Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)

Wario Land: Shake It!
Good Feel / Nintendo

Review by Anthony

Seriously, why is this game so rarely talked about? I suppose like any game, it might just not be someone’s cup of tea, but rarely have I been so impressed with a 2-D platformer and had such a good time playing it. Wario Land: Shake It is a great game with fun gameplay, a great sense of humor, and plenty to do if you’re willing to do some challenges and treasure hunting.

The only thing I can think is that people may have had trouble justifying a $50 purchase if they made the mistake of doing the same for GC’s fun but disturbingly short Wario World. If so, I don’t blame you. And if you have no interest in taking on stage challenges or seeking out bonus levels, then I guess I’d steer you away unless you can get it cheaper. Otherwise, I have basically nothing but good to say here.

What’s good:
- Wario. Wario himself is good. He’s an ugly antihero who amusingly gets caught up in adventures based on his greed. All of his animations and sounds in the game really add a level of charm to the whole experience. We were often amused at his small grunts while climbing ladders, or his gymnast dismount after flipping from poles, among other things.
- The gameplay in general is very solid. Wario can tackle, butt stomp, grab, throw, shake, ground pound, go dashing and sliding at top speed, and get into some motion-based vehicles for level exploration. You can be bouncing between walls collecting coins one minute, grabbing enemies and shaking them for garlic the next, then climbing into rolling buckets that tilt with the wiimote. It’s fun.
- Oddly enough, the music is fantastic. Numerous tunes are incredibly catchy and I’d be hard pressed to say if there’s a bad one in the bunch.
- Graphics too, were high quality. Wario and the enemies were animated very well, and the levels especially had lush and richly drawn backgrounds. Even though it’s 2-D, they did a great job of giving the whole environment a more lifelike feel to it.
- The puzzles and challenges in the game are very well done. Often, we might have to replay a level a couple times before we finally figured out how to get a certain treasure or complete a certain challenge... other times I’d just be staring at a seemingly inaccessible area until it finally clicked how to get there. I love games that challenge you realistically. I’d love to struggle a little in figuring out what to do, but I don’t want to jump back and forth from a FAQ to the game just to get by.
- The level design is often brilliant. You may trek through an entire level normally, then when you get to the escape portion and find out they’ve set it up so if you keep your speed boost, you can escape in 30 seconds... only then does it click in how much work they put into the level design. Sometimes the escape portion of each level almost makes it another level in itself. Seeing it all come together is, at times, glorious.

What’s neutral:
- The difficulty level and game length on its own could be seen as both low and somewhat short. However, add in the completion of challenges, treasure collection, and additional maps, and you can effectively negate each of those concerns.
- I could have maybe done with one less “Subwarine” level. I didn’t think a forced-scrolling level fit in quite as well with the game, but who knows, you may enjoy it.

What’s bad:
- The treasure amusingly flies out of treasures bags all over the screen when shaken. It’s cute and all, but it means that often to make sure you’re getting enough money for the challenges, that you’re dragging the bags to areas that will keep the money from flying out of reach or to inaccessible points. Not even that bad of an issue; it just didn’t seem like a necessary inclusion.

That’s honestly all I can think to nitpick. In fact, the game even deserves bonus mention for including a very prevalent enemy in the game that literally cannot harm you in any way. He walks around, existing only for you to pound him, throw him at objects/other enemies, or generally abuse to your liking. Now that’s just awesome.

I think it’s clear that the folks at Nintendo realized they messed up with Wario World for GC. It was fun, but it was over absurdly fast with little to do. So, they stripped back the unnecessary 3D element (leave that to Mario, he’s got that cornered), added more levels and more challenges with more Warioness all around. As a result, they made a game that’s become probably my favorite 2-D platformer since Kirby Superstar.