Developer: Good Feel

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: Sept. 22, 2008

System: Wii

ESRB Rating: E

Official Web site

0:00 A 2-D platformer from Nintendo is enough, on its own, to get me excited, but the beautiful hand-drawn animation I've seen put me over the top with anticipation for this game. Here's hoping my standards aren't too high.

0:01 "Yeah, let's go!" Wario intones. A treasure map scrolls by in the background of the title screen, with gentle guitar music and the sound of lapping waves. "Wario Time!"

0:02 An anime cut scene shows a redheaded pirate in a dark museum, looking at a globe under glass. Cut to the sea, where a pirate holds up a bottomless coin sack in front of his cheering minions. He also has captive a pretty blue-haired girl, an "enchanting young queen. Even disdain is lovely on this face." Wow ... that's disturbing. A green guy with a white orb growing out of his head hides behind a crate and vows to rescue her. He flies off over the water. Back in the museum, Red lifts the globe out through the ceiling.

0:04 Wario is sleeping when the bell rings with a huge package delivery. It's the globe Red stole. "A little present from me to you, the real treasure's inside. Enjoy!" Wario takes a sledgehammer to the globe and out comes ... a telescope, with the green guy in it. He's tiny compared to hulking Wario, who looks bored as Greeny tells the tale of the pirate taking over the "Shake Dimension." Wario perks up when he hears about the bottomless coin sack and its unlimited treasure. With that, Wario jumps into the telescope and is transported into the Shake Dimension. Now Loading...

0:06 Side view now, but the animation looks nearly as good as in the cut scene. "Mr. Wario, welcome to the Shake Dimension," says Greeny, whose name is really Merfle. Red, aka Captain Syrup (wait, wasn't she a bad guy in the original Wario Land?) explains that I have to beat five bosses on five continents. The detail on the characters is really amazing, especially if you're used to pixilated sprites.

0:08 And I'm in control. Wario has a nice springy jump (complete with "sproing" sound effect). He makes an audible grunt every time he jumps, too. That's going to get annoying fast. Nice butt stomp and shoulder charge, too.

0:09 What are huge, green, Mario-style pipes doing on a pirate ship?

0:10 Heh. I have to shake the controller to shake money out of bags I'm carrying. It's endearing for now, but I bet it gets old quick.

0:12 Awesome! I can pick up items and throw them at blocks and such, like the eggs in Yoshi's Island. Tilting the remote to aim is pretty easy, but it's a shame I can't walk as I aim.

0:14 I get an "award" for jumping on a guy's head. Is everyone copying Xbox Live's Achievements now? Seriously, is anyone not doing this kind of thing these days?

0:15 I get shot out of a horizontal cannon and go rampaging through a long line of blocks. Fun! Also, mega-butt stomp.

0:16 Jumping while crawling makes Wario do The Worm. That is all.

0:17 I find a blue Merfle stuck in a huge cage. This activates a 5-minute countdown as the Merfle points my way to escape. Even though time is of the essence, I can't help going back to collect some extra coins.

0:18 I need less than a minute to make my escape, even with the coin collection. I failed to defeat the Golden Enemy and collect 10,000 coins, which were my two explicit missions, apparently. It's a bit hard to judge the game as a whole so far, as all I've done is tutorial stuff. I'm generally liking the controls and the animation, though.

0:21 Cap'n Syrup opened a shop. For 1,000 coins I can have the map to "Area #1," which seems to be crucial to advancing. Luckily, I have more than 7,000 coins! Maps for future areas cost upwards of 50,000 coins each. Health Potions and the Opening Movie are also well outside my price range.

0:22 Back at home, Area #1 shows up all shiny on the globe. And I'm off to Stonecarving City. Missions: Finish before clock hits 2:00, collect 25,000 coins, jump off three Bandineros' heads in a row.

0:23 I forgot to mention Wario's ground punch ability, which shakes the ground when I shake the controller. Doesn't seem necessary to use to its full effect yet ... only for very simple puzzles. Something you can't get past? Block you need lowered or raised? Shake!

0:26 There's something about seeing dozens of coins flying out of these bags that appeals to my greedy side. My Wario side, if you will.

0:27 Treasure name of the moment: Full Body Goggles. I don't want to know...

0:28 Oh man ... My ground punch knocked out a Bandinero, then caused a huge "!" block to squash him. It's like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon, complete with amazing animation (I know, I'm like a broken record on this animation thing, but it really is easy on the eyes).

0:30 I steal a huge diamond and no one cares. I rescue a Merfle and suddenly it's "Intruder Alert!" The clock started at 2:30, which means 30 seconds to escape if I want to beat the mission. And I'm about 2,500 coins short!

0:31 I ignore a bunch of coins on the way out in an effort to maintain my speed. I'm 1.17 seconds too slow in the end. ARGH! No missions accomplished. I'm ... I'm so ashamed!

0:32 "This is Whoopsy Desert. It should be easy for you." Judging by the previous levels, that's probably right. These levels have been pretty simple so far. Where's the clever Nintendo level design I love so?

0:34 Numbered bomb blocks explode a few seconds after being touched or hit. This could open some interesting puzzle possibilities

0:37 Already the bomb blocks are causing problems. One accidentally blows up a huge treasure bag, giving me one measly coin instead of dozens. Another incinerates a Bandinero I needed to throw at another block. Tricky, tricky...

0:38 I have to position a jumping enemy just right and raise a platform so I can bounce off him to get to the Cheese Pyramid treasure. Still kind of simple, but showing progress.

0:39 Now I'm shooting Wario from cannon to cannon. Requires some good timing. What is this, Donkey Kong Country?

0:41 The escape takes longer than it should because I can't outrun a crumbling head that blocks my path. I don't even come close to the 30,000 coins I needed either. Looks like the real challenge here is going to be completing the missions...

0:42 Foulwater Falls is next. What a name! That place needs a good PR man. I can complete a mission by completing the stage "Without falling into the water."

0:43 I fell in the water already. Apparently I missed the hanging rope I was supposed to swing on. Sigh.

0:44 Boo ... a bunch of the coins I shook out of a bag fell in the water and out of reach. I really am turning into Wario.

0:46 Treasure of the moment: A Recyclable Bottle. Is Nintendo going all Captain Planet on us? "A Recyclable Bottle is a great treasure!" etc.

0:48 HA! I made Wario belly-flop from about 40 feet up. Also, Wario apparently walks on water. Or, rather, he runs on water when shot out of a cannon. Nice!

0:52 I'm impressed by the growing prevalence of hidden treasures in the nooks and crannies of these levels. Some of it's pretty tough to find, too. Makes me wonder what I'm not finding.

0:54 My first death comes as I fall from a tough swinging rope section. It takes a few falls to totally kill me, which is nice, especially considering almost none of the enemies actually hurt me. Anyway, death sends me all the way back to the beginning of the level, with zero coins to show for my previous effort. That's old school harsh! On the plus side, maybe this time I can get through without falling in the water.

0:55 I fell in the water again. I am obviously not as good as I think I am at platform games.

0:59 Not really much to say about this level the second time around, so I'm gonna wrap it up.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.

Why? They had me at hand-drawn 2-D platformer, and the gentle learning curve is beginning to reveal some really interesting puzzles.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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