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WARIO WARE: SMOOTH MOVES
Danny: Wario Ware is probably the best new franchise to come out in the last couple years. The first Wario Ware had me shouting out in surprise when I first played it and I loved it. The GameCube version was the same over again but the focus, multiplayer, was awesome. Touched! felt new but a little uninspired and repetitive. Twisted was a little better, and now Smooth Moves brings back the fresh feel of the first. I'll break it down by game, each having its own Wiimote holding style which is flashed as an icon before the game starts.
Driving game ("driving grip"): my first driving experience on the Wii, very responsive and fun. Avoid the obstacles! I felt in complete control. Hook game ("chopstick grip"): Ooh, depth sensing. You have a hook and are supposed to hook a little figure. This was kind of hard on the first time around because I didn't know how far to move forward, but I was impressed by this minigame because of the depth application. Grandma's false teeth ("chopstick grip"): Grandma needs you to put her false teeth in for her, sick. This game was similar to the hook one but it was easier to see the depth. Squatting (hold on your head grip): Sweet, embarrassing body movements! You have to squat three times in this minigame while holding the Wiimote on your head, and its fun if you don't cheat. Hula-hoop (um... "hold on your hip grip"?): Do three hula-hoop revolutions! Another embarrassing physical game which can be done by cheating, but is more fun with an honest try. Broom balance (on your palm top grip): There is a vertical broom on your hand and you have to balance it. This game used depth and left/right motion sensing and felt pretty natural.
Danny prepares to swat a fly as Mohammed rests a Wiimote on his head and does squats. We spared you the hoola-hoop footage.
After all the minigames, you must wonder how the game feels different on a whole. The music and graphics are the same awesome style (there are 3D games too). The game is now based on reaction time AND your ability to move quickly and accurately, instead of pure button-pressing reaction time like the first. To me that means the original's core gameplay is gone, because this iteration combines movement and accuracy which makes it fresh but limited. I will miss reaching insane speed levels where games last a matter of milliseconds.
Jordan: Despite all the critical and fan acclaim, I haven't played much of the Wario Ware series. If I can find the type of insanity that I did in the Wii version, however, I just may have to start.
When it comes to showcasing the sheer amount of uses for the Wii's remote, Wario does it better than anybody else. You're holding the controller like a pencil in order to trace things; you're holding it straight up, sideways, moving it in all directions, and even lifting it as if it were a dumbbell. The best part? Holding it to your hips and using it as a hula hoop. Does this game make you look completely retarded? Oh God, yes. Will you still enjoy every moment of it? Oh God, yes. Consider me sold.
Jared: Oh seriously. Wario Ware? With total motion sensory? Forget about it.
Wario's gone from button-mashing to touch screen-slashing to tilt control and now to full-on calisthenics. I don't know of any other game franchise in history that has evolved so quickly; but hey, that's Wario Ware's whole angle. The demos provided were pretty simple and yet still altogether engaging (to the extent that I was pretty ticked about waiting in a half-hour line for a half-minute of gametime), and the full version promises to be a party game to end all party games.
Desiré: Probably the most utilization of the wiimote of all the demos. Needs a little tweaking of the sensitivity, but this is a definite must-have if you're going to get the Wii. I played it about twelve times and couldn't get enough!
Nik: The first Wii game I played, and one of the funnest. Since it was my first time with the remote, it took me a while to do the mini games correctly. After a while though, it was just pure fun. The insane art and the kooky-animations when you beat a mini game are there like the previous ones. If this one's not a launch title, it'll make not getting a Wii at launch a lot easier. I'm still undecided though.
The micro-games had stuff like twisting the controller to open doors, or using a cursor to trace a circle. Balance an umbrella using your palm, and shake it to remove ants from a banana! However on the first day of E3 I messed up in a lot of the games. I made a comeback later on.
Curtis: Wario Ware is back, and I absolutely love it. The series showed off gyration on Game Boy Advance, it showed off touch on the Nintendo DS, and now it's showing us everything the Wii can do.
Needless to say, this game is fun. Weird, but still incredibly fun.
The demo of the title on the show floor was your basic Wario Ware: you're in the elevator, with that damn teddy bear thing, and mini games are flying at you every couple of seconds. Only this time, joining you in the elevator, to the bottom of the screen, is a long row of pictures of the wiimote being held in many different ways. Before each mini-game is played, the pictures associated with the way to play that mini-game balloons to the size of the screen and demonstrates how to hold the Wiimote (I recall holding it like a sword/flight stick, putting it on my head, holding it like a barbell, and holding it like a serving tray). Not only does this help the player, but it also allows Nintendo to create a PLETHORA of different mini-games that can EASILY be understood by anybody.
This game is going to be another classic Wario Ware.
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