Thanks to Wolfman for helping with edits.
Third-party developer Artoon was founded in 1999, and in 2010 it was absorbed into its now-defunct parent company, AQ Interactive. The studio was noteworthy for employing prolific industry names, including Sonic Team alumnus Naoto Ohshima, and for collaborating with several prestigious publishers, Nintendo among them. While Artoon’s relationship with the Kyoto-based giant is best known for yielding two subpar Yoshi platformers, it also spawned a little-known title for the Wii called FlingSmash.
Grating audio is blared right from the get-go, setting the tone for Artoon’s paddleball homage. (Image: Nintendo)
Nintendo’s Wii Remote was instrumental in the Wii’s success both on and following the console’s launch, leaving an impact that’s still felt in Nintendo hardware. Its motion capabilities, however, were far from perfect, struggling to handle much beyond basic waggling and aiming. Nintendo sought to rectify that in 2009 by releasing the Wii MotionPlus, a peripheral that improved the controller’s motion capabilities. In 2010, Nintendo released the Wii Remote Plus, an iteration of the aged controller with the MotionPlus technology built in. FlingSmash was one of the rare titles to require the ameliorations granted by the MotionPlus, and it was bundled together with the Remote Plus at retail.
FlingSmash’s primary lead is Zip, Suthon Island’s ball-shaped legendary hero. As the unskippable, four-minute opening cutscene explains, Suthon’s king woke Zip from his slumber to stop the machinations of the nefarious Lord Omminus. Zip is later joined by his female counterpart Pip, the neighboring Eesturn Island’s champion, for cooperative play; you can choose which one you want to play as and let a friend handle the other. Our heroes are functionally identical and controlled by – you guessed it – flinging the Wii Remote, which determines the arc they fly in. In an effort to help players aim accurately, the bottom-right portion of the screen shows the Remote’s orientation. Zip and Pip, should they sit idle for a few moments, begin glowing red, powering up their flings and allowing them to destroy blocks they couldn’t otherwise break. Pressing the A button, however, stops your deity’s momentum, an appreciated luxury that helps prevent accidentally tossing Zip or Pip into danger.
FlingSmash’s levels scroll automatically, with your hero consequently gravitating towards either the right or bottom of the screen depending on the area. (Image: Nintendo)
However, not only does FlingSmash fail to capitalize on any potential the Wii MotionPlus might harbor, it exemplifies every weakness that might plague a Wii game. Sometimes Zip’s trajectory will fail to correlate to the angle you flung the Remote, sometimes it’ll require recalibration, and sometimes it will pick up on movements that were accidental. Getting Zip or Pip where you want them to go is often a struggle, something made all the more egregious because Artoon was clearly aware of the controller’s limitations. During the tutorial you’re informed aiming carefully is your goal, not frantically over-exerting your movements, and a similar prompt appears when the game senses you’re straining yourself. Unfortunately, there’s a divide between FlingSmash‘s considerate message and how it functions; the levels contain missable timed events, and the three-headed serpent Hydracoil emerges to eat your lead if you’re idle for too long.
Suthon Island is home to eight stock environments, all of which host three main levels, a boss encounter, and one unlockable level and minigame. Save for the three-phase final boss, all of the stages and bosses are short affairs, taking roughly three minutes. FlingSmash owes much of its arcade-esque ethos to pinball; the positioning and nature of the enemies and set pieces cause your spherical idol to bounce around, often hectically. Temporary power-ups (which are earned by collecting three of any given fruit-themed token) are also rooted in pinball, the multiball being the most blunt recognition. Collecting at least three of five tokens in every level awards a pearl, and collecting three pearls in each world opens up the sector’s boss. Other distractions and collectibles are strewn throughout the levels for those seeking high scores, and players are given a ranking for their performance after clearing a level. Artoon tries to add variety by giving some worlds a gimmick that thematically ties into their aesthetic, such as how Zip is turned into metal in the factory. However, none of these ideas fundamentally play with or change the repetitive nature of FlingSmash’s gameplay – you’re still always flinging your ball around to break things and collect stuff – and they only help make the otherwise generic locations more memorable.
Zip, seen here before he fights Omminus, perfectly encapsulates how I felt by this point: worn out and waiting for the adventure to be over. (Image: Nintendo)
Smartphone sensation Angry Birds (initially released in 2009) featured a comparable concept to, and much stronger execution than, Artoon’s pinball-esque flinging endeavor, making FlingSmash feel dated even when it hit shelves. Contemporary releases like last year’s Yoku’s Island Express and classics like the original Sonics skillfully incorporate pinball elements in satisfying ways, proving side-scrollers in this vein have potential. FlingSmash, however, is far from being an unplayable game (after all, I beat it), but it simply isn’t fun to play. It was also the final title developed by Artoon, ending their eleven-year run on a whimper. Considering the negative critical reception FlingSmash received and how poorly it seemed to sell (I often saw new copies selling for less than a standalone Wii Remote Plus), it’s unsurprising it’s been forgotten about, save for the dutiful inclusion of Zip as a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Nevertheless, Artoon’s legacy of producing underwhelming games for Nintendo lives on through Arzest, a studio founded in 2010 by Ohshima and fellow key Artoon staffers. Ohshima’s new team has yet to produce a wholly new IP under Nintendo, and I suspect they would be unable to deliver something on the caliber of Sonic and NiGHTS should that opportunity arise. I only hope their work never delves into the depths FlingSmash hit.
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