Paul RobertsNovember 21, 2023Maxi Geek Review, WarioWare, Switch, NintendoComment

WarioWare: Move it! - Review

Paul RobertsNovember 21, 2023Maxi Geek Review, WarioWare, Switch, NintendoComment

WarioWare is back for a second appearance on the Switch (not including the original on the GBA app). This quirky microgame series has always kept things interesting by making the use of whatever Nintendo hardware it appears on. Move It! is a return to wild and amusing use of the Switch’s motion controls, much like the Wii WarioWare title Smooth Moves.

Wario wins a tropical holiday in which he gets stuck taking his usual crew along. While on holiday Wario and company wind up on a series of silly misadventures. The story is inconsequential as always, but the different stories continue to be as silly as they ever were.

The whole WarioWare crew are here; Mona, Jimmy T, 9-Volt, Orbulon…and there really are a bunch of them, but everyone is here. Each of the different characters (or groupings of characters) represent several forms/stances to learn and juggle until you beat the boss battle.

You’ll have the story finished in 2-3 hours, it’s pretty easy to speed through the different characters if you have the energy. As always there is more to do after completing the story mode, such as replaying to uncover more of the microgames and additional challenge modes.

What sets Move It! apart from Smooth Moves is that this time around you have two JoyCon Throughout the story mode you are introduced to the various forms, or ways to hold the JoyCon, as they become relevant for the upcoming microgame. The narrator will usually add some silly in-game lore as to why you need to hold the JoyCon a certain way. There are the more straightforward forms like Choo Choo or Sky Stretch, one holding the JoyCon like your arms are train pistons and the other holding the JoyCon above your head. There’s the more involved forms like Squat and Ba-Kaw. Squat has you squatting like a Sumo wrestler and Ba-Kaw has you holding one hand in front of your nose and the other at your butt. There’s a bunch of forms you’ll gain during the story, with some adding extra inputs like motion buttons needing to be pressed. The form/request that was the most annoying was when the game would have you release the JoyCon from your hand/s (for the love of god keep the straps on your wrists), the JoyCon left dangling while you have to try and get them back into your hands and ready for the next microgame. It can be similar for the Hand Model form, which involves the really cool inclusion of using the JoyCon’s infrared camera built in to use in microgames. It’s a really cool concept to have the JoyCon detect what you’re doing with your hand, but taking one JoyCon in the other hand while letting the other drop is a real pain to get prepared for the next game. Overall Move It! really gets the most out of the number of forms, utilising them to cover all kinds of goofy actions. Some are harder to work out what the microgame is asking of you, but most of the time you’ll pick it up quickly.

For each group of Microgames you have a set amount of lives, although unlike previous games once you run out it’s not necessarily game over. Through the story mode you get a chance to make a ‘divine pose’ to have all your lives restored and get to continue where it ended. While it might bug some that the game is so forgiving, it is entirely possible to just not do the pose and start over from the beginning.

You don’t have to WarioWare alone, with a 2 player option for the story and additional mini games for 2-4 to play. Galactic Conquest is a board game with microgames, and manages to keep the competition tense regardless how well you do in the microgames. It’s fun yet frustrating at the same time depending on how much you were winning by when it was all taken away.

Medusa March has two or more players inching down a path to defeat the deadly Medusa. She will have her back to you and periodically turn around to attempt to freeze any player that is moving. This includes during microgames. It’s fun until the majority of players have been petrified and everyone is left watching one player inch their way to victory.

Copycat Mirror is one of the more interesting minigames where one player stands facing the TV and the player with the JoyCon stands to the side facing the other player. As the microgames play it's up to the player to play the microgames as if they had the JoyCon, leaving the other player to copy the motions to actually complete the microgame. It is surprisingly fun and we got surprisingly far given I’d only played some of the games once previously.

There’s even more multiplayer modes: Go the Distance, Listen to the Doctor (returning from the GC WarioWare) and The “Who’s in control” Show. All of these are also a bit off beat, and rely on everyone to play along with what the game asks of you to get the most out of it. Just make sure your friends are ready for a workout when you hand them the JoyCons.

Previous WarioWare games (but not all of them) have provided a decent selection of unlockables following the story portion of the game. Move it! does have more to play, and if you want to master every microgame at even the absolute hardest difficulty there will be something to keep you busy for a while. However I do miss the series throwing smaller minigames that do inventive things with the hardware.

Move It! is a work out, which will appeal to those who like getting out the motion controls, but also risks being completely unplayable to those who are limited in movement. It really comes down to the different ‘forms’ and how some of them are used. While a lot of the standing forms are fine, some are punishing for extended periods. There is also just the simple fact that using JoyCon’s for motion control is still unreliable, especially for microgames that need precise actions to be recognised. Having to swap the hand I hold the JoyCon to use, the infrared camera was inaccurate, and the microgames go so fast it can be hard to get the JoyCon back into your hands for the next stance.

WarioWare: Move It! Is full of the funny microgames the series is known for wrapped up in another silly Wario and friends adventure. The microgames have more hits than misses, but the unreliable motion controls make the duds feel worse. While there might not be the number of unlockables there used to be, there is still something for one to four players here. I hope the team at Nintendo can keep these games coming forever, hopefully the next hardware is more reliable.