WarioWare: Touched!

"180 Different ways to touch a screen, it's not much more than that"

Introduction:
Here I am on Christmas morning, less than a month after getting my DS, ready to open up my second DS game. Hooray! It's none other than Warioware: Touched! I grab my DS and begin playing. First impression: This is great! They've made good use of just about all the DS features. However, just a few hours after starting the game I'd finished it. Not only that, but to this day I've had no further desire to play it again. You start off with a cut scene of Wario walking along a street with a GBA and some other console. He trips on a rock and drops both consoles down a hole. Then some old genie guy comes up from the hole and asks Wario if he dropped the two game consoles, or if he dropped another console which turns out to be the DS. Long cut-scene short, Wario takes the DS and figures out that double the screens means double the money.

Gameplay: 7/10
The aim of the game is simple. Just touch, slice, spin, rub or blow. Ohh, and there's a really confusing story in there as well. Finally we start playing. You start off with just one selectable character, Wario. After a pointless cut scene, you'll play about ten pointless micro-games. After that you unlock two more characters, after pointless cut scenes you do about ten micro-games and you unlock more characters, and it just goes on like that. Although the games will provide small thrills, they really don't last long enough to enjoy them. I must admit that there is a lot of creativity in the micro-games, but after a while you'll realise it's just old book with a new cover. Once you've played a micro-game, it gets stored so you can play it as many times as you want. By replaying games you can pass them by getting a certain amount of points. This may sound simple but it can be really frustrating at times. You can also unlock unlock things in the toy room, like toys and mini-games. These will offer a very small thrill if any. That's basically it. I give it a 7 basically because I'm impressed they came up with 180 ways to touch a screen.

Graphics: 6/10
Now although I'm not really a fan of the 2D, that's not what I'm going to complain about. The main down fall here is the cut scenes. They're long and pointless. With just simple 2D animation, watching the cut scenes feels like a task. The closest you'll come to the DS's 3D capabilities is when you go to a different area, and this only lasts about 2 seconds. With hardly any sounds in the cut scenes, I expected a little more creativity graphics wise. The only thing I like is how the cut scenes use both screens. As for the micro games graphics. Well you can tell what's what, but don't expect any mind blowing backgrounds. I give the graphics a 6 because like the way the mostly boring cut-scenes use both screens. But really that would still only give it a 4. I gave an extra 2 points just because the graphics were the WarioWare style.

Sound: 6/10
Let me get strait to the point. The sound can be majorly irritating in a number of ways. I don't believe the cut-scenes have enough sound. There's a bit of music and some sound effects but I would've liked to have heard some voices of these strange characters. The games have appropriate sound effects and music which blends in quite nicely. However, when you play a unlocked game the music gets faster every three levels and this will either:
a) Really get you into the game and make you determined to go for as long as you can.
or b) Annoy the heck out of you, forcing you to turn off the volume in an annoyed fit of rage.
I gave the sound a 6 because it has good sounds, we just want more of them. And of course less irritating music is a must.

Usage of the DS Hardware: 9/10
Duhh! The whole games uses the DS hardware. However I only gave it a 9 because I was a bit disappointed that it didn't use the microphone very much.

Replay Value: 4/10
Everyone says this game has great replay value but I completely disagree. Once I'd finished all the initial gameplay, I had no desire to play any more. I still had toys to unlock, lots of micro- games to pass I just didn't want to do it. This was pretty major, because I'm the type to finish any game I play 100%. The only RV I could think of would just to start the game all over again. Trust me, that gets boring very quickly. Do I need to say why I gave it a 4.

+- They actually manged to come up with 180 ways to touch a screen and of course (the score saver) the huge use of the touch screen.
-- Short and sweet. This game doesn't last long.

Overall: 7/10
As I mentioned, the main score saver is the use of the DS hardware. Overall, I found it very average. I would have to say give this game a miss. However, if your a mini-game fan looking for quick (very quick) thrills or you really want to find out what your touch screens made of, definitely consider getting this game.

Alternatives?:
If your looking for a mini-game, well, game for your DS, I would go for project rub. Although that also has a very "unique" style and a strange storyline, it offers some more solid, challenging and most importantly entertaining gameplay. The graphics are a mix of 3D and 2D, which on most occasions works well. It also has unlockable extras and difficulty levels which will keep you playing for a fair while. If your patient, you can wait out until the Project Rub sequel, Rub Rabbits comes on the market.

Thanks for reading
Happy playing, Nate

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/06