WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!

"We call this Attention Deficit Nintendo (ADN)…"

Well, I was seconds away from writing a review for Resident Evil 4, but it appears (not surprisingly) that there are already a ghastly number of numerical opinions already formulated and posted accordingly for it. Instead of simply adding to the general consensus (when 35 out of 40 give it an A, I call that a consensus), I thought I'd review a title that appears to have more varying reader responses – not to mention less of them. *Ahem… Stop reviewing all of the wildly popular titles, people! We already know they're great!* Eh, so much for being a hypocrite…

I was unaware of what WarioWare Inc. actually was when I purchased it for a measly $30, other than heard it was a really fun, multiplayer game based on the concept of sheer instantaneousness that involved little to no practice for any type of success to be achieved. Those opinions couldn't have been more dead-on. Much akin to the Mario Party games for the same system, WarioWare thrives on multiplayer action. Sure, there's a single player mode, and yes, there's some unlocking to be done, but that simply is not ‘where it's at', so to speak. If you're buying this game to play alone in your room, get ready for a few hours of fun, and an eternity of wishing you had someone to play against.

The number of mini-games is stunning – well over 200 of them – and for the price that's well worth it. Outside of these fleeting 5-second blasts of reflex testing, there are several multiplayer competitions that center around ones' ability to react successfully to the barrage of quirky, and sometimes odd, mini-games. Given that the complexity of these mini-games is close to nil, the controls are even simpler; up, down, left, right, and A. That's right – whip out the Atari 2600 joystick adapter (as if one even existed for games of today's caliber), because all you need to play WW are those five simple commands. However, the majesty of the entire game is that it revolves around how quickly – and accurately – you can enter those commands in a very small frame of time. Even when you sit down for a good hour or so of multiplayer action, rarely will you come across the same mini-game twice. The purpose of the constant shuffling of challenges is the backbone of what this game is all about – paying attention, and being ready.

The number of varying multiplayer competitions is acceptable, despite the fact that a few of them are not based around the mini-games like the others, but instead simply revolve around one game. When you've unlocked everything, you can always go to the ‘game library' and play your favorite mini-game to your heart's content, competing against friends (or yourself) for high scores. All in all, there really isn't much more to cover, given the game's simplicity. However, this title is a prime example of simplicity being quite effective at entertaining its audience.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/19/05