Man, if I’d known Nintendo was waiting for me to express my determination to love Wario Land: Shake — now officially slated for U.S. release as Wario Land: Shake It — I’d have gushed about it sooner. But at least this way I get an official PR-approved screen shot to post. As such:
A 2D platformer slated for console release, and not as cheap DLC? It really is a rare wonder in this world. Of course, this also means the pressure’s on: If it sucks, the public refrain will inevitably be, “This should have been a $10 downloadable game!” And we’ll never see another full-budget 2D console release again.
I have to admit a bit of trepidation inspired by this image. Wario is clearly taking the game’s title to heart and shaking things, but in my experience platformers don’t take well to this mechanic. Treasure’s already messed around with it in the form of Mischief Makers and Silhouette Mirage, two decent platformers which would have been much better if you didn’t have to stop every few seconds and fling enemies around until their pockets were empty. Weirdly, Treasure’s not developing Shake It, even though they did create Wario World. There’s probably some sort of symbolic circularity here, but I don’t want to think about it too hard. I’m too tired to be pretentious today. Clearly, old age is taking its toll on me.
It’ll be fine as long as they…
Oh, no. I kind of forgot about the Wiimote since all I play is Brawl. Well anyway, as I was saying, as long as you only kind of have to it could be fine.
Oh wow, I didn’t realize this was 2D as in 2D and not just another 3D on a 2D plane game.
The shaking wasn’t unbearable in the Saturn version of Silhouette Mirage, at least. Maybe they can reflect on those pioneers of the “shaking stuff” genre and deliver a more refined, balanced shaking stuff game.
In solidarity with this announcement, I will once again don the 3D glasses and play an emulated version of Virtual Boy Wario Land until I throw up all over my keyboard.
I will post pictures soon.
Request: Please eat a bunch of Cheet-Os first. Neon orange puke is awesome.
Oh, the “should be WiiWare” comments won’t be stopped by quality. Anytime something is 2D, or side-scrolling, or arcade-like, or anything other than an RPG or some kind of FPS, “should be WiiWare” pops out.
Yes, beating the pence out of the Silhouette Mirage enemies was super tedious. I liked throwing them across the screen, though. And air-juggling them with Cavitas, then hurling them to the ground. In conclusion, hey, Silhouette Mirage, I haven’t thought about that game for a while.
Mischief Makers?
Silhouette Mirage?
I smell new articles!
I sure hope this ends up being a great game. I really miss the ol’ side scrollers. I have very fond memories of the original Wario Land for GB back in my youth.
J. Parish, you bring so many good things to my attention!
Some PLEASE do an article on Mischief Makers. It’s been so long, and I want to remember my old friend.
I’m very excited ’bout this, although personally I don’t have a problem with 2D sidescrollers being DLC… They managed to do a lot with Lostwinds, if you ask me. Honestly, that’s probably my favorite game so far this year… Speaking of 2D/3D, what ever happened to Fez?
Unless the new Wario game has the fun and clout of his Microgames, I’d wager this release won’t do so hot. Then again, how well did the original WarioWare sell?
And I wouldn’t commit (my cart intermittently locks on multiple N64s) but I might be up for writing a Michief Makers article someday.