WarioWare: Move It!
Motion-controlled microgames return in a direct sequel to Smooth Moves.
WarioWare: Move It! is a party game for the Nintendo Switch, released in November 2023. It is the twelfth WarioWare title and the second on the Switch, following 2021's Get It Together. As a direct sequel to the 2006 Wii game Smooth Moves, it features microgames lasting seconds that require specific Joy-Con poses. Players are instructed on a pose before each rapid-fire microgame. The microgames are grouped into story-linked stages. Intelligent Systems developed it, and Nintendo published it. The game received generally positive reviews.
Quick Facts
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Series
- WarioWare
- Genre
- Party
- Released
- November 3, 2023
- Platforms
- Nintendo Switch
- Director
- Goro Abe; Waki Shigeta
- Producer
- Kensuke Tanabe
- Shinya Saito
- Atsushi Ikuno
- Designer
- Nami Komuro
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Players tackle waves of fast-paced microgames lasting a few seconds, using motion controls of the Joy-Con controllers. Each microgame centers on one of several "forms" dictating how the player initially holds the Joy-Con, after which they move the controllers to complete the task. Microgames appear consecutively with a simple prompt; failing a microgame or running out of time deducts one of four lives, ending the stage when all lives are lost. Some microgames use the right Joy-Con's infrared camera. The game is divided into stages represented by WarioWare characters, loosely connected by a story, with each stage ending in a longer boss microgame. Completing all single-player stages unlocks a bonus island with more modes. Move It! includes over 200 microgames. Local co-op requires two players to sync motions, and Party Mode offers additional modes for up to four players.
Plot
A TV commercial offers a trip to Caresaway Island for buying a garlic burger. Wario orders fifty garlic burgers and wins the trip with twenty friends, reluctantly agreeing when they ask to come. On the island, residents give the group stone Joy-Con called Form Stones. The gang has various adventures: Wario flees temple residents; Mona searches for mermaids; Dr. Crygor, Penny, and Mike time travel to the Stone Age; Ashley tries to restore Red after he eats shrinking blueberries; Orbulon gets amnesia and is mistaken for a god; Kat and Ana reclaim a map from Cractuses; Young Cricket battles penguins; Jimmy T. surfs on a shark; Dribble and Spitz race watercraft; and 9-Volt rescues others from a spooky store. In the final level, Wario returns to the temple, tries to steal gold, but is overtaken by lava, corrupted, and merged with the island's volcano. His friends defeat him using the Form Stones, and he returns to normal, popping out of the volcano and being mistaken for a god by the temple people. Wario declares it the worst vacation ever, though a credits picture shows him enjoying his vacation after escaping the temple.
Development and release
WarioWare: Move It! hit the Nintendo Switch on November 3, 2023, following its reveal during a June 21, 2023 Nintendo Direct. Charles Martinet did not voice Wario in this title, as Nintendo announced his departure from the role on August 21, 2023. Kevin Afghani, previously heard as Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, was confirmed as the new Wario voice on November 1, 2023. Tose contributed to the game’s development.
Reception
Critics were generally kind to WarioWare: Move It!, earning a "generally favorable" score on Metacritic. OpenCritic rated it "Fair," with 56% of reviewers recommending it. In Japan, Famitsu's four critics gave it 35 out of 40. Nintendo Life awarded 8/10 stars, applauding the creativity and multiplayer but noting weak single-player content. The game debuted at number three in Japan with 29,000 copies sold, trailing Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Fashion Dreamer. By February 2024, Japanese sales reached 167,000 units.
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