"Real Smooth"

I gave WarioWare: Touched! a relatively bad score of six about a year ago when I reviewed it because it was missing that "it" factor that really give games their legs. Admittedly, that game spent more time in my DS than others simply because the mini-games provide such a nice quick fix for your gaming needs, but the WarioWare: Smooth Moves improves on a lot of the flaws that the DS game had and adds some extras that really make the difference, making this game a very good one indeed.

The single-player game plays pretty much identical to its predecessors, save for the fact that the game takes advantage of the Wii remote. There are various positions that you must put the remote in to complete the objectives that the mini-game asks of you. Actually, "mini-game" wouldn't be an appropriate term. These are actually micro-games, where you are given mere seconds to complete the objective most of the time. This adds a lot of suspense to the micro-games and puts a lot of pressure on you to know what position you need to put the remote in.

You progress through the game by playing micro-games in order to help various people with their everyday problems. As you complete micro-games the game reveals more positions to you in pretty hilarious ways that will make anybody chuckle. When you complete a place you unlock more places to go and solve their miniscule problems with a couple of "remixes" put in there. These remixes are a combination of the previous micro-games, but on a harder difficulty level.

When you play a micro-game in the single-player campaign you can unlock them to practice any time. It's kind of annoying to find them, though, since there are such a large number of micro-games to play. However, I do like the fact that it allows you to practice them, especially if there's a particular micro-game you're having trouble with simply because you don't know how to do it.

Uniquely, Smooth Moves pretty much only uses the Wii remote instead of the nunchuck, but later stages in the game utilize the nunchuck. However, the game refers to them comically as the "form baton" and the "balance stone". You will have to do some pretty ridiculous things like put the remote on your hips and hula or do a little dance that involves smacking the remote on your butt. My favorite micro-games are the ones based on old Nintendo titles...they're just so nostalgic and fun to do.

After you beat the game (which is very short) you unlock these extra levels that combine previous micro-games but add stipulations on like you must complete the games faster or you only get one life. One of the harder ones of these doesn't tell you what form you should use, leaving you to guess what's coming next. This definitely adds a level of hilarity when you watch someone stumble over what they're supposed to be doing. The completion of these are usually followed with a hilarious pose and it's kind of fun to try to discover all of the different poses.

I couldn't figure out why Touched! didn't have any multiplayer component--it seemed like a given. Smooth Moves, however, does incorporate a multiplayer mode and I have to say it's quite entertaining. By doing things in single player, you unlock some extra stuff to do, like playing darts...stuff like that, but one of the funnest things to do is a game called Jump Buddies where you hold the Wii remote and a friend holds the nunchuck and you have to jump over various potholes on the ground. This is, to put it bluntly, hilarious (I've used that word quite a bit in this review). One of the multiplayer games is an angel game that requires you to quickly pass around a remote, which is dumb since the game suggests you put the freaking wrist strap on!

Obviously, Smooth Moves has a worse story than a romance novel, but there is at least some clever writing. Well, not so much clever as just so silly that it makes you laugh. The basic set up is that Wario has found the Wii remote (or form baton) and he's using it to his advantage (which is pretty much the story in all of the other WarioWare games). All of the other characters have their little side-stories as well, which is actually more interesting than Wario's.

Graphically, Smooth Moves doesn't do anything that's really that great either. Sure, the cartoons look great, but the game doesn't really do anything graphically to impress--nor does it try to. All the animations are okay, but sometimes the game was late on detecting the motion sensoring and minor stuff like that.

There aren't very many voice-acting in Smooth Moves, but the most special thing about the audio is the fact that the speaker on the Wii remote is actually used excessively. One of the coolest thing that is done using the speaker on the remote is a micro-game where you have to answer the phone and your remote actually rings...and then talks to you when you answer it! A very clever idea and I haven't seen the speaker on the Wii remote utilized any better.

Smooth Move's main shortcoming is that, just like all its predecessors, it is short. Way too short. You could complete the game in about five hours and unlock nearly everything in maybe another two or three. However, WarioWare isn't banking on the length of the campaign or how long it takes to get 100%. Instead, WarioWare is focused on parties and casual gamers who get a kick out of the goof ways that Smooth Moves utilizes the Wii remote.

Even though I gave Touched! a weak score, I have to admit that I do enjoy playing the WarioWare games while they last. The main problem with them is that they are too short and Smooth Moves is no different. However, the added bonuses like the multiplayer component gives Smooth Moves the edge over the WarioWare games that came before it. Smooth Moves also manages to use the Wii remote in all the right ways...when Nintendo came out with the motion sensing of the Wii, it was a no-brainer that they should release a WarioWare title on the system. Smooth Moves is definitely a step ahead of the previous games, but what would make the series even better is add a better story to the game (Super Smash Bros. Brawl managed to do this) and make the single-player experience longer and more bountiful. WarioWare: Smooth Moves is a great party game and definitely shows off all the cool things that the Wii is capable of.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/25/08

Game Release: WarioWare: Smooth Moves (US, 01/15/07)