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> Results: Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
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The ESRB Says:
Mild Cartoon Violence: GamerDad found fly swatting, and other creative yet not at all offensive violence Crude Humor:GamerDad found nose picking, hair shaving, and a whole lot of other slightly immature but very fun and funny stuff. Seems Mario's greedy alter-ego Wario has found an ancient artifact that looks an awful lot like a Wii remote. He names it the "form baton" and uses it to make more of his trademark WarioWare microgames (like minigames, only smaller). "WarioWare: Smooth Moves" features 200 games that take full advantage of the Wii's exciting new motion control scheme. The microgames are divided into a string of challenging games, the trouble is that you only get 5 chances to get through each string or you've got to start over again. The challenge is figuring out what you're supposed to do! For example, there might be a black screen with a light circle. The words "FIND HIM!" appear on the screen. Realizing the circle is a flashlight you move it quickly around until you find the guy in the darkness. Then the next 5-second game starts. "WarioWare" is steeped in cleverness, the game renames the Wii remote the "Form Baton" and, using Eastern music, calligraphy, and a disarmingly silly sense of humor, teaches you how to hold the remote correctly. The Umbrella form has you hold the remote straight up at eye-level with, as the game says, "... the dignity of a circus clown caught in a rainstorm." Umbrella form is used for simple tasks like swatting a fly. Holding the remote horizontally in front of you is the "Handlebars" and the "Elephant" form has you hold the remote against your nose, and you move balls from one container to another. Beating the main game unlocks more microgames that use the Wii remote along with the Nunchuk controller.  
"WarioWare" is good clean fun but has an immature sense of humor. There's a microgame involving the plucking of nose hairs, for example, and others feature mild slapstick violence but nothing gratuitous. Reading isn't necessary, but younger kids might have trouble figuring out what to do in the few seconds the game gives you to complete each game, and that's frustrating because the only way to get a second chance is to replay the whole string of games.
Non-Wii owners take note: the game exists on every Nintendo platform and many can be found at budget prices. Each title is different and takes full advantage of the platform it's on in much the same way "Smooth Moves" uses the Wii remote so cleverly. The one for the DS uses the stylus, the GameCube version uses the gamepad, and a really clever one for the GBA uses a motion sensor and has you tilting the game every direction to play the clever microgames. "WarioWare: Smooth Moves" is terrific, offbeat, and charmingly weird fun for the whole family. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Wario Ware: Smooth Moves |
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