Warioland: Shake Dimension
Shake it, but don't break it, and [mumbles rest of words due to poor memory]
By Matt Kelly
I've always found there's a great charm to retro rival titles. Okay sure, they may not usher in a new era of gaming, but it's always cool to see what developers can come up with when the confines of limited processing and 8bit technology are lifted off them. This is exactly what Warioland: Shake Dimension does! While it's not going to blow you away with game changing concepts, it takes the ideas that were invented 20 years ago and ditched, in favor of this whole '3D' scene, in the past 10 years and adds to the idea a whole lot of charm in the process.
Shake Dimension puts... no... hurls, it's best foot forward right from the outset with a beautifully hand animated cut scene setting up the typical Nintendo-fluff story; and it's no surprise, given the introduction cinematic is the work of none other than Production IG, the group behind some of the most memorable modern Japanese animation. The plot is fairly simple. The Shake King has invaded the Shake Dimension, capturing both the queen and the bottomless coin sack. Of course, Wario appears to not give a toss about the queen but this bottomless coinsack is mighty interesting, and thus, Wario gets pulled into the drama of it all. Captain Maple Syrup also turns up to aid in the fluff (remember when she was the bad ass enemy?) and the whole thing moves along in a cute fashion.
Shake Dimension doesn't really bring much of anything new to the Warioland formula. Control wise, the Wii Remote is held in the classic NES style with motion controls, for the most part, only bought out when needed. The core of the motion is mainly around where to hurl your enemies (done with a kind of tilting) and pounding the ground (surprisingly enough, with a downwards thrust). The rest is very classic Wario A and B button moves. Your goal for each stage is to bust out one of the many fellows held captive, and of course, this calls for a whole lot of epic platforming. The levels are well put together with the linear nature of yesteryear. You'll find a few secrets and the odd alternate route, but the stages tend to play out in a single way. When you finally bust out your captured buddies, you'll be thrown on a track and called to back track through the stage. For at least a portion of this back track, you'll most likely be running a recently opened alternative route. Depending on how you fair, you can score a lot of bonus tresure, or land your ass backtracking through the way you came.
While the core campaign is actually really short (5 hours, if you're just going for the win and nothing else), a lot of what gives the game its score is replay. Within the core game you do have the back tracking sections which call for a bit of a 'think fast' approch, learning the path and replaying, along with all the little hidden stuff. Every level also has a set of 'missions', mini tasks like collect so many coins, bounce on a set number of enemies in a row, or beat out the timer at the end. They're all really simplistic, but if you're a completionist, you can expect your gameplay time to easily double with these.
Difficulty also tends to lean towards the casual gamer a bit. The game is really well curved, and it's pretty rare you'll be stuck aside from the odd path search or puzzle. But i felt it just tends to start out too easy and finish up to easy. Admittedly at it's length, you wouldn't want the difficulty curve climbing any faster, but it would have been nice to have a bit more for core gamers.
The animation is well and truely what sets Shake Dimension apart from other retro rival platformers on the market. And it is really good... eerily good even. The use of hand animated cells certainly isn't new to gaming but it's pretty rare (if ever) they look this good. Just watching Wario's run and jump cycles becomes quite cool, it's all so amazingly fluid. Even going between different action sets (which is something even that fangled 3D animation still struggles with) is amazing to watch. Every single action, both of Wario and his fellow hand drawn delights, is just so full of character and at some points, genuinely slap stick funny.
The level style also wins big points. Platformers in general, regardless of era, are the worst offenders in recylcling styles between stages. Shake Dimension however says no, and takes up it's picket sign and hippie bandanna, protesting against levels that look the same as the last. While there is the odd level that shares some similarities, pretty much every level is unique. At five hours of gameplay, they better be!
However there one monumental fault of the visuals and that is, despite what it says on the box. the game does essentially run in 4:3. Oh yeah, it'll take up all of your screen, but expect to find side bars with a few icons scattered on them rather than any screen filling gameplay. It doesn't break the game for sure, but given the animated cartoon stylings of the game, it would have been great to see it in wide screen.
Summary:
Warioland: Shake Dimension is a great title for those who have been around since the era when platforming was where it was at. Casuals and those who missed it the first time around will also find joy here. Don't expect it to challenge you too deeply. Just lean back and enjoy the visuals, and everything will be just dandy.
Gameplay - 8.3
Great fun with enough new little gameplay gimmicks to keep it fresh
Graphics - 8.2
Lovely animation, great use of color, poor use of that giant 16:9 TV you have in your lounge (you do have one, right?)
Sound - 7.5
Great variety of tunes, with a kind of updated 'blip blip' sound from yesteryear.
Replay - 8.0
For completionists only if you want a second round.
Overall - 8.0