Wario Land Shake It
The Wario Land series is where Wario, Nintendo’s greedy, uncouth and rude anti-hero first appeared, and now he’s back in singleplayer action in Wario Land: Shake It. With the Wii Remote controller turned sideways like an old-school controller, veterans and newcomers alike can run, jump and smash their way through hectic side-scrolling stages. Players shake the Wii Remote to help Wario take down his enemies, empty bags of treasure or cause earthquakes. Best of all, there are numerous stages each offering multiple missions to keep players coming back again and again to unlock everything, collect more coins or just improve their best times.
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Storyline and Gameplay
Wario receives an antique globe and telescope that allow him to travel to the once-idyllic Shake Dimension, now conquered by the tyrannical pirate, the Shake King. With the assistance of his longtime rival, Captain Syrup, he must rescue the Merfles, denizens of the Shake Dimension imprisoned by the Shake King. Only by defeating the bosses of all five continents of this strange world can Wario find and confront the Shake King, rescue Queen Merelda, queen of the Merfles, and, most importantly, claim the Bottomless Coin Sack, a never-ending supply of gold.
Wario Land: Shake It features a wide cast of off-the-wall characters including: Wario, our “hero.” Captain Syrup, a female pirate (and rival from previous games) who aids Wario on his quest. The Merfles, helpless natives of the Shake Dimension, and their queen, Queen Merelda. The Shake King, leader of a ruthless pirate band who has conquered the Shake Dimension. Key Game Features:
- Shake Things Up With the Wii Remote - With the Wii Remote controller turned sideways, veterans and newcomers alike can run, jump and smash their way through hectic side-scrolling stages. By shaking the Wii Remote, you can shake down your enemies, free coins from treasure bags and even cause earthquakes.
- Side-Scrolling Fun - Each stage is a masterfully crafted side-scrolling obstacle course of puzzles, enemies and assorted hazards. Every stage holds numerous secrets and treasures to discover (and steal). And each stage has multiple “missions” to keep you coming back again and again to unlock everything, collect more coins or just improve your best time.
- Classic Wario Action and Attitude - Wario returns to form, with all the jumping, power-dashing and butt-stomping we’ve come to expect. This is surly Wario at his finest.
The Wii Remote: Powers, Weapons, Moves & Vehicles
Wario can jump and dash, as per previous Wario Land games. New to this game is the ability to shake the Wii Remote for various effects. By default, a shake of the Wii Remote makes Wario punch the ground, causing a small earthquake and dazing enemies. Wario can then pick up dazed enemies and, with another shake of the Wii Remote, shake them for rejuvenating garlic and occasionally gold. Enemies can also be thrown, and you aim by tilting the Wii Remote.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Simple & FUN!
I bought this game after reading all the reviews. A purchase worth the money. The game is fun and has the older “side scroll” feel to it, yet with new graphics and game play.
Don’t hesitate to add this game to your collection.
5 Stars Great game!
If you like Super-Mario World, you’ll love Wario Land! I only wish I had more time to play it!
5 Stars An excellent platformer that reminds us all that the genre can still be done on consoles
Positive:
+ 2-D cartoon graphics look very sharp
+ solid gameplay with some great elements new to the series
+ smooth controls that also don’t over use motion capabilities
+ tons of treasures and missions add a lot of replay value
+ full of that funny, weird Wario personality and style
Negative:
- main adventure is pretty easy
Wario Land was my favorite game from the original GameBoy, and I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a 2-D platformer as much as I enjoyed it. When I heard the series was going to Wii as a full retail game, though, I had my doubts about how worthwhile it would be at full price. 2-D games have been very overshadowed by 3-D in this generation, and now gamers (myself included) are starting to feel that 2-D games are inferior to those in the third dimension. Does Wario Land: Shake It only further push those assumptions or does it prove us wrong?
Wario Land has a funny story, but it doesn’t show up very often. Basically the Shake King has taken over the Shake Dimension, imprisoning all the cute little residents, kidnapping the princess, and taking the great treasure: a coin bag that always gives you coins when you shake it. The only one to escape this horrible occurrence (named Merfle) somehow finds Wario in his own dimension, going on with his normal daily life. Captain Syrup and Merfle enlist Wario’s help in getting back the land, the princess, and most importantly the coin bag, and that’s the last you hear about the story until you defeat the Shake King. Both the beginning and end cutscenes have the sheer comedy you would expect from a Wario game, and the greedy hero takes nothing seriously and always loses out in the end.
The game progresses over the course of five areas, each with four levels and one boss. You have to beat one level to reach the next, but you can purchase the next area if you want to and have enough coins, so you can go through the game how you like. There may be only 20 main levels, but there are also lots of challenging bonus stages and each level (bonuses included) has three to seven missions and three treasure chests to find. I can guarantee you will feel inclined to go back and try to do more in the game than just beat all the levels, and to get everything you will have to play through each level a minimum of two times. So while there aren’t a ton of levels, the ones available are worth replaying.
Each level is very well designed in terms of playability. Getting through to the end is usually pretty easy, and after you reach the end of a level you have to get back to the beginning before time runs out, which almost turns into a fun minigame, actually. If you find the booster near the end of the level, you can take the fast way in which you are constantly running at high speed. Getting back to the start fast enough to clear the level’s mission based on time involves many well-timed jumps, slides, and turns and can be quite challenging. So the levels are very well designed in terms of playability, because you have to be able to get through the normally and then there is a whole course set up for high speed.
The level design complements the gameplay very nicely. Shake It plays like other 2-D platformers, you move left and right, jump, and all that, but Wario has always had the ability to charge as well, and now he also has an earthquake punch that can be used to stun enemies, solve puzzles, and other things. This is done with a shake of the Wii remote, a function that works quite well and isn’t over used. The Wii remote can also be shaken to get coins out of coin bags, which is a nice feature in the gameplay. Motion control is also used for a few submarine levels as well as in a boss fight, and tilting the controller to aim for throwing enemies and for shooting Wario out of a cannon works quite nicely too. Overall the concepts, level design, and controls come together very nicely for a great gameplay experience.
Shake It may be fully 2-D, but that’s not to say the graphics don’t look really sharp. They may not be stunning visuals like you see in Mario Galaxy, but it’s about as good as you can possibly make a 2-D game look. The objects and characters aren’t extremely detailed, but they look very smooth and sharp. The animations for all the actions look very nice too and add much to the humorous Wario feel. The level backgrounds look great too, and if you take a look, things such as large rocks will actually pop out in front of the level in some areas, but they don’t obstruct your vision at all. Shake It displays some of the finest 2-D graphics I’ve ever seen, and they really add a lot to the overall experience of the game.
Shake It sounds almost as good as it looks. The music tracks may not be the most memorable you’ve ever heard, but they sound really good and fit their respective environments very well. The sound effects are 100% Wario too, with funny sounds that have good quality.
In a world where 3-D is most often hailed as king, Wario Land: Shake It stands tall and proud. It manages to be just as fun as most of the 3-D games out there and delivers an experience any fan of the series or platformer aficionado will love. 2-D CAN be worth full price, you just have to be willing to pay up.
Gameplay: 9.0
Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 8.5
Camera & Control: 9.0
Value: 8.5
FINAL SCORE: 9.0/10
2 Stars If you like 2d and are a nintendo fanboy
Found this game to be a little lackluster, honestly if you want a cartoon like game that is really fun, then ratchet and clank: tools of destruction is way better, or even metal arms: glitch in the system. Both had fun interactive environments as well, granted they are both shooter type games, just found this one to be pretty repetitive to say the least, but if you like 2d games, this is your game. Just hard for me to rate this good even with pretty graphics when there is a glut of other good titles on various consoles out there. Granted the wii has had some innovative games with its control scheme, this is just boring.
4 Stars Fun cartoony game
This game is a great 2D platformer in the tradition of Super Mario Bros. Great controls and fun gameplay. A definite plus.
Pros- Great traditional 2D nintendo platformer with enough wii innovative controls to make it fresh. Really makes you long for more of these from nintendo.
Cons - very cartoony and really easy to beat. Not a challenging game by any stretch.