While it may not be the 2D platforming messiah we were expecting, Shake It! is still a fun game and a blast to the past.
Story: You really shouldn't be going into this review expecting some heartwarming tale of courage, bravery, etc. etc. etc. This game has two cutscenes (beautifully animated by Production I.G., but I'll get into that later), one at the beginning and one at the end of the game. The cutscenes do little more than explain why you're leaping through a telescope and running across Mayan temples and shaking little pirate-hatted monsters to death to obtain their garlic, only to have to rescue small little creatures from cages then escape in a certain time limit before a juggernaut comes along and shakes you to death. Basically, the "Shake Dimension" is this world that lives inside a globe, which has been taken over by the Shake King (no background given), who has captured the Queen (who?) of the Merfles (the what?). One of the Merfles escapes from the Shake Dimension, begging Wario for help. Wario lazily picks his nose, ignoring the little sprite's plea, until he mentions a reward in the Bottomless Coin Sack, a sack of coins that will never run dry. Now, Wario is a very interesting character; he isn't good nor evil, just greedy. If it were the Shake King who was offering the money, for example, Wario wouldn't hesitate to fight on his side. In fact, this sense of a total lack of morals makes itself apparent in the cutscene at the end of the game. I won't spoil anything, but basically Wario cherishes the sack of money far above the life of the Queen.
Control: This game has you holding the remote sideways, as you would if you were playing a NES game on the Virtual Console. And rightfully so; this game is supposed to replicate a nostalgic feel, and there's no point in a sidescroller if you have an analog stick and a million buttons. Just like the game boy games, A (2) is jump, and B (1) is a running charge that demolishes blocks and enemies. Implemented in the gameplay, though, is the Wii Remote's unique features (shaking and tilting, to be exact). Now some of these "gimmicks" work, and some don't. What I mean is that while most don't even feel like gimmicks, there's still a large share that do. Shaking bags of money and enemies won't break your wrists, but having to shake the remote to swing on a bar feels ridiculous (especially in a boss fight that takes place entirely on bars, causing many broken wrists). Tilting works fine most of the time; moving a unibucket and steering a rocket ship feel like second nature, as do tilting the remote to aim where you want to launch an enemy (or yourself, from a cannon). However, steering the submarine feels wrong, because you tilt the remote to choose your direction, but use the D-Pad to accelerate/decelerate, causing it to feel very awkward to move anywhere but forward. At the very least it feels great to run around; it's always a blast at the end of each level to hop into an accelerator that will send you launching back to the start of the level at top speeds, destroying anything and anyone in your way.
Graphics: I really have to acknowledge and respect this game for its graphics. They're not 3D, but that is its strength; the entire game is done in a cartoon-like 2D style. The Wii's modern-day engine causes these old-school graphics to look absolutely beautiful. While there are a few backgrounds that look modest and drab, the actual characters look fantastic, all being hand-drawn as opposed to sprites. The level of detail put into these characters' movements is simply astounding (an article in Nintendo Power had a small corner of the page completely dedicated to a frame-by-frame of Wario shaking his ass as he enters a pipe). The bosses look especially stunning, animated so beautifully that you completely forget that you're playing a video game. All of the game's animations were handled by the legendary studio of Production I.G., responsible for animes such as Blood + and Ghost in the Shell, and I must say that they did a fantastic job, in both the lengthy cutscenes and the overall flow of the game.
Audio: I want to love this game's music. I really do. I mean, it all has this jazzy feel to it, and occasionally there's a pumping rock tune here and there. Even though it's MIDI, it's all really great music. The problem? It doesn't fit in with the game. At all. A funky piano piece plays as your climbing an Aztec temple. A rocking brassy tune plays as you crawl through a volcano. I mean, for most of the game, it just makes no sense. Now, granted, there are a few stages in which the music makes sense (a desert stage and a haunted house stage, for example), but for the most part it just feels out of place. The final boss, though, has a cool remix of his theme from the earlier cutscene. Overall, the music's great, just completely out of place.
Length: This game really is rather short. It consists of five worlds, each having four stages and a boss. However, beyond this short run-through there are many goodies to unveil. For example, there are many treasures and awards scattered throughout each level that will taunt and tease those striving for the 100% mark. However, the game's repetitiveness at points will eventually wear away at you, making you glad the game ends before it gets stale.
Replay Value: Like I said before, there are many things to go back and collect in this game: awards, treasures, and maps leading to new stages with more treasures and awards. The game on its own is pretty easy, but some of these little things can be near impossible to get, leaving room for both the casual player to breeze through the game, and for the hardcore player to go back and wrack their brain collecting everything.
Multiplayer: N/A
Boss Fights: As I said previously, these bosses look downright fantastic. How they fight, though, is a completely different story. The first few bosses are pretty easy to beat. As they progress, though, they get tougher and tougher, until the fifth boss, at which point you have to be ultra-alert in order to make it out alive (let alone survive the time challenges or all those other requirements later on). Unlike bosses some of Nintendo's more recent romps, these are not the typical "find weak point, hit three times" fares. Once you find a weak point, yay, good for you, the boss finds a way to cover its weak point. And they take FAR more than three hits. These bosses are in no way the disappointments of those seen in certain Nintendo games [COUGH TWILIGHT PRINCESS COUGH]. They're both tough and spectacular, epic and mind-boggling.
Final Boss: This bastard took me around five tries to beat, and I think there's a good reason for that: he's hard as hell! I mean, at first he just charges around, making himself wide open for you to hit. As the fight progresses, though, he starts grabbing you and shaking you dry of coins, shooting lightning at you, firing omega death rays...it's madness. However, once you finally beat him, you'll be filled with a sense of accomplishment, one which is instantly turned to laughter as you watch the closing cutscene.
Extras: Like I said, there's a lot to go back and collect. I don't want to reiterate, so I'll just wrap this up.
Final Statement: Nintendo's in for a rough Christmas. All of the big franchises like Pokemon, Zelda, and Mario are still recharging, getting ready to come back with humongous games in a few years. Until that time comes, we have games like Kirby and this to keep us satisfied. While not a masterpiece, this shows just what happens when a gaming company puts a lot of effort into this game. And it shows; they were trying to make it appeal to everyone: old-schoolers, new gamers, casual gamers, hardcore gamers, men, women, young, old; you get my point. What I'm trying to say is that, while it does not necessarily appeal to everyone it attempted to, it still deserves some credit for trying, and the final result of all of Nintendo and Good-feel's hard work is an absolutely stunning game that is fun to play to boot. We can only hope that other companies take the hint and revert back to their 2D platforming roots, because that is where the genre truly shines. I'm looking at you, Sonic.