WarioWare: Smooth Moves - Student Review
Score: 85% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Action/ Party/ Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: WarioWare: Smooth Moves is a hyperactive gamers' dream come true. Sadly, graphics are not this game's strong point. The graphics could be compared on the same level as a recent Game Cube game. They are not extremely bad, but they are a little outdated. One good point is that there are colorful and vibrant animations taking one back to the days of the sandbox, when watching Saturday morning cartoons was a must. Unfortunately, this also makes the game look childish. Childish or not, the animations were amusing, which I'm sure was the developers' plan. With witty wordplay and good sound effects, this game definitely earns points on the fun scale. However, the music is not that great; it has an "early polyphonic" sound, and gets repetitive. The only good thing about the music is it lets you know when the player is running out of time. What this game lacks in graphics and sounds, it makes up for in gameplay.
Gameplay: Gameplay is where WarioWare: Smooth Moves truly shines. With fast-paced action, and addictive mini-games, WarioWare is a great addition to any party. The game progresses by moving the form baton in the correct forms for each set of mini-games until ultimately coming to a boss battle. Getting into the different forms creates hilarity among the players, as well as the observers. Having tasks that require the player to act like an elephant by holding the remote at their nose, or holding the remote like an umbrella "with the quiet dignity of a clown in a thunder storm," and many other different forms make this game very amusing. Not only is Smooth Moves fun, but it also has a very intriguing storyline... not. In fact, the mini-games are what keep the gamer playing... possibly because the story is over before it gets started. This game gets very repetitive, but still manages to be enjoyable and maintain its replay value. Multiplayer is also entertaining, because it is much more fun to act like a Wii-mote waving madman in front of your friends than by yourself.
Difficulty: The hardest part of WarioWare: Smooth Moves is the requirement of fast reflexes. However, this is not a major difficulty, due to how the levels start slowly and begin to speed up. The controls make this game simple by thoroughly explaining how to perform each stance. The game is repetitive enough that one does not have to learn many new forms as the game progresses, instead mastering the previous form and the player's speed. Needless to say, WarioWare is not very mentally challenging, but tends to make us do the very thing we despise, which is exercise.
Game Mechanics: On the technical level, WarioWare: Smooth Moves does not lag or slow down with multiple actions; it is all about speed. The Wii-mote handles with very little complication. The few complications there are mainly come from moving too spastically or being out of range of the sensor bar. Also, the motion-sensing within WarioWare: Smooth Moves works particularly easy and efficiently, making one's actions seem quite graceful. There is little that can be said against this game. The flaw that I have found with this game is not with the game itself, but with the gamer tiring from the constant moving, at times making it difficult to play. It is an exceptionally fun and addictive game, like others in the series. Even though WarioWare is directed more toward women and children, it is a blast for everyone to play.
-Christopher Lyons
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