Considered the latest "must-have" game for the Wii, WarioWare Smooth Moves takes that quick, microgame style we've all known and brings it to Nintendo's new console. Available now, the game has more than 200 microgames that have you doing all kinds of crazy things with your Wiimote.
Is it a successful transition over to the Wii? Find out what we think after the jump.
Other Destructoid reviews: Zelda; Castlevania; Lost Planet.
Aaron Linde
Man, the only thing worse than a game that sucks outright is a game that comes so close to greatness, but falls short due to lack of proper polish. That is essentially my beef with WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and it's a beef that I'm sure is shared by many other reviewers -- it's great, and occasionally brilliant, but that extra oomph that Nintendo usually gives its games, the polish, is painfully absent.
My romance with Smooth Moves was a brief, passionate, but ultimately unsatisfying one, kind of like my experience with the recent DS incarnation, Touched! -- this is not so much a fault of the games themselves, but their failure to live up to the standards set by what I believe to be the best title in the series, the excellent Twisted! on the Gameboy Advance. Let me make this doubly clear: Smooth Moves, like Touched!, is a great game. It's just not as good as it ostensibly could've been.
It's a fun game, make no mistake. The microgames are just as ridiculous and insane as they have been in previous titles in the series, and where the Wiimote works, it works very well. The single-player campaign is somewhat short but leaves a great deal of room for replayability with its scoring system; there's an ever-present urge to outperform yourself in previous attempts at a given stage. The 9-volt level, Nintendo's love-letter to itself, is one of the greatest feats of fan-service since the trophies of Super Smash Bros. Melee. The multiplayer is limited, but it can be quite a gas with a handful of friends -- the sort of frantic hot-potato fun that we've come to expect from the WarioWare franchise.
The handful of broken microgames (maybe six or seven out of over 200), however, stand out by being some of the most frustrating, game-busting experiences I've had in recent years. On the occasion that my last life is torn from me by one of these games -- a fair example being, say, the Shifting microgame, in which the player holds the remote with his or her thumb over the sensor and moves the Wiimote as they would a gear shift -- I just want to break someone's face in. These occasional breakdowns in gameplay are made apparent only because the rest of the game is so damn good -- it's like being tossed out of a cozy jacuzzi and into a freezing swimming pool.
This is a sort of unique brand of failure that we're likely to see often within the first year of the Wii's shelf life; the growing pains of figuring out the most effective use of the hardware at hand. This isn't likely to be the last we're to see of WarioWare on the Wii; hopefully, by Wario's next go-round on Nintendo's little white box, the developers will have refined the experience into something as fluid as Twisted. In the mean time, I heartily recommend giving this game a shot. WarioWare stands as one of the best titles on the platform, painfully pock-marked by a handful of flaws that bust up an otherwise excellent gaming experience.
Final score: 8
Reverend Anthony
At this point, pretty much all of us are now aware as to how a WarioWare game works. What you may not be aware of is how damn fun this old formula can be given the implementation of the Wii remote. All of the 205 "microgames" are played with one of the 19 Wiimote stances in the game. If you had your doubts about the versatility of the Wiimote, the different stances in Smooth Moves will put your fears to rest -- while the game occasionally had problems registering my movements, for the most part the Wiimote gestures are adequately recognized.
That being said, Smooth Moves is a game with extreme toolbox potential. That is to say, despite the fact that the game will often require you to make a specific gesture or hold the Wiimote a specific way, you can often successfully pass the microgame just by randomly shaking the Wiimote until you achieve a desired effect. This fact makes your personal enthusiasm all the more crucial to your enjoyment of the game: You can technically beat most microgames by flailing around like a spaz, but you'll miss out on the self-deprecating joy of looking like a moron as you gyrate your hips in an effort to spin a virtual hula hoop.
I only have two real complaints, but they are big ones. Firstly, there aren't that many microgames. Two hundred and five sounds like a big number when written down, but after completing the story mode, I can confidently say that there really ought to be more. The games that are included are fun and varied, but considering the Wiimote alone allows more varied styles of control than literally every other WarioWare game combined, one can't help but feel that the developers skimped.
My other main complaint concerns multiplayer. For reasons beyond my understanding, Smooth Moves' multiplayer, which supports up to twelve players, only allows you to use one Wii remote. This is extremely counterintuitive, considering the frantic pace of the minigames: Am I seriously expected to be able to loosen my wrist strap, pass my Wiimote, have my friend put on and fasten the wrist strap, and then get into the designated Wiimote stance in less than five seconds? And what of the fantastic multiplayer modes in WarioWare Inc: Mega Party Game$, where one player had to play minigames while the other repeatedly tapped alternating buttons in order to pop a huge balloon? That game is still included in Smooth Moves, but considering you only get one Wiimote, the balloon pumping is handled automatically by the computer. Smooth Moves' multiplayer is definitely a step backwards.
So, should you get it? I'd say so. Even with all of its flaws, Smooth Moves is too fun to pass up, especially considering it's the last major Wii release until the next SSBM game.
Final score: 8.5
Robert Summa
First of all: Rev, why are you using the strap with this game? Most of the moves force you to go unstrapped. Now that that’s out of the way and off my chest, I wanted to present my review in the short and quick fashion that the game is. OK. READY. SET. GO!
• The fact that you can do Wiimote gestures by not doing what’s intended means you have a broken game -- nevermind the fact that a few of them don’t even work.
• Fast paced? Yes. Quality? No.
• The art and “stories” in the game make you really appreciate Elite Beat Agents. WarioWare has the same style, it’s just not executed as well.
• Games like WarioWare are what I fear the Wii was destined to be -- full of first-party games that offer short bursts of entertainment.
• One Wiimote for multiplayer? Who was smoking crack the day they decided that?
• Any sort of online multiplayer function would have been killer for this game. Sadly, Nintendo thinks it’s not important.
• If you have a Wii and got nothing else to play, then yeah, pick up this game. If you have better things to do, then I suggest doing them.
Final score: 6
Contest:
4:25 PM on 01.31.2007
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Bullets FTW.
I agree with most of the points you guys made. It just lacks... something. And the one-remote multiplayer is a little odd to say the least. Also, I really miss the completionist parts of the first Wario Ware, where you could play through each game and get a high score, unlocking more and more. I just can't complete games on the Wii anymore. I keep wanting to see the little "achievement unlocked" thing at the bottom of my screen.
A couple reasons why:
A) There is a single player minigame that says you have to drop your Wiimote. This game has never appeared in the multiplayer modes.
B) Each single player mode and the Darts game reinforces to put the strap on. However, multiplayer mode seems to ignore that, as if the rule never existed.
Overall, I mostly agree with the 'short bursts of fun' criticism orbiting all three of these reviews, but I believe multi-player has alot more credit than what they were given; it seems to be one of the most continuously played games my friends like to play together for the Wii.
Good reviews, guys. :D
1) Short
2) You have to unlock Multiplayer (say goodbye to 3 hrs)
3) No online
4) Fun when you aren't playing broken microgames
5) Sidegames are fun - HOLY SHIT BLOCKSTAR IS CRACK-ON-WHEELS
6) Passing Wiimote? WTF?
7) Good for those with ADD, Autism, or who have nothing else left to play.*
8) I enjoyed it overall, and will drag it out for parties, but not on my own.
*I can say this because my son is autistic and he enjoys the fuck out of this game.
I'm a wordy little fuck, what can I say?
I think this actually makes multiplayer more fun.
As for the strap, not all games are implemented in multiplayer because it would be too dangerious since you cannot wear the strap. I liked this just because it did show some attention to detail.
Yikes.
Anyways, that's pretty much my impression of it. I played the demo at the Montreal International Games Summit, and it's pretty much the thoughts I walked away with. Between Rayman, Monkey Ball and this, it's just too many party games on the Wii already. And what are the next two big titles coming up other than Sonic?
Wii Play and Mario Party 8.
Let's get to Project H.A.M.M.E.R and Day of Disaster already.
Really? Which one said you had to unlock the multiplayer? Just curious. And which one mentioned Blockstar? Thanks.
Next time I'll pare down the comments, just for you sweetness.
I also objected to having to beat the single player missions before we could play multiplayer.
Our biggest problem was going from a minigame that only uses the gyros to one that uses the IR. With only 5 seconds to do the game, we often had problems getting the pointer oriented in time.
As for the long reviews, I thought that allowed you to make a judgment for yourself based on the reviewer's reasoning. Kind of funny everyone complains about the length of the reviews and then the shortness of a game!?! Luckily Summa can summarize the other reviews into his own ADD friendly version, ain't he caring.
And Summa, with such a long bulleted list made up of entirely bad points about the game, don't you think it deserves less than a six? I mean, a six, by definition, means it's better than average, right?
and short is good for my almost a.d.d. self :P
lololololol
jkjk
A button or trigger doesn't allow for much flexibility.
If it's completely broken that's not good.
ME: Crap, what do I do in this game?
*Flails the WiiMote around randomly*
GAME: YOU WIN!
Now how is that fun? It's the same thing that's been wrong with Mario Party for several years. It's the ILLUSION of fun. The ILLUSION that you are doing something right, when in fact, you're just being rewarded at random.
Who needs skill anyway, these days?
Sorry, I'm just tired of this wave of crappy games being put out. It seems like the only system I can still trust is the PS2. And that's not going to last much longer. (BTW, Rogue Galaxy is awesome!)
My opinion: Really, really fun. Haven't had it for too long, so I can't speak much about long term appeal, but I imagine after the first couple of weeks, it'll only/still get the odd half hour/multiplayer play. The game also has a tremendous sense of humour, and a lot of the games made me laugh out loud. Wiimote use is frankly outstanding. Any qualms about it's sensitivity or accuracy can now be put to rest. Actually, typing this is making me want to go and play right now(which I soon will). It's not all positive, though. Beating a game I just payed €50 in one non-extensive sitting did feel like a bit of a gyp(but at least this has more replay value than max payne 2). Multiplayer, I have mixed feelings on. I do think the franticness of passing the wiimote off is quite fun, but there really should be the option for multiple controllers, if only for the greater amount of options that would be available.
Overall: Definately worth a buy if you need something to fill the wii lull and don't mind another minigame collection. Not a killer app by any means, but definately fun while it lasts. It's warioware, you should know by now if that appeals to you.
I remember there was this mini game in twisted where you had to not move your GBA or DS because if you did the egg would fall and brake.
so when I was it in the play the same mini game over and over again intill you lose then ( wariospindex?) I picked that game and leave my GBA on the table while it was playing.
Came back in 15 mins and I had an score of 99 ^_^ XD
anyway I'm huge fan so I='m going to pick this up anyway
It seems as though some of you fail to realize that WarioWare was built upon the Japanese culture itself. While over here in America we can sit down hours and hours in a high depth video or computer game, in Japan they enjoy their games in short bursts. Which is why all the games in the WarioWare series have been short but sweet. If they gave WarioWare depth and a real valid reason to play for more than 30 minutes at a time, then they'd have to attach "Land" at the end of "Wario" and make it a platformer.
My final verdict: all WWs are great, random, quick fun. Especially around other people. Smooth Moves was a blast when I had 9 people over, passing the remote around. And that lifeline game was priceless. So much tension and energy from cutting others(or your own) ropes.
works for weed
first bad thing I've seen Summa say about a Wii game, and it's a genre he doesn't like to begin with
Try flailing randomly during the dance stage. Fail. Try flailing during the broom balance game. Fail. Try flailing at just about every game. FAIL.
It's true that you don't have to do the motions 100% accurately to win, but if you had to be that exact, the game would be much more difficult. You may not throw a dart exactly the same way I do. Should we both suffer because of that? As long as the Wii recognizes our different throwing motions as a "throw," then that's what's important. Some flexibility has to be inherent in Wii games or else only a few people will be able to play each one.
Seriously, if that kind of thing bugs you now, you might as well stop playing the Wii. You don't "get it" if that's the case. Warioware is a great indication of how all sorts of future games on the Wii will play. Personally, I think it's a blast and I can't wait for more.
There are a few games where you have to take your other hand and tap on the remote. Nintendo could have done a better job of explaining that particular motion, no arguments there. You might win the games like that by just jerking the remote viciously around until you get the desired effect and beat it on a rare occasion, but when you realize the "right" way of doing it, you'll be able to win consistently.
If there are games on here that don't work, please list them. I'm very interested in seeing what you consider to be not working and then find out what you think it is you're supposed to do. Chances are you're doing the motion all wrong.
The one overridingly annoying thing for me, with regards to multiplayer, is that the game ends when a player "loses". Was it so hard to make it keep going until there was a winner? Competitions are more fun that way.
(Although the cutting ropes game is a very fun little thing).
It is short, but still lots of fun.
I dont think any of the games are broken. The broom balancing is tough.
The mortar and pestle joystick robot trash collecting game gives great insight into how well it could work. An aircraft fighter ala top gun would work great with that config.
Im surprised that no one has really mentioned the minigames. The can shooter is horribly addictive. The block star one kicks ass. Pyoro S makes me wish for a wii controlled shump. Ping pong tower is cool too. Between those, darts, the initial fun of single player and the multiplayer, this game is worth the 50 bucks, and that's the question that matters.
Also, the (other?) minigames do rock a fair amound.