Elebits and Warioware - Bad Wii and Good Wii

The anecdotal evidence that's been going around, now that the Wii is an established fixture in American living rooms, is that Nintendo's new console still has room for improvement. We all had fun over the holidays, sharing Wii Sports with our relatives and watching our aunts laugh themselves stupid. Now, though, it's a new year and it's time for the Wii to step up as a gaming platform. It needs to be more than a Zelda player, and the console needs to prove that this 'new gen' style of play is sustainable over the long term. The post-launch round of games has started to trickle out, and the results are definitely mixed. Today I have for you impressions of Elebits and WarioWare: Smooth Moves. These are two games that show quite a bit of promise, but only one of which actually delivers. Read on for my views, and a return to a numeric grading scale.

• Title: Elebits
• Developer/Publisher: Konami
• System: Wii
• Score: 3/5 - This game is flawed, but will appeal to genre fans. Any gamer might enjoy renting it, but this won't ever be a classic.

The creativity, the wackiness, the control scheme - the essence of the Wii is present in spades in Elebits. One of the very first titles released here in the states after the console's launch, it shares with Wario Ware the distinction of having been a launch title for the Japanese market. There, alongside Zelda and Rayman, the imperfections that mark Elebits could have been glossed over in the frenzy of sword-slashing and cow-throwing. In the harsh light of day the game's lack of depth and vapid multiplayer makes it obvious that this was intended to be a launch title; a competent demonstration of the Wii technology and little more.

That's not to say it's unlikable. Quite to the contrary, the game wraps itself in an incredibly appealing package. Hung loosely on the hook of telling stories to a kid, each stage pits you against the wilds of a suburban Japanese home. Your goal is to use the electricity gun developed by the protagonist's parents to capture a certain wattage in Elebits. The miniature creatures literally *are* electricity, and snapping them up with your weapon powers up household gadgets left and right. The key is that you need to find the little buggers first, which requires a great deal of rooting around in closets and checking under beds.

The fun comes from the fact that you're interacting with the environment through the extremely smooth Wiimote controls. Your controller is represented in-game by the electricity gun, which can lift objects via a sort of energy field; think Syndrome's zero-point energy from the movie The Incredibles. When you start off a level your power is somewhat weak. Moving small objects is all you can manage. As you collect more Elebits, the weapon grows in power and larger objects can be manipulated. Later levels feature you lifting entire buildings in an effort to locate the wily creatures.

The core game mechanic is thus essentially a modified form of hide and seek. The first time you play the game, it will be sure to cause a smile. Subsequent play is equally entertaining, but there's never a real sense of a challenge. Elebits is a very easy game, and the duration of the main story mode only highlights that ease of play. It's quite possible to play through the entire game in one five hour session.

That would be fine if the basic elements of the game were ever switched up, or if multiplayer offered something substantially different. That's not the case. Simple variations on 'lift things, find Elebits' exist in later stages; some require you to avoid breaking certain objects, while others have some of the little creatures actively attacking you. The core mechanic stays the same, though, and by the end of the game you'll be quite ready to stop playing. Multiplayer, likewise, is more of the same. Up to four players can lift things and shoot Elebits, competing to see who has the most wattage. Additionally, and confusingly, only the first player is allowed to move the camera. This makes it exceedingly hard to tell what's going on, and has a lot of potential for abuse.

Graphical presentation on the Wii is not something I'm going to harp on very often, but I think a more thoughtful look could have given this game a little extra oomph. While the Elebits themselves are cutely designed, the game world is very boxy and uninspired. My hope is that Wii game-makers will take into account the limitations of the console they're working on when planning art design. Why fight the console's low power when you can make a statement? A more stylized art form would have made Elebits pop off the screen more, and would have alleviated some of the sameyness of later levels.

If you're looking for a quite weekend rental, Elebits isn't a bad call. It's very Wiimote-centric, and is another title you can use to show friends and family the potential of Nintendo's console. Just the same, don't put down hard-earned money for it. The long-term playability of the game is very low, and a few months from now it will end up as grist in Gamestop's maw as you purchase more worthy 2007 titles.

• Title: WarioWare: Smooth Moves
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Intelligent Systems
• System: Wii
• Score: 4/5 - This game is above average, and excels in the genre it supports. A classic for the genre, likely to be a part of a genre fan's collection, and well worth a look for every gamer.

Like Elebits, WarioWare was a Japanese launch title. Unlike Elebits, however, this latest in the crazy-go-nuts series of Wario titles easily stands on its own in the post-launch days of the Wii. On the surface the title is little more than a series of simplistic mini-games wrapped in an attractive package, with no more replay value than Elebits or Red Steel. The key differences are the enthusiasm with which those games were executed, the clean attractive graphical package surrounding the games, and and endlessly entertaining multiplayer component. These elements combine to form not only Voltron, but a great party game that is certain to be a Wii staple all year long.

Just as in past WarioWare titles, the single-player story is the means by which all of the on-offer minigames are unlocked. The multiplayer, too, is closed up until you 'beat' the single-player game. In Smooth Moves, games are identified by the 'move' that is used to complete them. These moves translate to specific ways to hold the Wiimote, and specific actions you can take with it. Games are clustered by move, and introduced over the course of the single-player game as part of an entertaining narrative for a the Wario-related characters. The cute witch Ashley, for example, introduces the moves 'The Thumb Wrestler' (a vertically held position), 'The Big Cheese' (holding the Wiimote at your hip), and 'The Discard' (lying the remote down on a surface and then picking it up or rolling it). Each move is introduced with a short instruction text, which is far more entertaining than game instructions have any right to be.

The games themselves are, as always with a WarioWare title, crack-addled. Only a few seconds long, each minigame allows you only a moment to understand how you are supposed to use the specified form to complete the vague command associated with the game. It seemed to me that things were a bit less insane than the offerings from WarioWare:Touched, the DS title, but the games were still plenty strange. Some examples include : picking a nose, putting a old woman's false teeth into her mouth, drinking a glass of water, hula-hooping, driving a car, balancing a broom with one hand, fighting a samurai, and roasting a piece of mutton.

There are 13 character stories in Smooth Moves (two of them revolving around Wario), and in total there are about 19 different controller forms to master. Only one of these, 'The Diner', uses the Nunchuck; most of the game is playable with just the Wiimote. Playing through all of the stories and learning all of the moves won't take most gamers very long. A determined player could almost certainly play through the entire game in one sitting of about four hours.

That brevity may seem like a problem, but what is a problem for so many other titles is a strength for this series. WarioWare titles are endlessly replayable, even in a single-player state of mind. There's always a drive to refine your skill at the various games, to see how far you can make it through the endless series of games before succumbing to a missed cue or a slow hand. The Muliplayer component of Smooth Moves is especially well constructed, and allows for up to an astounding twelve players to compete against each other using one Wiimote. There are about six modes for multiplayer mania, with multiplayer-specific games joining the minigames playable in the single-player mode. My favorite is the nose-shaped rocketship piloting course.

The insanity of the minigames would not be complete without the distinctive 'look' of WarioWare offerings. While the character art has a crisp '2D/3D' style to it that looks amazing on an HD screen, the minigames themselves are all over the map. Crude pencil drawings walk side-by-side with what looks like clip art, crayola colorings, college-level 3D renderings, and actual-in-game assets from Nintendo titles. These last make for some of the most memorable games, as you bounce Mario off of coin blocks with a waggle of the Wiimote, or flick the device upward to catch a fish in five seconds of Animal Crossing. The dizzying array of visual styles is one of the game series' signature elements, and Smooth Moves delivers in spades. The games' audio is just as entertaining, with each stage having a characteristic jaunty tune to accompany your gaming. I recall enjoying these offerings a bit more on the DS title, but I may just be thinking of Ashley's music. Her simultaneously funereal and bouncy theme was a highlight of that game for me.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves is exactly the kind of game the Wii needs in these post-launch days. It's a ridiculous amount of fun, contains an endless amount of multiplayer, and (most importantly) shows off the Wii control scheme in a way few other titles can match. The only thing holding this game back from perfection is the incredibly short single-player component, and even then it's hard to argue with the developers choices. If you ever plan to have friends over to your home again, this title deserves a spot on your shelf alongside Zelda. The game's multiplayer element is as close to perfect as you can ask for, sure to elicit laughter and invite play by any and all interested parties. Smooth Moves is a title that deserves a look from every gamer who enjoys the act of playing games.

Elebits Camera Control

[DJ-Dodger]

Additionally, and confusingly, only the first player is allowed to move the camera. This makes it exceedingly hard to tell what's going on, and has a lot of potential for abuse.

You know this is a setting you can change right? It's pretty clearly labeled. You can set it to a particular person or have it rotate randomly every X seconds.

Re:Established fixture?

[saintory]

I was fortunate to get one last Sunday. Here's my recipe for success:

• Can't advertise what you don't have - If the Wii is advertised in a store weekly chances are extremely high they will have it Sunday morning. The new advert comes out in the Sunday edition of major papers but it ALSO comes out online between 3:00am and 4:00am.
• Experience - Most stores now have experience dealing with a demand they cannot handle. The best way to deal with it is the simplest: Print out numbered tickets and as people arrive before opening hand them out on a first-come-first-serve until you have no more. This takes care of loitering and keeps the lines non-existent, so you won't have to call for backup when a fight over line position breaks out.
• Target opens first - Unless you're a 24-hour superstore Target beats the others with an 8:00am opening. Bestbuy and Circuit City? 10:00am.
• Accessibility and weather have an effect - If the store isn't near mass transit or easy to walk to less people are going to try to get to it. Furthermore, if it's REALLY COLD or WET when you go down Sunday morning, don't sit in your car. Chances are the person that wants a Wii and is dressed for the current weather will not mind standing right at the door and will be able to walk right up to it. For example, I dressed for the 20F weather that day. I walked right up to the store door and saw 1/2-dozen cars running in the lot. I turned to look inside the store and when I turned around again there were 1/2-dozen people BEHIND me at the door. Guess who got ticket 23/24 for a new Wii ;-)
• Be polite to the retail workers - They are ultimately making a decision to let you hang out or not before the store actually opens. If you're rude chances are they'll sabotage any chance you had of getting one. Even though the customer is always right, it's their word vs. yours when the police/security are called. Being overly polite won't hurt just don't be rude.

Hope this helps even the playing field for the Wii competition. Now if I could just find another Wii-mote...

Re:Wii Hype Defating Rapidly

[tcoop25]

Wii Hype Deflating Rapidly?

From Wired Blog: Game Life [wired.com]:

"I called local Target, 50 units gone right after 8am. I lined up at Bestbuy about 20 minutes before opening, no tickets or vouchers, just a mad dash to the palette of wiis in the center of the store. After bagging one, I headed to gamestop about 30 minutes later since Bestbuy had ZERO remotes and chuks. Strangely, I could have bought a second one while I was there. I went back later for Wario Ware and of course, they were all out of hardware altogether."

They aren't talking about the Wii launch. They are talking about last Sunday shipments.

Re:Elebits - equal time.

[jspectre]

i'm with you. the OP dismissed elebits far too quickly imho. i find the gameplay to be something fresh and interesting among all the other standard games. i think the controller use is by far the best among any game i have so far (8 and counting). yes, wario (which i also have) uses the controller in creative ways but elebits uses it in what should be standard ways for manipulating a 3d environment with the wii controller (pulling open a drawer is more than just click on the handle, you have to pull the controller towards you).

i agree the time limit is probably the worst part of the game, but maybe someone will find a cheat/hack that stops the timer. i'd love to take my time to explore every stage.

Re:Elebits - equal time.

[kinglink]

I have to agree, for two games, they dismiss elebits, which is a pretty lengthy game if someone is going to fully complete it (similar to Katamari damacy where you can beat the game with 50 percent of the items found or complete the game with everything found). There's also some very unique nest puzzles that you meantioned. A good physics engine. (not perfect but any physics engine is crucial for this game)

Yet at the same time he gives Wario ware accolades even though it ignores it's predecessors and instead of allowing people to play a single game for a best score gives extremely limited modes. Even the multiplayer is a mixed bag.

Both games are good but Elebits is the second best game I have for the system, Warioware was good for the 2 hours it took to unlock it all and now is just an ok addition.

Perhaps Zonk doesn't like the katamari damacy style games but Elebits is far from a mediocre game in the same way katamari wasn't a mediocre game.

Compression artifacts.

[Xoltri]

I wanted to comment on the 'crispness' on WarioWare that is mentioned in this article. I have a LG 42 inch HD LCD (1080i) and you can see some compression artifacts in the short movies that introduce each character in WarioWare. So it is not perfect, but I will admit it is nitpicking to notice something like that.

As someone who has played both titles...

[Dave Parrish]

Those are eerily accurate reviews. And reviews are something I rarely agree with. Elebits is definitely worth a rent, if not a buy. I do plan on purchasing it at some point (I argue that it does have some "pick up and play again" type of replay value, because it is a really fun game to mess with, not to mention that you can create your own levels), but other games keep pushing it back on the "next to buy" list. Warioware is clearly a buy. No doubt. If only for how intense it is. When you first start your single-player campaign, you begin with a nice little cutscene... And then suddenly burst into nine rapid-fire minigames. It reminded me so much of the first "PRESS A" cutscene in Resident Evil 4 (which did end up getting me killed once, I will admit), I can't even describe. Plus, as the article says, going back through single-player is definitely worth it. You go back through a "level" and you just keep doing minigames (which come at you faster and faster the farther you progress) until you fail four times. It simply gets hilarious nearing the end, when you can hardly keep up with anything at all. Bottom line: Both are good. Renting Elebits before buying it is a good plan, but would only be a waste of cash with Warioware.

Re:Good stuff but short lived maybe?

[shimage]

Vgcharts.org says that there are 1.72 and 1.33 million copies of GH1 and GH2, respectively. Assuming that no one with GH1 has GH2, that means that roughly 3% of all PS2 owners have guitars (presumably all GH owners have guitars). It doesn't matter how many guitars they have, since I'm mostly interested in the number of households that have any. There is also the problem of people buying multiple PS2s, but hopefully my double counting of GH owners will compensate for that (actually, I think it overcompensates, but that's just a guess). In any case, I hardly think that 3% is a resounding success. Guitar Hero is an amazing success, and I'm sure everyone involved made money hand over fist, but I wouldn't say that the guitar controller is anything near ubiquitous. [vgcharts.org]

The dance mat is a far more successful peripheral (and I say this in spite of the fact that I hate DDR). There are many games from multiple publishers on multiple platforms that use (essentially) the same mat. The only reason for a person to not own one at this point is the fact that they don't play dance games (it also happens to be an excellent reason, but nevermind that for now). The simple fact that GH games are generally sold with a guitar, and dance games aren't (he says without proof) should make it obvious enough which one is more successful. That said, I must add that the dance mat is probably the only peripheral I would consider "successful".