Not in terms of gameplay (although the lack of transformations other than Flaming, Snowman and Frozen Wario was disappointing), but in terms of ideas?
Because to be honest, if there's one big criticism I have of this game, it's that the title feels a whole lot more cliched than the earlier titles.
Where Wario Land 2-4 had new and original level themes rather than plainer ones, Shake It had the standard things like Egyptian style deserts, ice levels with Christmassy music, haunted house stages with traditional layouts and art/music styles... It feels like outside the train and city levels, the designers of the game didn't really have the same 'wacky' attitude as those of the earlier games, and fell back on a lot of standard 'creative' tropes and cliches to make up for it.
There's also the fact the music in general felt a bit lacklustre compared to some of the other games. Okay, it wasn't ever bad (and some tunes, like the train level, city level, snow level and ghost house level themes were actually rather good), but compared to say, Wario Land 4 or even Master of Disguise, it felt like a bit of an uninspiring soundtrack.
I can definitely see where you're coming from now that you point it out. Wario Land has always been known for having non-conventional takes on level archetypes in addition to it's non-conventional platformer mechanics, but you're right in that Shake It doesn't do anything extremely memorable in that regard.
My main gripe, like I said before, it's not fun to be Wario and do all those things Wario does. Smashing through rocks, throwing enemies, ground pounding. None of that had the same wham-and-bam of the other Wario Land games.
I mean look at what they gave you to throw at switches in WL4, an old man! You threw around a poor old man who'd "YOW!" on impact. What did you throw at switches in Shake It? A rubber ball. Pathetic.
Personally, I thought that Shake It! was a step backwards for the series. They took Wario Land 4 and skimmed it down to Wario Land 1 in terms of core gameplay mechanics and game elements (enemies, coins, etc.), so they had fewer tools to build with. Nevermind that the folded level design is a pale immitation of the creativity shown in Wario Land 4 and the levels have too many moments of trial and error.
There's also the fact that the ending was dissapointing. Unlike previous Wario Land titles, it could only end on a rather bad note for Wario, as he got his precious sack he worked for stolen by Syrup. Your actions couldn't alter it, which was a real dissapointment for me considering I played Wario Land 4 before. Heck, from what I remember, all of the other series entries ended in Wario still having his loot he was looking for.
Well, actually in SML3, Wario didn't end up with that Princess Peach statue he was looking for...
On a more serious note, Shake It!! was definitely a big dissapointment. I'd been following the Wario Land series ever since 4, and had high expectations for the new transformations and puzzle-styled gameplay of 2, 3 and (in a way) 4. To be honest, the only aspect of Shake It!! that I fortunately did like was the art style, but even then it didn't have the bizzare, wild feel that the extremely detailed sprites of 4 did. The lack of transformations, puzzles and the overall more cliche feel to the platforming really turned me off.
Would you guys still recommend it? I mean, it's a really cheap game but I've seen gameplay vids and...I'm not all that impressed. So far, Wario Land 4 is my favorite game of the series as I really liked the folded level design, timer, and the resurrection of death (heh). I really liked immortality in 2 and 3, but having the possibility of dying again was a lot of fun.
I liked Wario Land Shake It's art style and music, and I did think the bosses (and some levels) were pretty cool. So yeah, I'd recommend it.
So hey, you'll at least enjoy the atmosphere while playing the levels. And hey, you do get to beat up the likes of the Stig's evil cousin (Top Gear reference!), a robot clown with a flamethrower and a fish chef in a flying frying pan for good measure.
I'm definitely impressed with the art style and music, it's the gameplay and level design I'm worried about. Especially after reading Daniel's blog about it. What did the rest of you guys think about the level design?
I thought it was kinda... Bland. Very boring and nowhere near as enjoyable compared to Land 2 & 4. Although if my memeory serves (I haven't played it in a while), there were a few levels here n' there that were OK. And the gameplay could admittededly be a little fun, but it didn't have that same feel that Land 4 did. The levels felt extremely empty a lot of the time. And the lack of any kind of puzzles and transformations really is probably the main reason the game felt so different than what a Wario Land title really should be.
Overall, I still think that you should pick it up beacause every Wario Land game is still at the least OK.
