WarioWare: Touched!

"A serious, quick review for an unserious, quick game"

The launch of a Nintendo console used to herald the arrival of a new triple-A Mario title. Nintendo got lazy with the numerous Game Boy revisions, and even put the Luigi, Mario's cowardly brother, at the forefront of the GameCube welcoming party. With the Nintendo DS, Mario regained his captaincy - but an enhanced port of Super Mario 64 with a downgraded, rigid control scheme wasn't quite the flagship title that most were expecting; the impressive DS functionality touted at numerous pre-release conferences was downright underwhelming here, too.

Thankfully, Mario's polar opposite, the obese and vulgar Wario, came through for us with another fresh WarioWare collection of microgames - this time 180 in all, and this time making full use of the DS touch screen, microphone and absolutely nothing else.

Needless to say, WarioWare: Touched! isn't for everyone.

If you aren't familiar with the concept, Touched! is very beginner-friendly; it was, after all, designed to help gamers become accustomed to the unique DS set-up (similar to what Wii Sports/Play was for the Wii). You run through eleven levels, each helmed by an oddball character from the WarioWare universe, each with a different theme (slicing, rubbing, blowing, etc.) and each consisting of a chunk of the 180 microgames featured.

Wario's microgames have always been simple reaction-based affairs that last all of 2 seconds, or less: a simple written instruction flashes on-screen before you're thrust into one of several mad scenarios like milking a cow, stretching out a kid's tongue to catch some candy, or blowing up an inflatable bodybuilder to make him perform some crunches. You don't have much time to complete the task at hand before the fuse blows, at which point you lose a life - lose all four of them (in the main story mode) and it's back to the start. Successfully get to the end and you'll face a boss battle - these are more complex microgames that emphasize the touching/blowing theme in even more bizarre scenarios.

It doesn't take long to see Wario through to the end: assuming you pass all the levels flawlessly (this is definitely the easiest WarioWare title of the current bunch), you'll be done in less than an hour. However, you'll have only seen a fraction of the microgames and you're sure to have missed some of the better ones. This encourages replay, and you can select any game that you have already unlocked from the main menu. WarioWare is one of those addictive games where you'll want to better your high scores - to earn medals or simply for bragging rights. Unfortunately there's no proper multiplayer mode aside from some of the extras and interactive toys (most are junk, though) that are a staple of the series.

Since Touched!'s release, the DS has been inundated with minigame compilations - some are decent, some are shovelware. If you are sick and tired of the genre, turn away now. But if you are looking for a casual kind of game that makes good use of the DS touch screen in a myriad of ways, or are someone who has enjoyed Wario's previous escapades - 9-Volt and 18-Volt serve up yet another excellent dish of "Retro Action" microgames - and want more, you'd better get in touch while you still can.

VERDICT - 7.5/10 Great interface, great microgame selection, great replay value.
It isn't as great as other WarioWare's, though, but that's just personal preference.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/07

Game Release: WarioWare Touched! (AU, 02/24/05)