Muscle March (WiiWare) - Review by Chris

Introduction

While retail releases are now beginning to show less and less in the way of interesting quirks to differentiate themselves from the various templates used within stalwart genres, the download spectrum continues to shine with both ingenuity and weirdness, with Nintendo's WiiWare service seeing equal measures of both. With Muscle March, developer Namco Bandai have created a title that goes far beyond the weirdness you'll see in other downloadable titles and one which is sure to raise a few eyebrows by those who see it and some smiles by those who play it. At 500 points, does this title have enough content to justify flexing its muscles?

Gameplay

Muscle March is all about providing short and simple entertainment for those looking for something to play at a low price. All elements of the game are kept as simple as possible making it one of the most accessible titles you're ever likely to play. The general premise around which the game is set is that a group of body builders, comprising of 5 men, 1 female and a polar bear wearing Speedos, are working out when someone comes along and steals their protein powder. Needing this to help them bulk up even further, the group chase after the perpetrator in the hope of chasing him down and regaining their precious protein powder.

Chasing after the perpetrator, you're objective is to follow the characters in front of you and correctly strike the same poses they do so that you match the shapes created from the lead character crashing through walls, doors and various other surfaces. Fail to match the shapes in the surfaces and your 5 piece stamina bar will take a hit, with 5 misses resulting in a game over. There are only 4 poses in total for you to master with the Wii-mote and Nunchuk and while it's initially very easy to get to grips with the game, each of the levels progressively speeds up until your character is the only one chasing after the thief meaning you'll need to have lightning fast hand-eye coordination towards the end to make sure you chase him down.

There are 2 modes in total which encompass this gameplay: a single player option, which will see you select from one of the three available levels, each of which is split into three stages, to play through as you aim to chase down the thieves who've stolen your protein powder, and an Endless Rush option which allows up to 4 players to see how long they can keep up with the thief as they strike poses in the hope of getting a place on the game's scoreboards. It initially looks as though there is little to this package besides the quirkiness and hilarity which the game initially instils in you and when you really consider what is beyond this, there really isn't a lot here to keep your attention once the amusement has gone as the gameplay quickly dilutes and really fails to keep you entertained. The endless rush multiplayer option does help to alleviate some of this issue, as the single player is where things run dry extremely quickly, but even with this it still lacks anything truly substantial to keep you coming back.

Controls

The game is controlled by using various simple motion gestures with both the Wii-mote and Nunchuk. It's incredibly simple to pick up, with there being only 4 gestures in total that you'll need to make use of. However, presumably as a result of not being optimised during development, the controls aren't without their problems. At times, your character in game will begin to flex and pose without you even moving the controllers at all while when things speed up, the controls are sometimes unable to detect the motions you initiate. Its makes the otherwise simple gameplay more difficult than it is and some extra time in development to iron out these issues would have greatly improved the game. It's by no means unplayable, as you'll learn to get over the control issues, but it's an unnecessary hurdle which shouldn't be there in the first place.

Graphics

It's certainly not the best looking title you'll see on the service, but Muscle March does manage to look decent. Character models are the best of what the visuals have to offer, possessing a good poly count and being animated well with some animations, such as the one for the characters as they are running through the air after coming off of a jump, leading for some humorous scenes.

As mentioned, there are only 3 locations which you'll see and for the most part, they all look good but certain elements of the scenery seem to repeat the more you play through the levels. Almost everything else is handled in 2D sprite form, with various strange and unusual pieces of character art adorning the levels at various stages. It comes together to elevate the quirkiness of the gameplay but you'll rarely have time to take notice of anything going on around you as you'll be focusing on the characters running immediately in front of so as to get the correct pose to pass through the next barrier.

Sound

Music takes the form of some stereotypical J-pop tracks which, while not being particularly noteworthy, do manage to match the quirkiness of the gameplay and the atmosphere of the game. It's rare, however, that you'll even take notice of the music, or even any of the sound effects which go some way to accentuating the game's quirks, because your attention will always be on which pose you'll need to strike next to keep the game going.

Final comments

As one of the WiiWare service's more 'unique' titles, Muscle March has something going for it but not a lot. The hilarity that ensues from seeing the characters flex their way to getting back their protein powder and the general quirkiness of the gameplay will provide some initial excitement but it quickly dissipates and shows just how little in the way of content the game really possesses. Control problems further mar the game, making what is essentially a simple game more of a hassle. It'll make an interesting party piece for when friends are around, and the price certainly makes it an appealing purchase, but as mentioned, the lack of content and issues will soon have you looking for something else to play.

Pro: Unique and simple gameplay, guaranteed to get a laugh out of friends, low price
Con: Control issues, gameplay tires very quickly, very little in the way of content
Final score: 5.8

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