WarioWare: Smooth Moves

"Wario and the crew are back!"

Warioware: Smooth Moves for the Wii is yet another addition into the popular series known for its off the wall humor and incredibly fast action. Like its predecessors, each character in the series has certain “microgames” attributed to them. You choose a characters stage to play on and begin to do 3-10 second minigames in quick succession using different styles of holding and moving the Wii remote. As in the rest of the series, after a few games things will go faster and faster until you reach a Boss Fight (usually after 15 completed games) which lasts a bit longer (25 seconds-1.5 minutes). If you successfully beat the boss game you'll be rewarded with an extra life that will make up for failing to successfully complete any of the minigames preceding the boss. On to the numbers!

~GRAPHICS 9/10
In this case, I'm not judging the graphics on things like “million polygon character models” or “HD graphics at X resolutions”. I'm judging the game more on what it offers compared to what is expected, and if you noticed the 9/10 heading this little section, you should be able to figure out that we got what we wanted. Warioware: Smooth Moves (now referred to as WWSM since it's much faster to type) offers the same crazy, random, wild, and non-sequitur types of images as its former incarnations. A great surprise in the graphics department was the inclusion of games like Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Animal Crossing in some microgames, which add a nice 3D nostalgic touch to the generally 2D game play techniques and images this series is known for.

~MUSIC 7/10
The entire game is more or less centered around music and keeping to the beat. In some of the short cinema scenes the music is cool, catchy, and upbeat – but other than that there isn't a whole lot of music to really listen to. All of the microgame sets have music to them that speed up and slow down according to the speed of the games you're playing, but they're short 5 second clips that stop once you go into a game and resume 5 seconds later once you're done. Moving on…

~STORY 3/10
The actual story elements in this game are negligible, but since they decided to put a sort of story into the game, they could have at least developed it past a few 2 minute long cut scenes that just connect strings of themed microgames together. Basically, like all the other WarioWare games, it focuses on Wario and the rest of his “friends” in an everyday sort of setting, while Wario does something crazy involving the game play elements associated with the game. There is no character development, no spoken dialogue (and where there is written dialogue it's very short), and most of the characters individual story arcs do nothing in the grand scheme of things. This coupled with the fact that it takes about 1 hour to beat the game hurts the score. However, don't let this ruin the game for you if you're on the fence about buying it – these games are definitely not bought for their storylines; it's all in the replayability.

~GAMEPLAY 9/10
Ah, the other part of WWSM, (and the rest of the series in general) that really shines. Everything is focused on completion of various “microgames” lasting 3-10 seconds long with short 5 second breaks in between (though as you complete more the time between games shortens in order to increase difficulty) This game has over 200 different microgames each with multiple difficulty settings that adjust to how far you are or what your score is. The main draw here besides a whole mess of new games is the chance to use the Wii remote to control the action. There are about 10 or so “stances” that you play with, which are pretty much just different ways of holding the remote. Unlike the DS version, the games are not themed by motions or stances, so you'll have to quickly switch between a number of different play styles. Don't worry though; you get a 2 second prompt before you start the next microgame in order to place the remote accordingly. As in the others as well, there are extra games you unlock that are just outright minigames. This includes a light gun-esque shooting game and a couple others which are very fun. Lastly, don't worry about what the back of the packaging says, THERE IS MULTIPLAYER! I don't know why they don't have it on the back of the case, but you do unlock a multiplayer option, but it's not like the GCN versions style of play. And lastly, although it may go without saying for some, the game really shines in that it is easily playable for any amount of time and promises massive amounts or replayability.

OVERALL 7/10
WWSM is an interesting and exciting addition into the series that definitely serves up a lot of new material. I'd go as far as to say that it is a “must have” for the Wii, mostly because of its smart and innovative uses for the Wii remote. My only real problems with the game are the lack of a real multiplayer mode and the 50$ price tag. These games are simple and short, and at time I feel that the game is a 40$ game. Don't let the price deter you however, the 10$ is negligible because it offers a great time with the Wii, and you can just buy it used if you so desire.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/05/07