.

Other times the Wii-mote doesn't respond like it should. 90% of the time it's fine, but that other 10% is beyond frustrating. I was playing the game with my girlfriend and strangely bizarre things or nothing at all would happen onscreen when we waved the remote around. And I was just as confused as she was, usually resigned to shrugging my shoulders and soldiering forward. The control is good, but it ain't perfect.

All in all the game is infectious, and provides the variety of nonsense one expects from the WarioWare franchise. The occasional problem didn't stop either of us from playing, and it shouldn't stop you from buying the game.

7 out of 10

Comments (9) Add Comment

...
written by Liam, January 17, 2007

"...after about 20 mins youâ€™ll figure out how to do just about all the games whilst sitting on the couch."

And what, pray tell, is the fun in that? :B

As for the unresponsiveness of the Wiimote, I had that problem too. It was because I was too close to the TV. I backed up, and since then have had no problems.
Also, I figured out the microgames quite quickly, like the prevous Wario Ware games. There were a couple which baffled me the first few times (like ones in which you should use your other hand), though.

I'd say the game's a lot better. Sure it is very short, but I can definitely say that I've been having as much fun as when I first booted it up, on Friday.

...
written by danzuke, January 17, 2007

sitting on the couch IS fun!

I'm pretty far away from my set, and there's been a few times it's just gone wonky, but nothing to keep us from enjoying ourselves.

as an addition... I think the "discard" form is my favorite. you just set the remote upside down on a table or something and grab it when they tell you. It's beyond goofy.

...
written by Liam, January 17, 2007

Yes, the Discard is cool... but my fave would have to be the Elephant. Now that's a goofy pose. Shame it's only used for 5 microgames. D:

The sensor bar tends to be quite picky; it doesn't work right if you're too close or too far. :/

What I also should have said doesn't seem as fun is using the basic Remote Control pose for multiple forms. I mean, with games involving the Waiter form, it could be much easier to hold it rather than balance it, but there's no challenge in that. And the challenge you get is what makes the series so damn fun.

I did dislike the fact that there doens't seem to be a whole lot to do compared to previous games. However, the minigames and the microgames are all just so much fun, so I don't really care.

...
written by Salesmunn, January 18, 2007

No mention of the lack of widescreen support? I hate that, what a disappointment.

Aside of that, I spent some time with it and while it's great for a group, it's not really a standout title for single player.

That isn't really a knock on the game, it's been like that since the beginning I guess.

...
written by danzuke, January 18, 2007

I want to look into that actually Salesmunn. It fills my screen nicely, and to be honest doesn't looked stretched. I might be wrong but I work in TV and can usually tell the difference when a 4:3 is stretched to a 16:9

...
written by jimmycanuck, January 18, 2007

Honestly Dan - for some reason the Wii games are a little deceptive on the 4:3/16:9 thing. I'm quite alert to the difference myself, and yet I had played all the way through Rayman in 16:9 before I had realized that it was 4:3 only.

Part of the reason is that when played in 16:9 it doesn't stretch the picture all the way out. There are still thin black lines, making things not as distorted as they'd otherwise be.

...
written by Random J, January 19, 2007

This game is awesome. So much fun and exeeded my expectation. 9 Volt and 18 Volt's game rock!

...
written by tombahnck, January 22, 2007

My girlfriend got me this game for us to play on a day that we both had off and spent together last week. The game rocks and completely understands the progressive movement for games take hours, not years, and limit the button-combo learning curve. We'd never played WarioWare before, and are actually still euphoric that we got a Wii and the Wii-mote knows exactly what in the hell we're doing! Couple of comments -- the screen never looks stretched, except in the darts multiplayer game when the board looks more like an oval than a circle. Even in places where you would clearly notice a stretch, like say when your Mii is shown, there's no evidence of stretching. And in my opinion, there's no way you can beat this game in an hour -- we played for 3 hours or so just to unlock multiplayer, and then if you go back and revisit boards you've already played, there's a whole new level-up after the boss stages. And at some point, they probably add the third level that's there if you play the games by themselves in the temple. The best part about games like this is that girls like them, and you can bust them out when you have people over and not imply that you're a zealot who spends all his waking hours memorizing button-combos and map screens.

...
written by TheBBPS.com (Bits, Bytes, Pixe, February 22, 2009

[...] walked across the gap of the towers in the 1970’s, it shares several things with the WarioWare series. Both are foreign, both are silly yet entertaining, and both feature the skill to keep your [...]