FlingSmash - TV Tropes

FlingSmash is a Video Game for the Nintendo Wii developed by Artoon and published by Nintendo. It is most notable for being one of the first Wii games that required the use of either the Wii MotionPlus accessory or a Wii Remote controller with MotionPlus integrated.

When the tropical Suthon Island is invaded by the evil Omminus, the ball-shaped hero, Zip, is summoned to save the day. Using swinging motions, the player must fling Zip to smash through oncoming barriers and enemies in a Pinball-style side-scrolling action game. A second player can control Zip's friend, Pip, for two-player cooperative action across the game's eight levels.

---

FlingSmash features the following tropes:

• All There in the Manual: The manual explains that Pip is “[t]he hero of nearby Eesturn Island! She's upbeat, levelheaded, and ready to fight alongside Zip.”
• Anti Poop-Socking: Like a lot of Wii games from this era, the game recommends you take a break if you play for long enough.
• Badass Adorable: The heroes, Zip and Pip, who look like balls with four little limbs and a ponytail. Zip is small and light enough that he can be comfortably lifted and held by the king. The manual even tells you, “[d]on't be fooled by his gentle appearance. He wields amazing power!”
• Beat: Upon actually seeing what Zip looks like, the music does a little fanfare and everything goes silent for a moment.
• Be the Ball: Without their hair, Zip and Pip's bodies are approximately 90% sphere.
• Bouncing Battler: The game in a nutshell. Completing the game requires the player to throw Zip so he bounces off obstacles, collect treasures, and defeat bad guys. Some enemies are only vulnerable from certain angles, so strategic bouncing is required.
• Cap: You can only have 9 lives at a time, and the stars that you collect to gain lives will max out at 99 while you have that many.
• Cooldown: Zip gets tired after repeated flings and requires a cooling period to rebuild his strength.
• Distaff Counterpart: Pip to Zip.
• Dub Name Change: In the French version, Zip becomes Miko, Pip becomes Lali, and Omminus becomes Lord Mal'Veyan. In the Spanish version, they are Citro, Lala, and Malvadour respectively.
• Easy Levels, Hard Bosses: Relatively speaking. The levels are easy enough that you probably won't die on most of them, while some of the bosses might take a couple of your lives.
• Excuse Plot: Bad guy invades island so he can conquer the world with its power, you are the hero of legend sealed away to protect said island, go stop him.
• Expecting Someone Taller: A non-verbal version. The mural at the start of the game paints Zip has having this tall, muscular human body. Then the king awakens him and finds...a tiny ball creature with a red ponytail. Doesn't stop him from saving the day.
• Fiery Redhead: Given Zip's main (rather, only) attack consists of throwing himself at their enemy until they're defeated, he definitely counts.
• Gameplay Grading: At the end of every non-boss level you get graded based on how many points you earned during the stage, with a score of either B, A, or S-Rank. The threshold for A and S-Rank will gradually rise with each new world, with the first needing only 80,000 points for a S-Rank, and the eighth needing 100,000.
• Grin of Audacity: Zip's default expression.
• Justified Tutorial: Bundled in the same chest as Zip was a series of papers serving as an instruction manual. The King's servant, May, reads this to Zip (presumably he forgot while he was slumbering away). This makes a comeback at the end of the game, as May reads to not let Zip get kissed, lest he go wild...which he already did by the time she read it.
• Law of 100: Get 100 stars for an extra life.
• Meaningful Name: Zip does indeed zip around the screen.
• Mineral MacGuffin: The sacred pearls you need to collect in every level to progress. They help you twice in the final boss battle, first by shattering Omminus' barrier, and then in letting you damage him after he fuses with the Hydracoil.
• Mini-Game: You unlock one by getting an A-Rank or higher on all three levels of a world.
• Mutually Exclusive Power Ups: You can only use one of the game's four power-ups at a time, and only after collecting three of their respective fruit tiles in a row.
  • Cherries (Split) splits you up until three copies of yourself (two in multiplayer).
  • Melon (Big) turns you big.
  • Apple (Power) makes every shot a Super Shot.
  • Grape (Fireworks) makes you stronger and every hit causes a nearby explosion.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: With a name like Lord Omminus, how could he not be the Big Bad?
• Ominous Floating Castle: Fittingly enough, Omminus arrives in one of these. It is located in World 8, Thundercloud Fortress.
• Our Hydras Are Different: Hydracoil is a three headed beast that works for Lord Omminus and chases you the entire game. During the final battle, they fuse with Lord Omminus and he assume his final form. This necessitates the power of the sacred pearls to even damage him.
• Pinball Scoring: It's difficult not to have tens of thousands of points by the end of a level, no matter how badly you did.
• Pun: During level 8-3, Omminus says he'll be “weighting” for you after he turns you into a metal ball. Later, he says you've “reduced” him to his last resort when he shrinks you.
• Red Is Violent: When Zip is at full strength, he turns red and starts to growl angrily.
• Rule of Three: You need to collect all three pearls from each of the three stages in a world to unlock that world's boss fight. To unlock a pearl you need to collect a minimum of three medals in each stage.
• Save the Princess: You indirectly do this, as the Princess of Suthon Island falls ill when the Great Palm Tree withers, and becomes healthy again when you save it.
• Scoring Points: Get enough of them to improve your rank at the end of a level. Get an A-Rank in every level of a world to unlock mini-games. Get an S-Rank in every level of a world to unlock extra stages.
• Sealed Badass in a Can: Zip at the start of the game is locked inside of a chest, asleep and awaiting the day he is needed.
• Smooch of Victory: The princess gives Zip one at the end of the game. He goes haywire and wrecks the place, as May belatedly reads the instructions that say to not let that exact thing happen.
• Super-Persistent Predator: Hydracoil literally never stops chasing you, no matter what stage you are on.
• Sweat Drop: Upon unlocking Zip and seeing what he actually looks like, the music goes silent and the king sweatdrops.
• Take Over the World: Omminus' stated goal at the beginning, and end, of the game is to use the power of the Great Palm Tree to take over the world.
• Tech-Demo Game: The game was created just to show the enhanced capabilities of the WiiMotion Plus. It uses the adapter's extra features to detect the exact direction and power of every swing.
• Tropical Island Adventure: The whole game takes place in, around, under, and above Suthon Island.
• Worthy Opponent: As you arrive to the final battle, Omminus calls you a worthy adversary.
• Under the Sea: World 7, Underwater Cave, takes place entirely underwater.

---