Wario Ware: Smooth Moves

October 6th, 2006, 17:00 Posted By: wraggster

The Wario Ware series has always been nuts, with its nonsensical three-second mini-games coming at you one after the other. But with full-body motion of the Wii version, Smooth Moves is totally berserk.

Making full use of the Wii's motion-detecting Remote (no Nunchuk needed), Wario Ware: Smooth Moves has you performing all sorts of wacky movements to complete its rapid mini-games.

The cool thing is the Wii Remote is held differently with each game, and just before the mini-games appear, you're briefly shown a picture of how the controller should be held. Then you have a couple of seconds to get it ready.

It's mental. One second you'll be holding the Remote like a cup, and tipping it towards you to make the on-screen man drink a glass of water (do it to fast and the water spills everywhere). Then you have to quickly change to holding it horizontally with both hands like a pole, and tilt it left and right to help a clown keep his balance on a giant ball. Then you're holding it like a dumbbell, and pumping your bicep to make the on-screen weightlifter do the same.

Our favourite mini-games are the ones based on previous Nintendo games. An Animal Crossing game saw us yank the remote back to whip a fish out of a river. A Super Mario Bros. game lets you flick the remote upwards to make Mario jump to hit a coin block. And you'll be reaching towards your TV to grab a dog's paw in a Nintendogs mini-game.

But Smooth Moves doesn't settle at you just moving your hands and arms. Sometimes it'll ask you to hold the Remote against a particular part of your body. So you'll be holding it at your waist, and twirling your hip to spin a hoola-hoop around the waist of your virtual counterpart.

Or, you'll be asked to place the controller on your head and do squats to make a crazy body-builder pump his legs. Of course, since the Wii can only detect the position of the controller and not the rest of your body, you can cheat by imitating these motions with more effortless arm movements, but you're girlfriend and your granny won't know that. Let them live the dream.

If you play by the rules, Wario Ware is as bonkers as it is tiring, but that's what makes it as fun as the Dancing Stage games that have dominating arcades for years.

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves is a confirmed launch title in Japan, but is not yet on the list for day one in the UK.

We're hoping it'll appear in time for Christmas. Forget singing carols and popping crackers. We're all about Wario Ware after a fat lunch.

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