Shake it like the markets

by ERIK LEIJON

In these harrowing economic times, everyone is doing what they can to skimp on the superfluous and live within their meagre means. Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii/Nintendo, Feel Good) might be annoying because it stars the red-nosed fat cat who obsesses over financial gain, like my RRSP advisor before his impromptu vacation to Colombia. But if your Wii gaming budget is down to one purchase, a game about acquiring gold in a beautifully designed anime world should tide you over until the next government assistance cheque arrives in the mail.

If times are even more dire and you’ve run out of sustenance, might I recommend a copy of maraca music rhythm game Samba de Amigo (Wii/Sega, Gearbox) with a few jalapeno peppers for flavour.

SCREEN-RATTLING:
Wario Land: Shake It!

Shake It! plays like a traditional Mario platform game with one major addition: shaking the Wii remote will cause Wario to perform some pretty cool actions. Players will hold the Wii remote on its side like a regular controller, and shaking it will result in Wario issuing a screen-rattling ground punch—effective in moving large blocks or paralyzing opponents. When in doubt, shake the controller and you’ll likely have your answer, but Shake It! is actually a very deep game due to its multi-layered level design. Every stage has numerous paths—going forwards and backwards—as well as a laundry list of hidden treasures to discover. The level missions are extremely tough to complete and provide strong replay value.

Shake It! might also be the nicest-looking Wii game of the year, even if that sounds like a backhanded compliment. Instead of going 3D and exposing the Wii’s graphical limitations, Shake It! is made entirely of anime-looking cartoon characters and backgrounds. The boss designs are especially well animated.

I still own and play the original Sega Dreamcast Samba de Amigo (minus the maraca controllers), so my expectations for the long-awaited and understandably appropriate Wii remake were high. The predominantly two-player game features sets of six targets—two up, two middle, two down—and players must shake the maracas in the correct place corresponding to the music. In its time, Samba and its drugged-out character designs were considered innovative, even if today it’s a simplified Guitar Hero with maracas.

Wii remotes and nunchuks replace the instruments, but the shoddy control detection is unacceptable on the harder difficulties. For reasons unknown, the game can never properly recognize quick transitions to the high notes, rendering the really tough levels unplayable. Graphically, it doesn’t look as clean as the Dreamcast version from eight years ago. There is new licenced music, although the really horrible Ricky Martin covers remain as well. A disappointing update to a classic game is still worth at least a rental with a two-fer of Negro Modelo.

PREVIEW IN HOGTOWN

I was in Toronto last week, previewing the hottest upcoming holiday games for the PS3. Here are a few one-liners:

Mirror’s Edge (EA) A first-person parkour building-jumping game. A cool idea, although the levels were extremely linear.

Resistance 2 (Sony) Alien-shooting FPS sequel—vastly improved colour palette and a cool predator-like creature hunting down allied forces in the California forest. Also new: regenerating health bar.

Sonic Unleashed (Sega) Sonic is finally back with a game that doesn’t suck. At least I hope.

Little Big Planet (Sony) It took 14 years, but Sony at last has a platform game on par with Mario.

Killzone 2 (Sony) Another FPS, paled in comparison to Resistance 2.

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 (THQ) the build had overly sensitive controls, but the demo guy and I enjoyed beating each other up.