Montana Fragfest

The time is at hand again where we get to peek in to the deliciously unkooth world of anti-Mario. That’s right, Wario (our favorite little Plumber’s exact opposite) is back with all his wacky burp and fart fun.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are great. Stylistically he game is a giant cartoon with small video enhanced bits and it fits the game perfectly. I honestly think this is where the Wii is headed. It can’t compete wiht the PS3 or the Xbox 360 in video power, so they will work with things that are would look good on any system but many of the beefier systems have abandoned (such as a 2D platformer done in cartoons).

Controls

The controls in a Wii game make or break the game. Because it is the system’s big selling point, many developers focused on using the Wii’s motion controllers in as many ways as possible, which in many games is  complete overkill. Wario Land: Shake It! has the perfect control usage for the type of game it is. First, it uses the Wiimote in a horizontal fashion which for a simple 2d platformer is retro-heaven. Horizontally the Wiimote is nothing more than a slightly akward, wireless NES controller. The Wii’s 4 direction d-pad means that I never had trouble telling what direcion i was going in *coughBionicCommandoReArmedcough*.

The only time you use the motion in the game  is in fun little bits that remind you that you are on the Wii and are used in ways that make the game much more dynamic and fun. The basic motions are shaking the controller to spit out the treasure in a bag of gold (and with a title like “Shake It!” trust me, you will do a ridiculous amount of shaking) or moving the Wiimote down to do a ground slam, but they added some motion depth by using the tilt component in VERY fun little ways. My personal favorite was one world boss where you tilted to move a rolling cart back and forth which also changed the angle in which you used a giant punching glove on the front of your cart to shoot objects at the boss.

Sound

The music in this game is HORRIBLE. It sounds like Dentist Office/Elevator rejects. Maybe the developers were trying to make an inside joke here, but I just found it annoying. The other sounds in the game are great and very funny. Hearing Wario grunt while he climbs a ladder or a little bad guy scream like R2-D2 on fire is just priceless.

Overall

I loved this game, but then again I’m a huge sucker for a 2D scroller. It was cute while offering a challenge and not taking itself too seriously. I actually had a reason to fire up my Wii and not be completely disappointed and decide to sell it.

Tags: shake it, wario, wario land, wii, wiimote

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Games, Reviews, Wii. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.