Wario Land: Shake It!

"If they shook this game up a little more, it would have been perfect."

Wario Land comes to its first console, but this time in the shake dimension! This means more is added to Wario Land's usual gameplay, but does that mean this game is really great?

The story is when Captain Syrup finds a special map of the shake dimension and decides to send it to Wario. When Wario gets it, a mysterious creature from the shake dimension pops out. Wario is a little scared, but the creature asks for help, because the Shake King has captured the princess. Wario ignores the story and doesn't want to listen, but the creature also says the Shake King has stolen a bottomless bag of coins too! When Wario hears this, he gets very anxious and asks if he could go there, and the creature says yes, as the map and a special telescope will get him there.

The gameplay is very nice compared to other Wario Land games, it's slightly the same, but also different. You go through four stages in each area map, followed by a bossfight which gives you an emblem. There are five area maps in all, which must be purchased at a shop along with heart vessels, health potions, and a couple other things as well.

When you go through stages, you can break blocks, defeat enemies, avoid hazards, collect coins, and use a few gimmicks as well. When you get to the end of the stage, you will reach a checkpoint, and a large container with one of the creatures of the shake dimension. Once you touch the container, you will have to shake it and then go back to where you started (sometimes in a different way), and a timer will start when you touch the container, and you will have to reach the start before time runs out, or you will have to return to the checkpoint.

One new thing is shaking things. If you pick up enemies, you can shake them to try to get health back. If you pick up a coin bag, you shake it for coins. You can even shake to do a special move that causes things around you to react, but you have to wait about three seconds for it to recharge.

When you collect coins, they are added to your total amount of coins, which you can use to buy from the pirate shop, which as I mentioned, sells area maps, heart vessels, health potions, and even a couple surprises. Heart vessels add to your maximum health. Health potions heal you fully when you run out of health (you can carry up to two health potions at a time), and area maps get you to more levels, meaning you will have to buy them eventually.

Hidden in some levels is a secret map that gets you in to extra levels. These extra levels don't have to be beaten to beat the game itself, but when it comes to beating the game completely, this is one of those extras.

Every level has three hidden treasure chests which you must find. If you find one and open it up, you will get a special treasure that's added to your collection. A level will let you know if you collected none, all, or some of its treasures.

Every level also has a certain amount of missions. Some of these missions are collecting a certain amount of coins, some are getting back to the start in a certain amount of time, some are defeating a golden enemy, and some are quite unique, like trying to avoid falling into water the entire level.

This game offers many gimmicks inside levels that aren't all that bad. In some levels, you ride a submarine to the end of the level. In others, you ride unibuckes throughout the level. Sometimes, you even shoot yourself from cannons. The list goes on.

The bosses are difficult at times as well. In pretty much all of them, you have to throw something at them, jump on them, or whatever, and they will be stunned, and you can attack them a few times. There health bar is at the bottom, and as it goes down, the boss enters a harder stage.

The gameplay is very good when it comes to a 2-D platformer. Although, the game won't take you too long to beat, you can still play levels to look for treasures and complete missions. Your highest amount of coins and your fastest time from finish to start are recorded and also give you a reason to play a level when it's fully completed.

The graphics are quite strange, but interesting. The characters look like 2-D cartoons, while the backrounds look 3-D. This may sound odd, but it actually adds on to the humor this game has to offer, while keeping the backrounds looking nice. This isn't bad, infact it's quite interesting.

The controls only require a Wii remote, and are easily learned, because the very first level of the game teaches them to you! It shows your Wii remote and what buttons to press to do certain actions. Once you are out of this level, you will rarely be confused with the controls. Some controls already come naturally, like pressing 2 to jump. One interesting thing about the controls is how to shake something. Well, all you need to do is pick something up and shake the Wii remote. It's sort of like you are Wario!

The sound is good, but it's where the game slightly falls. Don't get me wrong though, some sounds are very good. It's just that some sound get very annoying. One sound this really applies to is when Wario is climbing something. As he does, you here his annoying voice say, “Gi, ga ga, gi”. It may be funny the first few times you hear it, but after awhile, it will really start annoying you. Some sounds are good though, pretty much making up for the annoying sounds.

The music is very nice and solid in some parts, and it's one of the things I enjoy about the game. You might want to listen to some of the music over and over again. It turns out that when you complete all of the missions in a level, you unlock that level's music to listen to in the media room, meaning that you won't have to play through a level over and over again to listen to it, just complete all the missions, go to the media room, and let the music come to your ears.

The game itself will only take a few hours to beat, but that doesn't mean you won't stop playing. There are three treasures in every level to be found, and there is also a handful of missions in each level. You can also try to find the secret maps to unlock more levels, which means more treasures and more missions. Levels also keep track of your highest amount of coins and your fastest time, which means you can play through levels again to improve your scores.

Overall, this game may have annoying sound at times and the regular game itself will take only a few hours to beat, but the great gameplay, music, replay value, and the controls easily make up for its flaws. This game is absolutely worth buying.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/09

Game Release: Wario Land: Shake It! (US, 09/22/08)