Move It!’ Is More Of An Exercise In Frustration Than Actual Exercise

I’m not entirely sure if I was naive, or optimistic, but either way, my hopes were dashed the moment I started up WarioWare: Move it!. As a longtime fan of the franchise, I was looking forward to another collection of wonderfully weird minigames (opps, I meant micro games) and equally strange characters. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the second half of the title.

In a very disappointing move (pun intended), WarioWare: Move it! The game requires players to play using a separate pair of Joy-Con. This puts a damper on the system’s portability, but it also means you can’t play using a Pro Controller. This is for better or worse, a dual Joy-Con game through and through, with little flexibility. To top it off, there are a few microgames that require you to drop your Joy-Con, which means you’ll have to dig out the controller straps, and if you’re like me, it’s gathering dust on the shelf. for the better part of seven years.

It’s a shame WarioWare: Move it! it basically forces players to play the game with Joy-Con while standing the whole time (oh, did I mention that sitting is not recommended?), as there are some excellent micro-games available. After winning an all-expenses paid vacation to Caresaway Island (with series regulars like Mona, Kat, Jimmy T, and 9-Volt in tow), Wario and Co. explore the island, unlocking new chapters that focus on a specific character. and how they choose to spend their time on holiday. For example, our titular hero (antihero?), is being chased down through the white jungle of the island, and Mona chooses to explore the surrounding waters in hopes of finding a mermaid.

Regardless of which character you are actively playing, the core game loop remains the same. Each chapter has a group of microgames to work through, which eventually culminates in a boss fight. This is pretty standard content for the franchise, but what’s different is how you play through them all.

As I should expect, WarioWare: Move it! It is a motion control game. By which I mean specifically, it can only to play using motion controls. I have a hard time remembering a time when I used any of the Joy-Con buttons. Instead, before each mini-game, you’ll be prompted to hold and position the Joy-Con in one of a handful of cases, or “forms” – this might involve holding them above your head ( Sky Stretch), and stack them on top. together like an arc joystick (Knight), or even put them up against your cheeks (Lovestruck).

To be fair, these goofy poses are part of the magic of the game, and it’s hard not to laugh when you’re raising your arms to pick a giant nose, or bending prison bars as part of a prison escape naughty The series’ trademark humor is present and accounted for, it’s just a shame it has to be locked behind motion controls. Sadly, less skilled gamers may struggle with this one, which is a shame when you consider that it would be impossible to include a more traditional control scheme for the majority of microgames available . Certainly, it would not mesh well with the overall direction, but it has gone a long way to accommodate those with limited mobility or those who prefer to play on the go. Heck, I even got a little wind after playing for 20 minutes or so, but that could be a reflection of my weak workout habits and less about my actual range of motion.

If the thought of banging your arms and pounding your living room for hours sounds like a terrifying prospect, you can relax. As is typical for the franchise, it will only take two or three hours to work through the entire story. There are microgames to unlock, high scores to beat, and a multiplayer mode that ditches the cutscenes and storyline to get you from one minigame to the next in minimal time. However, the extra modes and unlockables won’t appeal to everyone; your mileage may vary.

When you take into account that Nintendo had a great year with Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm and Super Mario Bros Wonderit is easy to look past the missteps that WarioWare: Move it! done. To its credit, it serves up an endless parade of creative and funny micro-games that can stand up to the rest of the series. It’s just a shame that it’s shackled by an inflexible control scheme and a criminal short story method.

This review is based on the Nintendo Switch version of the game. A copy was provided to We Got This Covered by Nintendo.