WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!

"Madcap microgame madness, maliciously masterful multiplayer, missing major marks"

Nintendo has made an interesting atmosphere in the Wario Ware series. Debuting on the Gameboy Advance, Wario Ware challenges players to frantically compete various series of five-second mini-game challenges in a short matter of time. These challenges are all very brief and extraordinarily simple, and vary broadly in setting and theme. The controls have always been quite intuitive, as each game requires to perform a rudimentary task before the short time is up.

Mixed reactions have been granted from the Wario Ware series of games, which has recently gone to the DS with Wario Ware: Touched!. This assembly of quick-thinking, a new sort of "twitch" gameplay, so to speak, can elicit reactions ranging from praise to utter frustration.

There is no rhyme or reason to these "micro-games", which range from picking noses, dodging cars F-Zero style, cutting hair, slicing bamboo, preventing runny noses, shaking paws with a collie, blasting spaceships, and much much more. This lack of focus is good for those who may not be able to pay attention to an objective for very long, but for serious players who look for a strong and believable substance will be simply left in the dust. A merciless onslaught of rapidly-changing objectives can definitely confuse the uninitiated.

WarioWare Inc.: Mega Party Game$ spends very little time initiating players and letting them settle into the experience. The game's presentation is unbelievably plain and straightforward. What lies beyond this is a purely fun bevy of challenges and action, but unfortunately, the game's experience can end up becoming shallow.

Perhaps my score is a little skewed. I very much enjoyed playing through the first Wario Ware, which featured Wario gathering his crazy friends and having each make a series of simple challenges to play through, for Wario to earn a fortune on the "easy" business of game developing. A player's overall rating of this recent version can be related to their familiarity with the original Wario Ware on the GBA, for nearly all of the micro-games on this disc are solely copied and emulated from its predecessor.

For those who do not mind, or who are not familiar with the first game, this game is a sure blast. Playing alone may not be the most fun, but gathering a few friends for some micro-games can definitely be a great experience.

The bulk of the single-player experience entails, basically, re-playing through Wario Ware. Players progress linearly through character-ruled stages, each with twenty-four regular games apiece and a "boss", and each level revolves around a central theme, such as nature, Nintendo (challenges based on former games like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and others), sports, realistic games, and so on. Instead of having branching paths, the game takes place exclusively in a generic elevator setting.

Games progress in floors (2F, 3F, and so on) and are presented in a random order. These micro-games are presented gradually faster to the player, resulting in an adrenaline-pumping micro-game fest. In any given stage, a player has four strikes; if a player fails four mini-games in the line-up, then the player tries again. Each stage also features a larger "boss" game at the very end, usually involving more than one task over a longer period of time.

In the original, at the beginning of each stage, players treat to an interesting and usually hilarious cutscene, and after completion, were rewarded with a small animation at the stage's end. Here, there are no breaks for completing stages except for very minimalistic ending animations, featuring the stage's character or characters relaxing or somehow congratulating the player. This is a letdown for those who are familiar with the original, and is regardless a rather plain presentation overall.

There are other ways to enjoy Mega Party Games alone. Unlike the GBA version, each game is independently selectable from the get-go. Originally, players would have to play a game in the single-player mode first to play it by itself. Players can view these games in an archive organized in various ways. If players complete the game a given amount of times in a row, then the player wins a ribbon for the mini-game. One game may have multiple variations which shuffle randomly.

Various marathon and endurance modes are also part of the single-player package. These may involve only having one chance to complete an onslaught of micro-games which come at an ever-growing pace, going through micro-games more difficult, and so on.

As seen in the title, this game was not meant for solitary players. While there is an impressive variety in the mini-games, the way these are presented has been done more effectively before, offering a more involving and engaging experience. Players can still gawk at the strange character designs and marvel at the various tasks asked of them, but in relation to this Gamecube version, it seems uninspired by comparison.

What makes the game is its incredibly fast-paced and frantic multiplayer modes. These are all very cleverly designed, and I'm thoroughly impressed with the various games available. Fortunately, this game certainly lives up to its name of a mega party game.

Two modes in particular struck me as interesting. "Wobbly Bobbly" involves players participating in frantic micro-games in rapid succession as usual. However, the mode as a whole takes place in a martial arts dojo, and the overall objective of the mode is to survive outside the micro-games. Games are lobbed at players alternatively, and for each losing micro-game lost, a turtle is added to the stack on which the character sits. After a game, the screen flashes Patience Time, requiring all players to balance on their unsteady and increasing pile of turtles. Players who have played will in the micro-games will have no problem balancing on, say, only two turtles, but those whose skills might have to be brushed up will sway uncomfortably on their own turtle stack.

Another, featuring Dr. Crygor, involves a completely different task. While one player is participating in a micro-game, it is the other player's job to inflate a balloon placed on top of a television. When a player wins a mini-game, the job of inflating the balloon is switched. A player must continually play micro-games until one is won, at which point the jobs are switched. This back-and-forth progression eventually leads to an extraordinarily large balloon, and whoever makes the balloon pop wins the mode.

Other multiplayer games include an elimination-style dance contest, where players play a micro-game when a spotlight hits their character; a possession match involving playing micro-games from and stealing e-Cards from other players; playing micro-games while performing actions in real life like standing on one foot; one player playing games while another, playing as one of the characters, walks on the screen and obstructs the view, and so on. While it eventually boils down to playing these smaller games (some of which are new and multiplayer, to determine turn order or just thrown in a match), the way these multiplayer modes are presented is quite unique, even humorous, and there is a great variety.

It seems the new graphics designed exclusively for this game could have easily been done on the GBA. Sprites of Wario, Dr. Crygor, 9-Volt, and the rest are all new, and have a variety of animations. Sprites rotate and grow once in a while, but animations are only two or three frames. Even in the dance contest, where characters bust a move, their animations are very trite and rudimentary.

Graphics in the mini-games vary greatly in style and appearance. One game might be a real-life person, another might be Atari-like, or NES-influenced, or completely and utterly bizare. The shock value is definitely deliberate in Wario Ware.

Soundwise, the game fares moderately. Compressed voices and effects primarily pulled from the GBA version are here in full force. Wario grunts and hollers, Jimmy boogies down, and Mona encourages softly. Small vocals and digitized music samples are in each micro-game, and the sound experience in any given slew of games can differ greatly from game to game.

I apologize for consistently comparing this newer game to its GBA brethren, but even factoring in the sheer scope and variety of mini-games, there is very little original content. The graphics, sound, and overall gameplay of the micro-games is emulated from its predecessor pixel for pixel, and the new micro-games designed for multiplayer purposes do not alter the style or improve the graphics, even marginally.

As a multiplayer game, I can commend this game highly for those who may not mind the lack of new content. Stealing a player's treasure or adding another turtle adding to a precarious stack can be very entertaining, especially in the midst of performing smaller tasks like racing, dressing Wario up, brushing teeth, eating bananas and apples, and playing a quick round of Hogan's Alley. However, those who have thoroughly played and through Wario Ware on Nintendo's influential portable will see this game as a rehash of sorts, bringing an already-established game to the console market in an easy-to-throw-together design.

Party on, Wario, and continue to make innovations in a series whose genre can not be exactly determined. Make unique compilations which keep gamers on their toes, but next time, when a party is in the works, be a little more original, man. Go 3D, say a little more, and definitely make some more games.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/06