FlingSmash: You Handle The Flinging, MotionPlus Handles The Smashing

In FlingSmash, you control a little ball-shaped creature named Zip, though it's not a direct control. By using a Wii MotionPlus-equipped Wii Remote, you slam the controller in various directions, almost as if you're hitting the ball around. As you hit it, your little guy bounces around a 2D, side-scrolling landscape, breaking bricks and collecting keys as you attempt to make your way to the end of each level.

That's sort of all there is to it, control-wise, though you can also hit the A button to stop Zip's motion. As you move from world to world, you'll face bosses and encounter transformations for Zip (or, if you're playing as the second-player... Pip). World 3 featured a heavier, metallic version of Zip that was a bit harder to bat around, but he more easily destroyed blocks as he moved.

Artoon certainly knows how to make a bright, colorful game, and FlingSmash definitely fits with the style of some of the Japanese developer's past work. Also, and perhaps more importantly, the control felt right, like the amount of force and angles I was putting into my flinging was resulting in the proper amount of smashing on the other end. That said, the controls seemed to lose calibration as time went on, much like Wii Sports Resort and other Wii MotionPlus games do.

FlingSmash is currently scheduled for release in North America this Summer. Here are some screens!