WarioWare Move It Review

WarioWare Move It

Release: November 3, 2023
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Action, Switch Reviews
PEGI: 7
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WarioWare is a very niche experience – you either love it, or love to hate it. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the game. They hold my attention for a while, but it quickly falls off for me as other, more interesting games become available. For my 9 year old son Lochlan, however, it is a much different story. Still, there are things to love about the WarioWare games, and I fully expected this one to shine in those areas like previous titles.

If you are a longtime WarioWare fan, you might think you are playing a version of the Wii game, WarioWare Smooth Moves. This is a very similar experience, although this time around you aren’t held back by the length of the Nunchuk controller! With more freedom, this is a much better version of that game. If you loved Smooth Moves, then this is an easy recommendation before I even hop into my various thoughts!

You are off to a tropical resort where you, along with your set of Joy Cons – don’t forget this game needs Joy Cons! – will compete in a number of microgames to see who is the best of the best. To differentiate from previous WarioWare games, this one is using poses called forms to get the action going.

Each micro game will ask you to start in a specific form, and there are a number of different forms you will need to master. When the game starts, you will need to copy the form of the person on screen, and then perform a specific action to quickly finish the micro game and move onto the next one.Some of these are absolutely hilarious, specifically forming a standing bird pose and then flinging your head forward as if you were pecking at something. This micro game, and many others, proved that this experience is so much better with friends.

The game also includes a 4-player party mode which was much better than I would have expected, making WarioWare Move It a great party game. You will need to keep out of the reach of Medusa – a very odd pick in my opinion – in some games (almost a red light, green light scenario), or cleaning up the screen the fastest. SOme just ask you to hold various forms and poses! With over 200 games to play, there are a lot more games here than you might expect.

Some of the available games are obviously not licensed from anywhere, but anytime a licensed micro game did come up, it was a nice touch to games I had played in the past. That being said, your knowledge of how the games worked might actually work against you here!

There are more modes available in WarioWare Move It than I would have thought. Museum Mode lets you pick specific games and play them, with the opportunity to change up the game speed if you so wish. This is a great way to practice some of the micro games you aren’t proficient at yet, or challenge yourself with faster speeds on games you feel very confident in.

There are a couple things to be aware of here. This game does have fantastic micro games, so if you are worried about the quality of the experience, don’t fret about that. However, these games, as the title indicates, will have you moving. A lot. I’ve had issues with my lower back over the past few months, and WarioWare Move It did me no favours. It can be a lot of work, especially when a micro game requires you to squat. 

While not a workout game, it will give you a workout if you play it long enough in one ‘sitting.’ Be prepared for that, and if that isn’t how you want to play games, perhaps you might want to pass on this one. But if you are ready for a workout and a ton of laugh, we cannot recommend this wacky game enough!

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