Fuck this is hard. I had to cut almost 50% of it to get it anywhere near 500 words. Thoughts and critques plz thnx
WarioWare: Smooth Moves Review.
By Tom Hubbard
TOM:
WarioWare: Smooth Moves for the Nintendo Wii is the fourth game in the popular micro-game franchise, and the first to see a release on a home console. Players familiar with the previous WarioWare games should have no trouble adjusting, and new players should only need a few minutes to grasp the basic concepts.
Smooth Moves is played almost exclusively with a single Wii Remote, which is held in various ways to replicate the game’s ‘forms’.
DEMO VARIOUS ‘FORMS’
TOM (VOICE OVER):
There are 15 forms, ranging from the standard ‘Remote’ through to the more creative ‘Mohawk’. It’s with these forms that much of the challenge is derived; learning and switching between them as the player tries to keep up with the increasing speed of the gameplay. Each form is introduced effectively, and the player is given ample time to perfect them.
CUT TO GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE
TOM (VOICE OVER):
The micro-games in Smooth Moves are often humorous, bizarre, even a little disturbing, and will have players doing things with their Wii Remotes they’d have never guessed possible. From doing weights to grating alarm clocks, murdering Pikmin to nose picking, Smooth Moves covers just about every conceivable use for the Wii Remote.
CUT TO STUDIO
TOM:
As a single player experience, the game is a bit of a mixed bag. Each stage contains between ten to fifteen micro-games followed by a boss stage. These are much longer than the regular micro-games, and are a welcome change of pace.
The single player portion of the game does start to feel shallow after extended play, as micro-games by definition are just that. Nintendo has obviously tried to combat this by including unlockable ‘pose cards’, but it hardly seems worth the effort.
Being on a home console seems to rob the game of the ‘pick-up-and-play’ appeal of the hand-held games.
CUT TO GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE
TOM (VOICEOVER):
The visual presentation of Smooth Moves is hit and miss. The different character stories are presented well, with bright, colourful hi-res sprites that are nicely animated. The overall visual style of the game is cohesive and true to the series, but in some instances it comes off looking a little cheap.
The audio work in the game is of a similar standard. The music plays an important role in the game; speeding up with the gameplay as you progress, building tension and a sense of urgency.
CUT TO STUDIO
TOM:
Smooth Moves is a great multiplayer game. Up to twelve players can take part in one game, taking turns with the one Wii Remote. The very short micro-games lend themselves to a multiplayer setting very well, keeping the game moving with almost no downtime. The choice to limit the multiplayer games to a single Wii Remote is a clever one. It creates a frantic, chaotic atmosphere as players rush to pass the Remote before the next player’s turn begins.
WarioWare: Smooth Moves is a great game with a few inherent flaws. It makes great use of the Wii hardware and is a solid, entertaining diversion when friends or family are around. As a single player experience it falls short, perhaps indicating that games of this style are better suited to handheld platforms. I give Smooth Moves seven rubber chickens.
_______