Wario brings us a hilariously fun new way to pick noses.
For the uninitiated, gameplay in WarioWare revolves around microgames. These games require you to perform a simple task in a brief time limit, such as attacking a ninja or opening a safe. They come at you randomly, and you won't know what you it's there staring you in the face, so you have to think fast. Add to this the fact that gradually become faster and more difficult, and a four-miss limit, and you have a recipe for insanity.
Smooth Moves has you using the Wii Remote in a number of positions – or forms, as the game calls them – to play the microgames. You'll be holding it like a regular remote, like a steering wheel, and wearing it on your head like a mohawk, among others. The forms are divided up among the various stages. For example, one stage focuses on holding it sideways like bicycle handlebars and upward like an umbrella. Each form is introduced to you the first time you have to use it with a brief cutscene, featuring a narrator with a calm monotone describing the form in some silly way. Also, the game will tell you which form to use before each microgame, and you can practice any microgame you've unlocked.
The 200+ microgames are varied in both objectives and style, from picking a blocky polygonal nose to saving stick figures from a burning building to washing a clip-art car. Like past entries in the series, there's even a level consisting of microgames based on other Nintendo games and items, from Hanafuda cards and Game & Watch to Wind Waker and Nintendogs. Even your Miis from the Mii Channel make appearances in some games. Part of the fun is wondering what microgame and what art style will come next.
WarioWare games have always been big on replay value, and Smooth Moves is no different. It only takes an hour or two to beat the single-player mode and see the credits, but there's still so much to do afterwards. There are still more microgames to see, and all the stages become endless endurance challenges for high scores. New stages unlock, like a fitness stage, and a stage of Nunchuck microgames. There are also unlockable side games, like a can-shooting gallery, a scrolling game where you break bricks with a ping-pong ball (think Brickout, but with more gravity), and a 3D version of the Balloon Trip mode from the NES game Balloon Fight.
The multiplayer, also unlocked after clearing the single-player mode, features seven different games, most of which center around the microgames. They can all be played with one remote, as you pass it between players. There's a simple game of darts and a pair of two-player games requiring the Nunchuck as well. It's immensely fun, and it's easy for those who haven't played the game before to get the hang of it quick for some intense yet hilarious multiplayer matches.
The only problem I had is that sometimes the game didn't pick up on movements sometimes. It's particularly annoying to fail to hit a baseball or abduct garbage with a UFO because it didn't read the movement or I just happened to go out of range. It didn't occur too often, though. Just try to keep the remote level with the sensor bar outside of the mohawk or elephant forms.
In conclusion, Wario once again strikes gold with this funky and bizarre title. I can't emphasize enough how fun it is. Everything in the game, from disco-dancing cats to smacking orange thieves with a bat and watching them go flying, just screams entertainment and hilarity. It's simple enough for anyone to get into, while its addictiveness will keep them playing. It's fun alone and with friends, and like Wii Sports, it makes a great first Wii game, showing off the different motions and ways you can play with the remote.