the shake dimension is very playable, and beautifully animated, but generally uninspired, too easy and often boring.
wario ware: the shake dimension
-review
this is a quick review of the game.
the first impression is the animation. the shake dimension (TSD) feels like a saturday morning cartoon. from the well-presented intro to the movement and imagery in the levels, it is all quality animation and very slick.
the second thing that hits you is the music. wario games have always had interesting music and tunes that are often the opposite of mario's happy, bouncy tunes. some of them even border on the melacholic and contemplative, and there is often some distortion there.
in TSD they've got rid of some of the atmosphere of the portable wario games. so now it sounds like a more funky, slightly jazzy wario - not the scruffy oddball from super mario land 3. TSD is definately brighter and more joyful all around.
this happiness and joyfullness extends to the gameplay. TSD is like a faster, less compelling version of kirby, but with some sonic-style half pipes thrown in and more of a sense of speed, in the vein of metroid.
it's less compelling because at least kirby had kirby's chamelion-like powers to play around with, while with wario it is more about his flab and how he can throw his weight around the level. it's level design based around wario.
everything is meant to be FUN in TSD, to the point where wario is basically invincible and the uninspired enemies don't do anything to get in his way. it's like a playground for wario to go berserk in. there is no tension.
there are some cool things in the game though. the boss fights are generally fun, and there are interesting methods of vertical and horizontal transport (aside from running), such as tight ropes that you can spin on, little mine carts that you can roll on, cannons you can shoot yourself out of. it's all pretty pedestrian though.
there isn't much incentive to play. wario is just 'greedy' and he wants treasure. that's about it. you collect treasure and coins. then you use the coins to open other levels. this gets boring after the first world (there are about 5).
another problem is that you have to use the wiimote. the wiimote is horrible to hold horizontally; it is hard and has a scuffy bit of plastic that digs into your skin at the end of the controller. it's made worse by the fact that to get the coins you have to 'shake' the wiimote. this is fun, but it just gets annoying after a while, as your hand aches. no doubt there is some kind of masturbation inuendo somewhere in there...but less overtly than in 'no more heroes', which had you shake vertically. :3
speaking of innuendo, there is a foxy female pirate in the game that is quite interesting, but she abandons treasure hunting to open up a shop at the begining of the game.... so TSD's potentional for innuendo is lost.
wario is supposed to be more 'out there' than mario, but he comes off as uninteresting in TSD. they could have targeted the game to an older crowd, and made wario TSD mature to really let his character go.
in conclusion it is a 'fun' game, if that's what you want. but why not just go and play better platformers, such as yoshi's island or metroid zero mission.
too much shaking..too much aching.. ;p