Review - WarioLand: Shake It is more than just the sum of all the coins in the game!

I like to think I've grown up a little. I've matured over the years, and with that, my tastes as a gamer have matured as well. I desire games with complicated themes, realistic characters, and plots that overshadow Oscar-winning films. There are times that I will indulge other types of games, ones that test my skills and make me think. Games such as Rayman: Raving Rabbids and WarioWare fit in that category. And even still, there are others that just are fun to play with friends, like Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. WarioLand: Shake It is one of those games, that though it may be a guilty please, that is a piece of not hard to follow brilliance.

There really isn't a true story to speak of. Wario, the doppelganger of Nintendo's mascot, has to save these little fairy-esque creatures from danger. However, Wario displays his typical selfish nature: He just wants the loot. The game is a side-scroller made in typical Nintendo fashion. Players must navigate Wario through each level collecting coins along the way, until he reaches the end of the stage. At the end, when he rescues the aforementioned fairy-thing (yeah, I wasn't really paying attention during the exposition of the intro), he must go back to the beginning before a timer runs down to zero. Pretty simple right? Well, yeah, if all you want to do is get through the game with minimal effort. But where is the fun in that?

WarioLand is one of those games that completionist gamers will be saying "Yeah, I beat the crap out of that". Each level has multiple paths that you can go through in order to get to the end. From the end, since you must go back to the beginning, there are also branching paths that are only opened up when you reach the end. Each level has certain objectives to complete. These objectives, such as "don't fall in water" or "collect 30,000 coins" do not have to be completed, but it all goes back to the completionist thing. There are also various treasure hidden through the levels. More than likely, in order to get everything there is, each level will require at least two playthroughs for most people. The puzzles are challenging sometimes, but easy most of the time. There are boss-fights as well. The only challenging part is finding out how to actually beat them. After that, however, the rest is a piece of cake. I can only fathom that somebody under the age of 10 will have any difficulty getting through this game.

Control-wise, WarioLand is not complicated. One must turn the Wii remote on it's side, so that it looks like an old school Nintendo controller. That is how this game plays. Use the directional pad to move Wario, the 2 button to make him jump and the 1 button to do a dash attack. There are also motion controls, which is where "Shake It" comes into play. You can make Wario punch the ground to cause an earthquake-like effect. At various points through the levels, Wario will come across sacks of gold. Walk up to the bag to pick it up, start shaking the controller and money will start flying out of the bag. Not complicated at all, right?

Part of the zeal of this game are the visuals. The characters are animated, looking as though they were drawn on cells. The colors are quite vibrant, almost overwhelming at times. It is presented in a typical 2.5D style, with the background separate from the foreground. Characters almost look like they are going to jump off the page of a coloring book. The animation style reminds me a lot of the Saturday morning cartoons of yore. In order to get the full-effect though, you will probably want to play on an HD display if possible. Anyway you look at it, the presentation makes this a pleasure to look at. One may want to take a break every once in a while, however. The colors are so bright and vibrant that it can be disorienting, combined with everything else happening on screen.

WarioLand: Shake It is a simple game, reminiscent of the old WarioLand games, which are reminiscent of the old Mario games. Some people may complain that it is too short. My final play time was around 6 hours, but I had not gotten "EVERYTHING" in the game. As I stated before, a lot of levels will require multiple playthroughs. I for one am not really complaining that it is so short. There is a big difference between this game and the huge 20-100,000,000 hour games. This is supposed to be short and sweet. Nobody ever spends a ridiculous amount of time on 2D side scrollers anymore, save for Symphony of the Night or the other Castlevania offerings. In the end, this game is nothing but a pretty, side-scrolling treasure hunt. Nothing more, and nothing less. That is nothing that it should apologize for though. Sometimes one must take time off from killing devils or saving the world from nuclear holocaust and just have fun hunting loot and saving pixies.