WarioWare: Smooth Moves
It has been over two months since people have been playing with their Wiis and just when you thought people could not look more ridiculous playing Nintendo’s next-gen console “WarioWare: Smooth Moves” hits the shelves.
Packed with 250 “microgames,” “Wario Ware” makes gamers look like kindergarteners on meth as they are instructed to hold the Wii-Remote (by a voice that resembles the guy from Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy) in such positions as the Mohawk, the Elephant and the Samurai.
While the “microgames” aren’t as engrossing as other party games like “Rayman Raving Rabbids” and “Super Monkey: Ball Banana Blitz” that is not point of these exceedingly simple games. “WarioWare” focuses more on being able to keep up with the rapid-fire succession of the quirky “microgames” with little instruction on what exactly to do. Players use the Wii-Remote to complete tasks such as picking a gargantuan nose, sawing a log, balancing a broom vertically in your hand and other ridiculous feats of frantic party game action.
While the controls are very intuitive during most of the 200-plus games others will leave you cursing at Mario’s evil doppelganger because of the unresponsiveness of the controls.
While the multiplayer mode really is not a multiplayer mode because players have to pass around the Wii-Remote between each game, which you can do with most games, “WarioWare: Smooth Moves” is a great addition to any Wii owner’s library during what is traditionally a dry spell for newly released consoles.
Graphics: 4 Sound: 4
Control: 3.75 Fun Factor: 4.25/5
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
If you have ever watched “House M.D.” and “ER” and said to yourself, “Self, I would make one hell of a surgeon,” or if you are a medical school dropout, this is your chance at glory.
Those expecting a sequel to the DS cult-hit “Trauma Center: Under the Knife” might be somewhat disappointed to find out that “Trauma Center: Second Opinion” is little more than an adaptation of “Under the Knife” with changes made to the control scheme for the ever dynamic Wii-Remote.
The good news is the unique controls that the Wii-Remote delivers breathes new life into the “Second Opinion” and it also makes a truly innovative game available to those gamers who refuse to join the handheld world.
“Second Opinion” follows the young Dr. Derek Stiles as he is faced with all the drama of making split-second decisions while operating to save the lives of his patients. Stiles has all of the tools a proper medical doctor should have at his disposal from a defibrillator to forceps as well as a few fictional ones such an all-healing ointment.
Each tool requires very precise movement to perform operations correctly giving the game a more realistic feel, as much as operating on a figure in your television with something called a Wii-Remote can get.
Unlike “Under the Knife” this Wiicentric version in the “Trauma Center” franchise has difficulty modes added for those who were left wanting to smash their stylus through their DS screen when attempting the seemingly impossible operations in the original.
Whether you have played the original or not, “Trauma Center: Second Opinion” is a truly innovative game everyone can enjoy in a market that is dominated by repetitive mindless shooters and sports games.
Graphics: 4.25 Sound: 4
Control: 4.75 Fun Factor: 4.5/5

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