Wario Land: The Shake Dimension (A.K.A Wario Land: Shake It! in US release) is a 2D platform game for Nintendo Wii, which developed by Good Feel and published by Nintendo. It was originally released in 2008 and it was later re-released for Nintendo e-shop as downloadable game for Wii U on April 7th 2016 in Europe. It is the sixth installment of the Wario Land series and it is the first game to be released on home consoles, so unlike the rest of the previous games was already released for handheld systems.
Back in the days, I've never played any of Wario Land games until I got the Wario Land 4 for GBA. It is a fun 2D platform game for the handheld system with very unique gameplay, excellent graphics, catchy soundtrack, amazing level stages and of course the mini game is just made me enjoy the game's overall, but it is shame that after I've already completed the game once, the save data stops working due to faulty battery RAM in the game cartridge because I wanted to play the game again, so I couldn't get it worked properly which means I have to find another copy of the game someday in the future.
In this year, I've decided to buy Wario Land: The Shake Dimensions from the CeX store because the price is much cheaper compared with other stores like Amazon or Ebay, so I've bought it for £6.00 which is a great deal for Nintendo Wii collectors.
Okay then, let's go back to reviewing the game. Wario Land: The Shake Dimension is a great game for Wii titles. The game developer's team did a stunning job for whole game because of the Wii remote is perfect for shaking mechanics and it has unique levels with secrets and rewards which made the gameplay played great. The graphics has wonderful animation with nice art-style and decent design choices which makes the presentation and the stages looked amazing for the Wii hardware systems. The soundtrack is pretty somewhat the best in the series with catchy tunes and very jazzy feel to the music. There are some few issues of the game is the short length of the single player's campaign which makes the game easier to complete and the tilt mechanics are quite difficult to control in the water stage. So far, I really enjoyed playing this game and it is considered to be a underrated gems for the Wii library games because Wario Land: The Shake Dimension needs to be deserve a much credit to show how awesome the modern 2D platform games are and using the Wii remote for shaking mechanics is just simple straightforward and easier to use.
Presentation
The opening cutscenes starts with female pirate named Captain Syrup breaking into museum and observing the surface of the ancient globe, which houses the shake dimension world. Meanwhile at the shake dimension world, the villain named Shake King has obtained the bottomless coin sack, which releases the endless supply of coins when shaken, and captured the Queen Merelda and her Merfle.
After Captain Syrup have learned the crisis of the Shake Dimension world, she began to steal the globe and mails it to Wario, claiming that the real treasure is inside. Before Wario breaks the globe with the hammer, one of the Merfle came out from the globe and asks Wario for help. Wario becomes interested in the affair only after learning of the bottomless coin sack and follows the Merfle back into the Shake Dimension world.
I really love the opening movie is because of the fully animated cutscenes has well designed art-style for the character's design and it has well presented visual animation to make the game more stunning and stylish anime look of the game. The story is pretty good for Wario series because it's all about collecting biggest treasures and it's more like of the epic adventures kinda stuff to the game. Wario as a character can be a bad guy in the Mario series, but sometime he turns out to be good in his series. He is one of the funniest characters in the game because of his obsession with the money and his dumb personalties that made him so entertaining. I really liked the main menu's screen that shows Wario started to shake dancing while he checking the globe with the telescope because of his excitement of collecting treasures.
Overall, the presentation is gets the job done with nicely animated cutscenes, simple storyplot and funny main protagonist that makes the game professionally brilliant.
Gameplay
This game has 5 worlds to complete including secrets levels and boss levels. The gameplay is on 2D perspective where you take control of Wario. Your main goal is to collect enough coins and treasures in each levels which you can able to purchase a new maps from Captain Syrup's shop later when having enough money to unlock the new area and of course you must defeat the mini boss in each maps.
The control are pretty straightforward, you can control the player by using the d-pad button to move around and pressing up+jump button or down button to get in the pipe.
Using the shaking mechanics on the bag of coins with the Wii remote which pops the coins out from the bag are very useful to collect enough money, but try to be careful not to drop or lose any of the coins from somewhere else before you start shaking the Wii remote during the gameplay. You can throw any objects by holding the button while you can aim in different direction with the Wii remote's tilting controls which worked very well for some levels.
You can attack enemies by using Wario's charge attack and butt stomp, but you can also use shaking mechanics on the enemies which drops the health items and you can throw the enemies on somewhere else in the level which are quite handy for game's puzzles as well. You can perform stomp punch by shaking Wii remote which are quite useful to stun enemies, dropping the objects and activates certain mechanism which is quite cool in the game.
In the sea levels, you take control of the Wario's submarine by going forward and backwards with d-pad button and using tilting control for moving up and down, but I think the tilting controls are kinda feels awkward to move, but you may be played okay once you get used with the controls in the sea levels. You can also shoot enemies by pressing the shoot button which shoots out the submarine's missiles.
The levels are well designed with no issues at all which makes the level so unique because it gives a higher challenge for the players to explore by finding secrets and collecting rare treasures. The boss levels is also good because it's pretty well challenging which makes the game so much enjoyable to play. You can head at the Captain Syrup's shop to purchase health's upgrade which extends player's health meter and health recovery are quite handy to use when the player runs out the health meter.
Overall, the gameplay mechanism is feels responsive, the levels are very fun to enjoy especially with the boss fights and it is fun to collect money and items in the whole levels makes the game so decent.
Graphics
Production I.G did a fantastic job in the movie presentation because I really loved the fully animated character's design which makes the game look specular on both opening and closing cutscenes. It's colorful and it's well produced animation designs that shows how amazing the game looks. The developer teams did a stunning job on the level backgrounds and visuals are very detailed and more cartoony style that fits very well in the level scenery. It's shows how capable the Wii's hardware systems could able to handle over more than 1000 animation frames.
Overall, it is by far one of the best graphics on the Wii systems that handles perfectly for game's overall.
Music and Sounds
This game has very catchy soundtrack for each levels. It's quite has a jazzy music feel to the game and other sometimes orchestral and atmospheric sounds are also quite sounds amazing for some levels. I say the soundtrack are by far the best in the series. The sound effects are sounds cool in the game especially with the speaker on the Wii remote are also sounds terrific when shaking the controller. I also loved the character's voice because it has very comical voices and fitting tone of the voice which makes the characters sounds awesome in the game.
Overall, it does have the outstanding music, cool sound effects and fitting character's voice in the game.
Special Features
This game has some of the secret levels where you have to find secret maps in each level which you can unlock the new levels in the maps. You can unlock both opening and closing movie at the Captain Syrup's shop and you can obtain the soundtrack by completing the each mission tasks in each levels. The game comes with sticker where you can place the sticker on the game manual book which is kinda look awesome especially with index sticker pages is quite useful.
Overall, It's a nice features of the game has to offer with secret levels, unlockables and sticker pages for game manual book.
Advantages
Superb presentation
Straightforward gameplay mechanism
Stunning graphics
Outstanding soundtrack
Awesome characters
Impressive levels and bosses
Disadvantages
Tilting control may not be easier for sea levels
Short length campaign
Final Verdict
Presentation 8/10 - Nicely animated cutscenes, simple storyplot and funny main protagonist.
Gameplay 7.5/10 - Gameplay mechanism is feels responsive and the levels are very fun.
Graphics 9/10 - Stunning character's design, colorful animation design and very detailed backgrounds and visuals.
Music and Sounds 9/10 - Outstanding music, cool sound effects and fitting character's voice.
Special Features 7.5/10 - Secret levels, unlockables and sticker pages for game manual book.
Overall 8/10 - Looks like Good Feel did a great job for the Nintendo Wii console. This game has well presenting story and design for presentation. The gameplay has playable controls and impressive levels with superb challenge, collecting cool treasures in secret areas and epic boss fights that keeps the game so much entertaining. The graphics has awesome animation and well drawn backgrounds and visuals that the game has the charm for the Wii system. The music are sounds surprisingly outstanding for Wario Land series in my opinion. Wario Land: The Shake Dimension is very fascinating underrated gem game for Wii owners should able to get this game for Nintendo Wii and I'm also glad that the game was re-released for the Wii U in Europe, so I'm also recommended for Wii U owners should get the game from Nintendo e-shop.
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