Since its GBA inception nothing has delivered insane, ADHD-friendly fun quite like the Wario Ware series. The newest Warioware title, Smooth Moves, takes it off the handhelds and back to your TV for the first time since the Gamecube version 3 years ago. Previous versions have never been afraid to look silly, having players slice logs, pick noses and slather French fries with ketchup within the span of a few fleeting seconds, but Smooth Moves adds something new to the mix – now you get to look stupid too!
This time around the microgames are completed by holding the Wiimote according to the “stance” you are given before the next game is presented. For example, if you are shown that the stance for the next game is The Mohawk, then you will hold the Wiimote atop your head and prepare for the upcoming microgame. There are quite a few stances, all of which are designed to be as fun as they are silly-looking. You may look foolish in front of your friends when you play this, but trust me, it’s nowhere near as foolish as you’ll feel when you’re standing in your empty living room, all alone, doing squat thrusts with a plastic controller on your head and posing like a samurai, so let go of your inhibitions.
Fans of the series have reason to celebrate this installment. After smacking orange-thieving old men with a blackjack, lifting weights to the delight of a bunch of lions (above) or helping Mario hit blocks full of coins you’ll find that the games are just as absurdist and self-referential as ever.
Though it is a lot of fun the game isn’t without its problems. The Wiimote is generally very responsive and works great but there are a few games where the motion sensing is inordinately picky and requires you to be holding the Wiimote at just the right height and distance away from your television for a game to read it. This isn’t a huge problem and only affects a handful of the games but it’s still a pain to run into.
The much bigger problem in this game is the multiplayer mode. Lack of a multiplayer mode isn’t the problem. There is a handful of different multiplayer modes and the game supports play for up to 12 people. The problem is that everybody has to share the same Wiimote. The rationale from the game designers for this is that they wanted you to focus on watching and laughing at your friends rather than all playing at the same time and missing it. That certainly is a good point but I would much prefer that you recommend that I use 1 Wiimote rather than forcing me to.
Another unfortunate thing is that the game, much like all of its predecessors, is pretty short, clocking in at only a few hours from start to completion. Of course the real draw to this game isn’t so much the single-player offerings but, rather, the multiplayer.
Despite its multiplayer shortcomings the dull wasteland of abysmal party games that is the Wii’s game library, Warioware shines above the rest, putting its peers to shame.
out of 100
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