Review

You can’t deny that the Wii has got off to a phenomenally good start with new consoles selling as fast as Nintendo can make them. However, the jury’s still out on the games as there are far too many games that have crow-barred in pointless motion controls just because they can – and I’m including Zelda in that! The number of titles to successfully use the new control method can be counted on one hand, but with the release of WarioWare it looks like we might finally need to take the other hand out of our pockets.

If you’re not already familiar with the WarioWare series, it’s essentially the ultimate collection of mini-games with each release containing literally hundreds of new challenges for the gamer. They are also at the forefront of demonstrating new controllers, the DS version features heavy use of the stylus. If Nintendo thought the disappointing Wii Play was the game to teach us the many nuances of the Wiimote, then they were wrong!

Smooth Moves introduces us to many different ways to use the remote and gives each one a name. For “The Waiter” you must balance it on your palm;
“The Umbrella” has you tilting the controller to the ceiling; “The Elephant” requires you to hold it in front of your nose and “The Remote Control” is…. Well, I think you can work it out for yourself! Whichever style is required will flash on screen during the countdown to the start of each stage, giving you mere seconds to adjust!

Structure wise, this is exactly the same as previous WarioWare titles, giving us a number of characters to pick from, each introduced with a daft story and each offering a uniquely themed set of challenges to complete. These all last no longer than a couple of seconds and range from picking a nose by guiding a finger with the pointer to balancing a broom on your hand (using “the waiter”). The sheer variety of games on offer puts titles like Raving Rabbids to shame.

It shouldn’t take any experienced gamer longer than a couple of hours to see everything this game has to offer, but the moan about such a thing would be missing the point entirely. If everything was available the first time you loaded up it wouldn’t be a problem! The lack of a multiplayer option is disappointing, but you can still challenge your mates to see who lasts the longest on endless mode so it’s not that big a deal. The most important thing is that it’s huge fun to play and, if you’ve never seen WarioWare before, a gaming experience unlike any other.

This is not a game that you’ll sit playing for hours on end, but it is something that you’ll keep going back to whenever you have a few minutes to kill.

About the Review

Platform

Nintendo Wii

Developer

Intelligent Systems

Publisher

Nintendo

Released

12th January 2007