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Born for Wii: Wario's Woods
by Wesley Fenlon 
{ Dec 2nd 2008 at 11:52AM }
Few genres can match the gnawing, unquenchable addiction of the puzzler. The classics like Tetris and Puyo Pop have populated virtually every platform under the sun in one form or another, and modern-day classics like Hexic and Zuma have undoubtedly caused more than one dreary office worker to find himself ejected from his cubicle. Sadly, just as many wonderful puzzle games have fallen by the wayside. One of those games is Wario's Woods.Wario's Woods has an odd history for a game: released on the NES and the Super NES only a few months apart in 1994, two similar, though notably different, versions of the game were on the market at the same time. Though the game only differs slightly from Puyo Pop and its various clones, the mechanics unique to Wario's Woods make it one of the most addictive puzzle games ever made. The NES version of Wario's Woods has been available on the Virtual Console for two years, but the superior Super Nintendo version is nowhere to be found. We've seen nothing new from the series for nearly 15 years -- it's well past time for a revival. And for reals, this time.
Gallery: Born for Wii: Wario's Woods
Every week, Born for Wii digs into gaming's sordid past to unearth a new treasure fit for revival on the Nintendo Wii. Be sure to check out last week's entry in the series, Star Wars: Republic Commando, and for more great titles that deserve your attention, take a look at Virtually Overlooked.New WarioWare games coming to DS, DSi
by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 3rd 2008 at 5:00PM }
Being the foul-smelling, eternally greedy anti-hero that he is, it comes as little surprise to see Wario delve into the lucrative field of video game development yet again. According to a recent operational briefing, delivered by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, DS owners can expect to see the mustache-twirling glutton in several upcoming titles -- and they'll even get to design some of them."WarioWare Myself" continues the franchise's celebration of all games deemed mini, with the addition of some user-created content. Players will reportedly be able to create their own frantic minigames and
As for Nintendo's new DSi, Iwata revealed plans to release "WarioWare: Photograph," a camera-enabled, gesture-based affair, as well as several WarioWare minigames that will be available for download on the system's online store. For the sake of productivity, we sincerely hope Nintendo fails to include that infernal, paper airplane game. You know the one.
Gaming to Go: Warioware: Touched
by Matthew Madeiro { Nov 3rd 2008 at 1:00PM }
Wario is weird. Anyone who has ever given Mario's portly nemesis a spin in his numerous games can easily agree with that, though it's a truth most evident in the Warioware series of titles. Touched is Wario's first appearance on the DS and something of a landmark for the handheld, utilizing the stylus for almost everything and showcasing the unique strength of the system. It's also pretty freaking strange. The admittedly odd design choices complement the gameplay pretty well, however, which involve a series of blindingly quick microgames designed to test both your reaction time and tolerance for utter silliness.
The sheer speediness of it all makes Warioware: Touched an ideal candidate for this week's Gaming to Go. Unfortunately, for everything Touched does to streamline the gameplay down to a few exciting seconds, it isn't a perfect experience. Want to hear why? Click that big button down there and see what all of the fuss is about.
Gallery: WarioWare: Touched
Fanswag: Wario Land goes to ...
by Joystiq Staff { Oct 16th 2008 at 8:10PM }
- Adam N, who is a big fan of Wario Land 3
Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It
Circuit City does buy one, get one 50% off sale on Wii games
by David Hinkle { Oct 13th 2008 at 10:48AM }
Need some suggestions? Mario Kart Wii is a good choice (and you can play with us at Game Night!), as well as Wario Land: Shake It! (which we're pretty fond of). There's also ... actually, just head on over there. The list of games is fairly long.
[Via GamerDeals]
Reminder: Wario Land is up for grabs
by Joystiq Staff { Oct 12th 2008 at 12:15PM }
Head on over to the original contest post here to see what you have to do to enter for your chance at this great game!
Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It
A brief history of Club Nintendo Awesomeness
by Chris Greenhough { Oct 7th 2008 at 11:18AM }
Anyway, as these are happy times for North Americans, we thought we'd reflect on some of the bestest Club Nintendo gifts and trinkets from both Japan and Europe to date -- some of which could end up in the U.S.! Hit the gray button to start DS Fanboy's whirlwind Club Nintendo Tour of Wonders!
Fanswag: Wario Land: Shake It!
by David Hinkle { Oct 7th 2008 at 9:00AM }
To enter, simply leave a comment between now and Sunday, October 12th at 11:59PM ET, telling us what your favorite game featuring Wario is. It can be one of his own games, or any other he's in. You can leave one comment per day. We'll select a winner the following day via random drawing.
There are a few things you should know before entering. Entrants must be current and legal residents of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec) and at least 18 years of age or older. Read up on the rest of the official rules right here.
Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It
DS Fanboy's Media Summit screen round-up
by Chris Greenhough { Oct 2nd 2008 at 4:00PM }
The worst bit about big industry events for impatient bloggers and readers? The game assets. Oh Lordy, the assets. An absolute landslide of screens, usually scattered about across, ooh, dozens of pages. But not at DS Fanboy! Not on our watch! Because we wub you, readers, we've collected a big old stack of new screens for your viewing pleasure and placed them all after the break of just one post. This post, in fact. From the well-known to the obscure, we'd be amazed if there's not at least one game that appeals to everyone past that line of blue text. Mario & Luigi 3, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (right), Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel, Shining Force Feather, and Picross 3D is only scratching the surface, so make the jump!
Wii Fanboy Review: Wario Land: Shake It!
by David Hinkle { Oct 2nd 2008 at 3:50PM }
Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It
It's a WARIO World: Transformations
by Kenneth Caldwell { Sep 26th 2008 at 3:26PM }
We couldn't help ourselves--Mario fashion is so last Friday. In case you didn't notice, maybe because you were too busy getting domineered by the formidable boss roster of Mega Man 9, a little game called Wario Land: Shake It! landed at retailers on Tuesday. And you can bet we've been shaking it all week (besides listening to Charles Martinet ham it up, of course). What better way to welcome this momentous release than to dedicate our humble gallery to the big scoundrel himself?
It is appropriate that we have transformed this feature to accommodate Wario's oversized rear end. Transformations are Wario's speciality; whether he is provoked by status-changing characters or influenced by elements of his environment, Wario relies on his many forms to effectively navigate level design. Adopting forms that range from animal to mechanical, this rude evil genius is unquestionably a Master of Disguise. Let's take a look back at the numerous transformations Wario has undergone in our new gallery chock full of yellow, purple and poor manners.
It's-a WARIO World is a weekly feature in which the ubiquity of Nintendo's EVIL GENIUS is celebrated: We'll incessantly ruminate about Nintendo passes gas to promote Wario Land: Shake It!
by David Hinkle { Sep 25th 2008 at 5:20PM }
It's no secret that Nintendo is the richest company since Ebenezer Scrooge found two nickels and rubbed them together. As part of a promotion for Wario Land: Shake It! and just to be nice, the company footed the gasoline bill for several individuals at a downtown LA Mobile gas station. They also hooked some lucky folks up with copies of the game, as well as Wii consoles. You can check out a video from the event above, as well as some pictures of folks taking advantage of the kind gesture in our gallery below.
Gallery: Nintendo passes gas for Wario Land
New Wario Land ad shakes up YouTube
by Ross Miller { Sep 23rd 2008 at 11:00PM }
Metareview: Wario Land: Shake It!
by Chris Greenhough { Sep 23rd 2008 at 7:10PM }
Talk about dividing opinion. As we type these words, Metacritic features just ten reviews of Wario Land: Shake It!, yet already the top and bottom scores are separated by a yawning gulf of 30%. Two things most critics seem to agree on: Shake It! is beautiful, and Shake It! is short. The rest is clearly up for debate:
- IGN (84%) published one of the warmest reviews to date: "It's got its share of modest shortcomings. It's not very innovative -- you've seen all this before in other platformers. The lack of a proper widescreen mode is downright annoying. And the core game is over a little too quickly for my liking. But, you know, it's still a really fun experience thanks to excellent control and fantastic level designs, not to mention a beautiful visual presentation."
- Eurogamer (70%) noted that the title didn't measure up to Nintendo's rich tapestry of platform games: "A game which is good, but not great, and certainly not up to the standard of Nintendo's best 2D platformers."
- GamePro (80%) mentions the "c" word, as dreaded by most blog-reading types: "Despite its simplistic gameplay, the game is still worth playing, especially for the casual Wii gamer. It's fun, it's simple and it's charming, which pretty much describes most Wii games that hit big with that audience."
- Finally, Jeremy Parish of 1UP (58%) heaped scorn on the mustache-twirler's return: "Shake It!'s failure to innovate is particularly infuriating, because it'll only serve to confirm in most people's minds the notion that 2D graphics are synonymous with dated, uninspired game design [...] the staleness of this game's action has nothing to do with the visuals and everything to do with the fact that the dizzyingly imaginative designers who helped make those earlier titles so memorable have moved along to the WarioWare and Rhythm Heaven series."
Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It
Wario shakes up YouTube
by Chris Greenhough { Sep 23rd 2008 at 12:40PM }
Well done, Nintendo. If you hoped this fourth wall-shattering commercial for Wario Land: Shake It! would make the blog rounds, then you succeeded. We don't usually post about media of games that are already on store shelves, but this was just too good to pass on. We can't really say much more for fear of spoiling the surprise involved, so click here and get watching. But come back, please. Gets lonely here, y'know.
Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It
[Via 4cr, thanks JR!]
