Sky diving, space travel, being digested by a whale. There are a lot of experiences in life that are impossible to describe to someone who hasn't experienced them. Fortunately for the reader, not all of these experiences require a risk of mortality. One is available for as cheap an entry fee as $50 and an open mind—""WarioWare: Smooth Moves"" for the Nintendo Wii.
The premise seems simple enough—the game presents you with a series of five-second micro games at an increasing speed until you mess them up enough times for it to be game over. However, the substance of the game is in the balance it strikes between this simple formula and absolute insanity. Each five-second game is completely different from the previous one, ranging from conducting a symphony of classic Nintendo carriers to pushing a kid in the dirt, from piloting a garbage-collecting robot to flying through a tilted version of a level from the Super Nintendo classic ""Star Fox.""
Every game is based on different ways to hold and move the Wii remote. Being able to jump between bizarre situations is a challenge—adapting and contorting to every movement the game demands. While trying to get your bearings is half the fun, some of the games just do not make any sense on the first attempt, which could be discouraging to first-time players.
The micro-games get their heart and soul from the art of the game. The art direction is comprised of anime-esque characters coupled with random images of crowned lions and crudely drawn celebratory stick figures. While the game is no technical powerhouse, the graphics are smoothly rendered and serve the game well, especially when using the players' ""Mii"" characters. You just haven't lived until you've seen your friends jump up and down as you direct them to the proper lavatories.
Using 19 different ways to hold the remote to create over 200 micro games, the whole package lasts about two days if you plan on playing through every micro game once, since the games are only five seconds long. However, replaying the games for high scores provides some additional hours of play. Better yet are the slew of unlockable multiplayer modes, including a 12-player last-man-standing series that includes all the micro-games and screams drinking game.
A definite buy, especially if you and your friends are tired of drunken rounds of Wii Bowling.
