E3 2008: Wario Land: Shake It Hands-On

The last time Wario had his own game on the Wii, it was in a series of wacky and often nonsensical microgames in WarioWare: Smooth Moves. The anti-Mario will soon be back on Nintendo's home console with Wario Land: Shake It, an old-fashioned side-scrolling platform game that still manages to utilize the Wii Remote's motion sensitive controls to good effect.

We got some hands-on time with Shake It at E3 2008, with the good news being that the game is warmly reminiscent of the great platformers of yesteryear, but with a few decidedly modern twists. Firstly, the game's graphics are cel-shaded, giving the game a cool interactive anime look. And secondly, the Wii Remote seems to be an integral part of gameplay, with numerous examples of its use during the first level that we played.

But before we get to controls, let's recap the story behind Wario Land: Shake It. Apparently, there's an alternate universe out there called the Shake Dimension, with its peaceful inhabitants--called Merfles--under the control of the evil Shake King. One of these Merfles escapes to Wario's world, where he asks Wario help to defeat the King and free the Merfles. Wario, being the loving soul that he is, refuses to lend a hand. That is, until he finds out that the Shake King has a wallet with an infinite amount of coin money, which of course is enough to motivate Wario to travel to the Shake Dimension and help defeat the King.

The game's first level takes place on a pirate ship, and serves as an introduction to Wario's various moves throughout the game. You'll control Wario by holding the Wii Remote sideways, with the directional pad used to guide him left or right, the 2 button used for jump, and the 1 button used to initiate a dash. As befits any good platform hero, Wario has a butt-stomp attack, which is activated by jumping and pressing down on the D pad. This first level also featured Nintendo platformer staples such as green warp tubes and enemies which can be picked up (while dazed) and thrown at other foes.

The Shake It in the game's title comes from Wario's ability to pick up his opponents and--by shaking the remote up and down quickly--loosen objects such as money or health packs. It was quite funny to see Wario pick up some of his smaller, cuter enemies and relentlessly shake them.

The Wii Remote is also used to perform a powerful ground-punch attack by simply shaking the Remote downward. This big attack can force open closed doors and topple over other obstacles. Wario can also pick up balls and aim them at out-of-reach switches by tilting the Remote in the right direction.

Near the end of the first level, Wario finds and releases a captured Merfle deep in the bowels of the ship. A countdown timer then starts, with the task being to get back to the original starting point in the level before time expires. Overall, the game played quite smoothly, and should please those hankering for some classic platforming action.

Wario Land: Shake It is due for release on the Nintendo Wii in fall 2008.