Fun but rather short game that plays it rather safe and does not unlock its full potential
Shake It! does not differ from any other Mario platformer where there really isn't a major story. The story that is in Wario is pretty cliche and has been done before time and time again with RPGs and other platformers. I really didn't mind since these platformers rely on gameplay and I can't argue with that.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is the meat of any Nintendo platformer. The controls are fantastic and responsive and the Wii remote works nicely without being too obnoxious. There are a few vehicles that you use which take some time to learn. I wish they had more vehicles. The game will only take probably like 6 hours to complete with only 5 worlds. Levels are somewhat short as well. This game would have been significantly better if it had more like 8 worlds. There are challenges, but there is no apparent incentive to unlock them unless you are a completionist. The game is somewhat easy. You get health by shaking enemies and it is difficult to die. I actually liked this laid back experience. The boss battles are pretty difficult though. The levels are pretty neat, but lack deep thinking puzzles. It's more of a "jump to this ledge then this one, then this one, etc." then solving puzzles to unlock doors and such. You earn coins and then spend them at the shop. They are very limited items here and I wish Nintendo would expand on the Wario games. The game just needs "more". More levels, more diverese enemies, more vehicles, more challenges. It's just too short.
Graphics & Interface:
As IGN.com stated, the animations are hand drawn and they look gorgeous. It has it's own unique style, which I thought was pretty amazing. You'll probably want to play levels more than once just to look at the levels. However, menus are pretty bland.
Overall:
This game is a renter for sure. I paid $20 and I believe it was worth it. $50 is definitely steep although it is a fairly decent Wii game. The graphics are great and campaign will need to be played at least once to get the full experience since levels are more than meets the eye in terms of secrets. There is just less in this game. If they added more to pretty much every aspect of the game, it could have easily be one of Wii's very best games.