WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!

"Read... Buy... Play... You have 5 seconds."

As soon as I heard the concept for Wario Ware Inc., I immediately thought “gimmick”. I was confused on why anyone would want to play a bunch of minigames that lasted for no more than 5 seconds. At the same announcement of the game, they also revealed that some classic Nintendo minigames would make appearances like a Metroid and Punch-Out game. I decided that I would give this game a try. Upon having played it from beginning to end, I can honestly say I’m addicted to this like crack. This is one of the single most fun games I have ever played.

Gameplay: Let’s see. Where to start? The main premise of Wario Ware Inc. is playing a bunch of microgames that last anywhere from 3-5 seconds. I know you’re probably thinking how anyone could play such a microgame in such a short amount of time. In reality, many of these games are really simple. Each game gives you a one-word instruction such as Dodge or Jump. Finish this microgame within the allotted time and move on to the next microgame. Many are relatively simple and only use the A button and control pad.

The challenge comes from knowing what to do in each game. For example, in one game, you are forced to shoot a UFO, yet in another game, you are the UFO and must dodge attacks from the spaceship. Even if it said Dodge as an instruction, you might try to move the ship because you were the ship in the other game. This gameplay mechanic requires great reflexes because you never know what microgame you get next, and even once you get to the microgame, you must react quickly to the instruction provided. Be aware that after each microgame, you only have a 1 second break.

And of course, this game wouldn’t be complete without speed. (No, not the drug.) After you complete about 3-6 microgames, the game alerts you that it is speeding up gameplay. Suddenly, 3 second microgames start to last less than a second. Be quick on your feet or you’ll never finish the game.

In addition to the speed increases, the level of gameplay goes up as well. Not only are these games quick, they are harder. By harder, they didn’t change the gameplay too much. What’s harder about the next level is that sometimes if you’re forced to hit Wario on a spinning target, the target becomes much smaller than the previous level. It’s not much more difficult than the previous level, but who said these games were difficult at all?

Wario and his “friends” have prepared special stages where you must beat a specific genre of games to proceed. Each stage has about 10-25 microgames and a final boss. The final boss has no time limit, but it’s obviously because they are much harder and longer than the regular microgames. You only have 4 lives, but you get a 1-Up after beating a boss.

Anyway, as I have said before, each stage has a different genre. For example, Wario’s stage, which you must do first, has introductory games such as jumping over hot dog cars and dodging paper balls with a race car. Jimmy’s stage has sports games like hitting a baseball and spiking a volleyball. Next is Dribble and Spitz’s stage which consist of science fiction games such as trapping aliens and building giant robots. Mona’s stage is full of strange games like sniffing snot back into your nose and catching some weird tiny duck thing with a giant bending line. 9-Volt has the classic Nintendo games in his stage like dodging those electric sparks in Balloon Fight and defeating Mother Brain in Metroid. Orbulon has the IQ stages such as matching shapes and memorizing an object that passes in a tiny vertical screen. Dr. Crygor stage has games focused on real objects like bouncing a watermelon on real humans and bending spoons with your telekinetic powers. Kat and Ana’s stage consists of nature type games like leading a frog to a lily pad and watering flowers. Finally, you head back to another Wario stage which features microgames mostly consisting of (who else?) himself.

As you see, there is a lot of variety put into these 200 or so microgames. More so, after you’ve finished all the stages, you can unlock special full versions of games. Some of these forever-lasting games include Dr. Wario, a Wario version of Dr. Mario, and Jump Forever, a game where you must jump rope, as the name implies, forever.

What about link cable connectivity you ask? Well, to play two player games in Wario Ware Inc., you only need 1 game boy. That’s right, just one. Each two player game uses the L and R buttons only. You could press the L button and have a friend control the R button. Talk about innovative!

Finally, I just want to say that the most fun I have with this game comes from just trying to get high scores. Whether it be a character’s stage or just playing one microgame over and over, it’s just fun to aim for the highest possible scores that you can achieve. With the microgames progressively speeding up every so often, you eventually won’t have time to process or perform the correct action in a game in time. Practice to avoid that and you’ll continue getting better scores.

Some people may not enjoy this, however. The people who might not enjoy this are either people that don’t like video games in general, or those that can’t stand quick games and need slow games to keep them occupied. However, these games are simple enough for people who’ve never played a video game to enjoy it. For those that like slow games, get yourself an RPG or whatever.

Wario Ware Inc. Mega Microgame$ is truly interesting and fun. Whether you need plenty of time to kill or even just 5 seconds, you can just pop in Wario Ware and start playing. This is truly the whatever, whenever, wherever type of game.

Rating: 10/10

Graphics: Each microgame has different graphics. Some might look like Game and Watch games while other have anime visuals, and yet others look exactly like another Nintendo game. The Game and Watch visuals aren’t exactly eye-popping, but they’re there if the game is meant to run like a game and watch game. Whatever the case, the graphics go along with the specific style of game. And by tuning in to the openings and epilogues for each character’s story, you’ll truly see some of the best animation graphics in a GBA game.

Rating: 9/10

Story: Believe it or not, there is some type of story with this game. It starts with Wario watching the news (not to mention picking his nose) as he discovers that video games are running in huge profits. (Who knew?) Wario decides to invent tons of games with the help of the residents of his city. The end result is a ton of 3 second microgames that are surprisingly fun when put together in lightning speeds. Additionally, many characters have their own subplot. For example, Mona is trying to outrun the police to make it to work in time while Kat is trying to save the Prince or Princess (that’s you) from an evil skeleton. Each story is interesting and provides a backdrop to the breaks you encounter in between microgames. For example, Dribble and Spitz’s background is the inside of a taxi cab while 9-Volt’s background is an RPG style game in an actual Game Boy. These stories aren’t too original, but they’re better and a great deal funnier than many other video game stories out there.

Rating: 8/10

Music: Each microgame has their own music. Although some music is repeated, there’s probably enough music in this game for its own soundtrack. Most of the music itself is pretty average. Then it comes to the two vocal songs. You heard me, there are actual Japanese songs here, much like in Wario Land 4. They are pretty catchy and can be found in Dribble and Spitz’s stage and Kat and Ana’s stage. Those songs raise the rating a little bit.

Rating: 8/10

Sound: Each character says some kind of comment like “Yeah!” or “Alright!” whenever you beat a microgame. They also moan when you lose. The sound in this game seems to keep me in the Wario Ware rhythm. For example, I know that I beat a game if Wario is screaming “Yeah!” into my ears. Also, expect to hear lots of nonsensical screaming from who knows who during the game. Is this game wacky or what?

Rating: 8/10

Replayability: Whether you want to play each microgame over and over again to earn medals, earn high scores in character stages, play two player games with a friend, or just kick back and play some full games, this game will always keep you occupied. It’s just too addicting, crazy, and fun to put down. You can just play it over and over and over…

Rating: 10/10

Rent or Buy? What are doing still reading this? Aren’t you convinced already? In the time you read this, you could have played at least 30 microgames. If you don’t get the message, buy this game already! It’s a game that about anyone can enjoy!

Final Rating: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/03, Updated 07/09/03