So, what's the verdict on Smooth Moves?  Most seem to be saying that it's head and shoulders above Touched, but doesn't come quite as close to the intuitive design of the first Made In Wario/WarioWare Inc. or Twisted.

What say you?  Are these moves really that smooth?

A good Welsh friend of mine, who loves Wario Ware as much as I do, was fortunate enough to get it last week. His impressions have generally been favorable, though he has told me that it lacks the relative depth of Twisted or even the first Wario Ware. First of all, Crowns/Medals are gone, which is unfortunate. What's worse, though, is that there are few unlockables to be found--the same problem that Touched had. The multiplayer is also surprisingly limited, with just a "pass the controller" mode (which makes it impossible to play with the strap).

As for the microgames, he told me that they're basically brilliant, making innovative use of the Wii-mote. One shining example of this brilliance has you put the Wii-mote down on a flat surface. Then, when a ringing sound comes from the remote speaker, you have to pick up the "phone." The brilliance comes from levels 2 and 3, where loud noise will come from your TV speakers to prevent you from hearing the ringing. I honestly would have never thought to use the remote speaker in that way.

He did, however, say that there may be too much innovation. As with Touched, the developers basically found every possible way to utilize the controller, so he can't fathom there being a sequel that uses the Wii-mote alone. Although, now that I think about it, they could always make use of the nunchuck for any potential sequel.

Another thing to note--he's had the game for a week now and still hasn't been able to beat the Dancing Warios game on level 1. This, despite the fact that he's a DDR fanatic. Apparently it's much more strict with movements than Wario de Mambo was.

Also, the one thing he told me that convinced me to buy Wario Ware Smooth Moves: (spoiler) "It's a Wii, Wario!" No one does fanservice like R&D1.

It's a good game, though this is also the first Wario Ware game I've really played in depth, so I can't say how it compares to the others. We did finish it in a few hours and unlocked multiplayer mode. Though I must say we were *very* disappointed multiplayer wasn't available from the very beginning, but it was all good because we passed around the Form Baton -- excuse me, the Wiimote -- and each one of us got to play a series of games anyway.

The main gripe I have about the game, I'm not sure if it's a problem with the game or just the responsiveness of the Wii and/or 'mote. Basically, a couple of the forms seemed less responsive than others -- or, in one sense, a little *too* responsive. In the sawing game ("tug of war" form), sometimes the saw would scrunch up for apparently no reason, and we'd have no idea how to make it straight so we could actually start sawing. The "Mohawk" form is also kind of off, such as in the boss stage where you have to duck under obstacles -- my bro ended up simply holding the 'mote in his hand and tilting it up and down. And the game where you have to save the girl -- I forget which form that was, it might have been the basic "Remote" form -- the 'mote didn't seem to respond.

All in all, our group certainly had a lot of fun, but with a really short single player. Though I have the feeling that doesn't really matter, seeing all the extras my bro is unlocking and playing, heh.

P.S. USE THE WRIST STRAP. ALWAYS. Trust me on this.

Well, since GameStop.com screwed up my order, I didn't get the game until today, but I've played three worlds so far.  I'm really impressed with how clean the graphics are.  As for the gameplay, I've seen some of the same responsiveness issues that Schala mentions.  It seems like you have to wake up the remote in certain microgames and then it recognizes what you do.  Very odd.  It's not a big deal, but it is noticeable when it happens.  Some of the games I've seen have been very basic, but others have been quite clever.  The game seems to be more fun in areas where you're frequently required to change forms (the way you hold the wiimote) as that adds to the intensity.

I don't really mind the lack of unlockables (the amount in Twisted is overkill), but I am disappointed that the grid doesn't give you goals to beat like in every previous Wario Ware title.  Instead, it just serves as a very bare bones practice area.

Anyway, it's quite fun so far and I'm looking forward to playing more.

This is the first Warioware game I've played, and it is amazing in the way it uses the remote.  However, some forms are similar to other forms, so it's purely to make you look silly (i.e. The Mohawk and The Elephant are similar in the ways they are used).

Graphics are clean and sharp.  The games are just really wacky.  I also like the puns they use when you go look up the minigames.

Ok, I think I figured out the deal with the above.  It seems that if you have the wiimote pointed away from the screen more than a certain amount, the above happens.  In Zelda, I used to do this intentionally to get rid of the fairy, but here it appears to be more stringent about keeping the remote "looking" at the TV.

I picked this up for my brother today, and played it for a few minutes. Not nearly enough to compare it to the original Wario Ware (haven't played its sequels), but enough to have a lot of fun. I'm not really the target demographic, but I'm totally buying into the wiimote gimmickovation. Of course, I've only played the simple pick-up-and-play games like WW and Wii Sports, so I don't know how I'll take to it in a gamer's game like Twilight Princess (though, given my molasses-slow warming up to 3D gameplay, I'll probably be averse to it)... but as far as Swing Generation goes, I'm sold.

That is, of course, when the Wii comes in black.

I pretty much hate it whenever a Nintendo character opens its mouth, but I couldn't help but smirk at that one.

I put them on only because I'm overly cautious, but thought "hardly necessary, only an idiot could send these things flying." It's, uh, slipped out of my hand three times now. Heh.

I finished the game tonight, unlocking what I think are all of the single-player modes.  It was a lot of fun.  Nintendo really lays out lots of cool possibilities for the wiimote in this game, so I hope third parties are paying attention.  Also, while there are substanially less unlockables than in other Wario Ware titles, some of these are of considerably higher entertainment value.  The sound test, can shooting game and, best of all, Pyoro S (vertical scrolling shooter) are all great.  Also great are the Mii-inspired Staff Credits.  Very amusing.

Jimmy's kitties are *soooooo* adorable~!!   (The puppies are too, but being a cat person, I just can't put 'em on the same level as the felines. :p)

THREAD HIJACK! Gimme all y'er posts or I'll shoot...

I picked up Wario Ware Twisted (GBA) last night, and it is awesome. Once I unlock all the microgames in that bad boy I'll start hunting for Smooth Moves. Wario Ware = awesome. Too bad Touched wasn't so hot...

Don't stop there. Make sure you get crowns on all of the microgames so you can unlock the GREATEST GAME EVER.

Knowing my somewhat-OCD nature toward completing GBA/DS games, I will probably end up doing that as well. Thank you very much, FAQ Writer.

Twisted was the best thing to ever happen to the GBA.... I got so caught up in the phenomenon that I bought up four copies of the game; one Japanese, and three domestic.  That way, if the gyro sensor on my current copy ever breaks down, I'll have backups.  ^_^

I think I've just about unlocked everything in Smooth Moves.  Great game, but it still doesn't come close to the greatness of the original Wario Ware or Twisted.  It's difficult to describe, but the game just feels more Intelligent Systems in design than R&D1, and is largely closer to Touched's aesthetics overall.  I hesitate to call that a bad thing, but the ongoing vibe I got when playing Smooth Moves is that it could've turned out to be a tighter, polished and more intuitive product if R&D1 was developer.

On the other hand, there are neat touches implemented, such as your Mii showing up in some of the micro games and the various executions of the "forms" are handled very well.  Lots of great gameplay ideas with the Wii-mote has you genuinely wishing that they make full titles out of them; I'd LOVE to see a wii-make of the original Starfox, just like in 9-Volt's boss stage.  The exclusion of an Album mode is disappointing, but then, it might be for the best...... after all, going at any one game that requires strenuous arm motions numerous times in a row (and with speeds ever-increasing) could result in bodily harm.

And shdwrlm, if you didn't know already, there are nunchuck-based games in Orbulon's stage..... so I wonder if they could make a whole other game based on that premise alone.

IGN names WW Twisted the best GBA game ever:

http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/772/772284p5.html

R&D1 was involved in all Wario Ware games, and Intelligent Systems was involved in all Wario Ware games starting with Mega Party Game$. I think Mega Party Game$, Touched and Smooth Moves are rushed relative to the other games in the series, at least I think being able the read that between the lines of the official developer interview.

What was always curious to me was that the original Japanese version of Twisted (Mawaru Made In Wario) never credits Intelligent Systems -- at least in the in-game credits -- whereas the U.S. version does.  The lasting belief I had was that Intelligent Systems helped out in the localization aspect of Mawaru/Twisted (there were a lot of changes, mainly graphical, in the U.S. version), while R&D1 was responsible for the core game development.

Back then, we sort of touched upon the R&D1/IS involvement issue.  Remember?

Anyway, perhaps the true unsung hero, according to the interview, is Kazuyoshi Ozawa.  He came up with the gyro sensor, and was also director and chief programmer of the awesome Rhythm Tengoku.

I haven't looked at the IGN list, but I would say the best GBA game is Mario & Luigi followed by Rhythm Tengoku.

I would give best GBA game to Mario & Luigi RPG as well... followed closely by Metroid Zero Mission and then the original Wario Ware over Twisted.

I had fun with Mario RPG when it came out (it's been a while... maybe I should pick that one up again...), and I beat Zero Mission again last week. MAN that game is damn good. In retrospect, it makes POR seem like a boring hack n'slash...

I like Zero Mission to a point.  I mean, the first 75% is freaking fantastic, but then the "additional content" is complete shit.  So, on the whole, I enjoyed Fusion more since it was consistent in quality from start to finish and it also tweaked the experience just enough to give a different feel while still being great Metroid.

Also, I think it goes without saying that every 2D Metroid game (with the exclusion of the original NES Metroid) is better than every Metroivania game, but that's just me.

I thought the additional stuff was kinda crappy at first, but once things get back to "normal" the quality is higher until the end of the game. I actually finished Fusion on Saturday (GBA METROID KICK!), and you're 100% right - it's damn rock-solid as far as consistency is concerned. Great OST, to boot.

I enjoyed Mario & Luigi, but I do think Twisted! is a better-suited game for the GBA because of its innate pick-up-and-play nature. IGN's list is odd, though. I usually tend to agree with Craig Harris, but he has Mario & Luigi at #12, behind quite a few SNES ports. And as much as I love FFVI, the GBA port doesn't deserve to be on the list while the superior FFV port is nowhere in sight.

Speaking of which, I was talking to someone about how awesome a Wii-thm Tengoku would be, until he reminded me about those unbelievably frustrating perfect campaigns. I've S-ranked all of EBA and Oundan three times over, but I still have a paltry amount of perfects in RT >_<