Previews: This evil Mario clone makes Scrooge McDuck look like a philanthropist.
Wario has made quite a name for himself since his first appearance in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992). From these humble Game Boy roots, Nintendo’s favorite antihero went on to star in both the Wario Land and WarioWare franchises, not to mention his countless appearances Mario-themed spin-off games (Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Party, etc.). This fall Nintendo is again giving players the opportunity to step into the shoes of this miserly rapscallion with Wario Land: Shake It for the Wii.
The story involves Wario traveling to the Shake Dimentsion to free its inhabitants from the tyrannical rule of the Shake King. Wario being Wario, his motivations are not exactly altruistic. He is out for the Shake King’s hefty stash of coins. Any enemies that get between Wario and this wealth do so at their peril.
The game preserves many of the familiar elements from the Wario Land series while adding Wii motion support into the mix. Like previous iterations, Wario Land: Shake It remains true to the series’ 2D side-scrolling roots. As opposed to recent 2D platformers that feature rendered characters (New Super Mario Bros, Bionic Commando Rearmed), Wario Land: Shake It features flat, yet colorful cel-shaded visuals. The cinematic segments are particularly well animated and arguably look as good as many high-end Japanese cartoons.
The player controls Wario principally by using the buttons on the Wii remote, which is held horizontally like the original NES controller. The motion controls come into play in various ways. The players can both shake moneybags and enemies to receive coins. This action is accomplished by vigorously shaking the Wii remote up and down. Wario can also grab objects and throw them in a similar manner to the eggs in Yoshi’s Island. The player aims these objects by tilting the Wii remote to the appropriate angle to line up the given target. A quick shake downward will also cause Wario to perform a ground pound attack.
The remote’s tilt functionality is also used in more subtle ways. For instance, the player shakes the Wii remote to flip around on metal bars like a gymnast to reach higher elevations. Players also control a unicycle and submarine by tilting the remote from one side to another.
