WarioWare Smooth Moves has the ability to support 12 people playing one game which makes it a pretty awesome party game. The fact that around 5 to 12 people can even play over 4 different types of multiplayer type games is awesome. With games like last man standing, rope survival, don’t pop the balloon, and hot potato all mixed in with WarioWare games make for some really exciting multiplayer. It’s honestly a wonder why WarioWare doesn’t just go the full yard by making its own copy of Mario party or something like it. I mean these games are all pretty fun, but some of these games just come out to luck or are simply to short to constantly play over and over again. They often get underwhelming after a while despite how fun they are to play against a lot with friends. Pretty much the only real downside to Smooth Moves is multiplayers lost potential to be a big party game that supported a lot of people playing. Course the matter that it isn’t unlocked till you beat the short single player campaign sucks too.
Speaking of the single player campaign, it takes about 40 minutes to an hour to actually beat. While I personally don’t have much of a problem with it; its length causes focus more on multiplayer than on high scoring like most WarioWare games do. Its not that getting a high score on these types of games aren’t fun, but it just isn’t set up well compared to its handheld counterparts that are more enjoyable on short bursts in the bathroom or waiting for a bus. Once again, the single player is also dedicated to teaching you about how to use the controls and while its fun and almost nonsensical, it be nice if it were a little different if only for the fact it’s on a home console. Perhaps it’s asking too much out of it, but Smooth Moves really sets itself out to be more of a demo of what the Wii controls can do rather than its own type of game. While this is true for Touched! In the WarioWare series I feel it lent itself more to that system than it did for the Wii. Smooth Moves simply doesn’t have as many mirco games as you would think considering its a console game nor does it really get all too interesting with its uses. Sure there are a few neat ideas like the makeshift joystick, but the controls are simply too easy to manipulate to make them properly work the way they want you to work them. While the styles like elephant and Mohawk say you need to put the Wii Mote on your nose and head respectively you honestly could just hold it like you normally would and it works just as fine. It’s not so much that they are unresponsive, but rather it’s sometimes better to hold the Wii mote in a different way than what the style actually tells you to do.
Smooth Moves honestly isn’t all that bad though, as it still acts like every other WarioWare game out there. The visual and sounds are all the same quirky and awkward bits you notice from the series, but it simply doesn’t have enough to really warrant much interest. The games content is too light, and while the game works well as a multiplayer game it doesn’t do enough to really make it interesting for long. It’s a nice game to have at parties, but it certainly isn’t for someone that doesn’t have a lot of them, even if they are a fan of the series as a whole.
Final Thoughts:
Smooth Moves is a game that is easily enjoyed with more people around. Its quirky, its fun, simple, and can help make a dead party come back to life. Unfortunately Smooth Moves simply doesn’t bring enough to the table that really makes it the center of attention for parties, and even less when it comes to a single player experience. It still has the Wario Ware charm, but the heart isn’t all there.