I admit: I have a short attention span. Ask anyone who's watched me try to play an RPG or a sneak-around-quietly thriller and you'll hear that I give up after about fifteen minutes. This week's game taps right into the heart of the “look, shiny!” mentality we gamers with short attention spans cherish so much.
Warioware: Smooth Moves isn't so much a game as it is a collection of microgames. No, that isn't a mispelling; each of the games in this package can be played in five seconds. What makes Warioware so much fun is that these 250 microgames are thrown at the player in rapid succession. Play is challenging because the games are presented in a completely random order, and the time to perform the tasks is gradually shortened until you simply cannot keep up anymore.
When friends get together to play this new release, bedlam ensues. Every part of its presentation gives the player the feeling that the game is on the verge of falling off its hinges. Graphically, this means anything from coloring-book cutouts on a clip-art style background to 3d renderings of fingers being put into noses. (Yes, this is a microgame.) The sound design also creates a feeling of disconnect by introducing a new set of effects and music with each game. What is really amazing, however, is that these wildly inconsistent design factors create a contiguous whole; despite the chaos on screen, the flow of the music, sound effects, and graphics flow well together.
If you're looking for a story, deep characterization, or anything resembling realistic gameplay, forget it. This is a game made for gaming's sake. Part of the fun of this game is watching play. Everyone is laughing because they don't understand what's on the screen. The real beauty here is that no one is supposed to get it.
Also contributing to the frenzied, chaotic nature of the game is the unique use of the Wii remote. Warioware employs a number of Forms, or different ways to hold the remote. These can be as mundane as “The Remote Control” (Hold the remote like, well, a remote) to as crazy as “The Big Cheese” (Hold the remote at your side for games like “Hula!” and “Flap!”) The Form you're supposed to use for a particular minigame is flashed onscreen before the game begins, giving you just enough time to get into position.
While this seem silly, the simple play mechanic adds to the frenzied feel of the gameplay. One minute you might be holding the remote over your head and doing squats; the next, you have to put the remote on the ground and wait for an onscreen telephone to ring. The Wii was meant to stretch our conceptions of what gaming is, and this game does a great job of breaking us out of our usual sit-down gaming habits.
Some of the multiplayer games in this package are a ton of fun, but the overall feel multiplayer falls short of expectations. All multiplayer is “hotseat” multiplayer – that is, one remote is shared by all players in a “take your turn” fashion. This makes sense, as many of the minigames would get crowded with four people swinging remotes around, but it takes away from the overall frenzied feel of the games. Additionally, these games need to be unlocked to be played, adding a certain amount of frustration to the mix.
Adding to this frustration is the fact that the Wii remote has, on rare occasions, missed gestures I made with my hand. Some of the Forms – namely “The Waiter” – did not want to be recognized, which usually leads to failure on a microgame. These tiny control fumbles, while a non-issue in most other games, becomes a glaring fault when microgames are whizzing by every three seconds.
Despite these flaws, Warioware is one of the best Wii games available today. At the very least, it's a glowing example of what the Wii is capable of becoming if developers are willing to think outside the box. I'm recommending this one as a definate “buy” for anyone who owns (or plans to own) a Wii.
<My next column features Soldat, pending a LAN test.