The WarioWare franchise is a beloved cult classic for Nintendo. The comedy-based party games often revolve around having to complete minigames with incredibly odd premises, all while featuring an overarching story that consists of Wario starting up his own company. The latest entry in the series, WarioWare: Move It! hopes to capture once again the feel of fun and chaos that the series is so good at, and after experiencing it for a few minutes, it appears to do just that
Last week, Nintendo held a brief Holiday Tour event, during which I was able to get some hands-on time with the upcoming WarioWare: Move It! The latest installment in the WarioWare franchise is a sort of return to the series’ roots, with a brand new Story Mode, Party Mode, and more.
As is the case with most WarioWare titles, Move It!’s Story Mode revolves around Wario and his crew. This time, they are off on a vacation to Barrio Morro Island, where things immediately go wrong when Wario — not voiced by Charles Martinet, who retired as the voice of Mario and Wario this year — finds himself lost in the jungle. This is where the main gameplay of Move It! is explored, and much like its name, movement is the main mechanic.
Unlike past WarioWare titles, Move It! isn’t just about winning microgames, but also doing it while maintaining the best poses possible. The entire premise of Move It! centers around the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and its motion sensors. Much like its name suggests, movement is the main mechanic in Move It!, with players having to position the Joy-Cons in specific positions on their body before taking part in the microgames.
For players who might have experience with 2007’s WarioWare: Smooth Moves — which required the use of the Wii Remote being held in specific poses — Move It! is very similar. In my limited time with the game, we were able to check out a handful of microgames, all of which test out different aspects of the “poses” feature that Move It! has.
Each pose has its own name and requires its own specific stance. “Fashionista,” for instance, requires players to hold one Joy-Con at their head and another at their waist, as if posing for a photo. Another pose, aptly named “Squat,” requires users to sit in a squat position, with Joy-Cons resting on their thighs.
After entering into a pose, players will then have to use movement to complete the microgames. In “Buttograph,” for example, you’ll need to draw an image of lines using just your butt in the “Squat” position, meaning you’ll have to raise and lower your butt in a variety of positions. The “Shell Shine” microgame, on the other hand, requires the “Fashionista” pose, and has players cleaning off the shell of a turtle by moving their arms back and forth like they were drying themselves off with a towel.
As is the case with past WarioWare titles, players can also team up to complete microgames on their own. Despite the very brief hands-on with the game, I was able to test out some multiplayer microgames, including “Thigh Fishing,” a game done in the “Squat” pose and that tasks players with having to shut their thighs in time with fish that go flying through your legs in the game.
The microgames as a whole feel surprisingly difficult, almost certainly due to the fact that the posing feature in Move It! is incredibly precise. However, once you get the hang of them, they’re all just as fun as any WarioWare microgame has been. The unique and sometimes extremely silly art style and premises of each microgame also return, which make learning the various pose mechanics much less annoying.
During my time with the game, there were a handful of times when I was unable to complete the microgame in time, all due to the fact that I wasn’t positioned right. Unlike past games, Move It! requires a bit more precision, so if you’re not in a close enough pose, the game won’t recognize you as playing.
In my attempts to do the “Buttograph” microgame, for instance, a handful of times were simply failures because the Joy-Cons weren’t as close to my thighs as possible in the “Squat” pose. This isn’t a deal breaker for the most part, but it is something that might keep some people from getting to experience more of the game.
Similar to past entries, Move It! will also feature a Party Mode, which includes a board game mode for players to go through. Party Mode will also feature players battling it out to see who can complete microgames the fastest, all while competing to come out on top by the end of everyone’s turns.
WarioWare: Move It! Preview: Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, your enjoyment of WarioWare: Move It! will depend fully on how you feel about more “active” games. Since Move It! features are fully dependent on being up and moving while playing the game, and that might simply be a turn-off for some.
Once I got the hang of how to strike poses in certain WarioWare: Move It! microgames, the game was just as fun as any previous entries, thanks to its incredible art and microgame design. If you’re a fan of the WarioWare franchise, you’ll feel right at home, even if your legs might feel sore after all the squats.
Disclosure: Nintendo invited the author to a preview event so we could conduct our WarioWare: Move It! preview.
