"Stupidly genius."

Ah, minigames - Short-lived games inside a bigger game that are excellent for either a nice change of pace or the wildest time of your life. The Mario Party series is probably best known for this. But sick of never the being the center of attention, Wario has decided to go his own way (well, it IS Mario Party). In fact, he's never quite been able to beat Mario in anything, whether it be tennis, golf, or kart-racing. Wario first debuted on the video game scene in Super Mario Land 2: The Golden Coins for the original Game Boy. He's been one of Mario's countless rivals for as long as time (or more precisely, a little more than 10 years ago). Wario's quite the greedy little glutton. His treasure trove is packed with the world's rarest and most valuable stolen treasures. Lately, he's spent most of his days sitting on his castle throne picking his nose. Wario Ware Inc: Mega Microgames is sort of like a GBA version of Mario Party, with some different features that even surpasses the franchise in some ways and in one way in particular - humor.

Story:
It's just an ordinary little day with Wario on his couch picking his nose and watching TV. Suddenly, Wario sees a commercial about how video game mania has swept the population of Diamond City! You know what this means. Quickly thinking, Wario gathers all his friends to help him make the biggest video game company ever. The company is entitled ''Wario Ware Inc.'' with one simple goal - to get RICH! Each of Wario's friends creates a certain category of games, and you happen to be the one who has the best duty of all - testing them! If you find yourself becoming strangely addicted to these minigames, Wario and friends have done their job.

Gameplay: 9.5/10
Wario Ware Inc: Mega Microgames features over 200 minigames for you to play! All the minigames are split into categories. Once you select a category, you'll play a bunch of minigames in a row at random. The minigames themselves are unique. Each minigame only lasts about three seconds. If you don't complete it within 3 seconds, you lose! This is why the game requires you to think extremely fast and requires rapid reflexes. It's also the main reason it doesn't top my charts. They're way too short-lived. But some of them are pretty fun for short-lived experiences! For example, one game requires you to pick your nose! The finger moves back and forth along the bottom, and you must time it just right so the finger goes into the nostril! If you miss, you'll deform the nose and lose! One of the grand features of this game is the comedy. Many of the minigames, such as the one I just described, tend to be so incredibly stupid that they're genius! Others include sniffing up a snot drip, bouncing a watermelon on someone's body, catching a baseball, and catching a baton! In fact, that's the whole freaking point of this game! Even the game's manual will have you rolling on the floor! (especially the ''special precautions'' area) The developers really put their share of creativity into this one. The games move faster and faster as you progress through each category. At the end of each category, you'll play a ''boss'' minigame. Unlike the normal minigames, these ones are rather lengthy and require much more precision. Every time you beat a certain category of minigames, you unlock a new one.

Graphics: 8/10
Since some of the minigames are fairly silly, the graphics are very poor on some of them, even in black and white. They tend to be really flat and usually consist of no more than 2 or 3 colors. However, simplicity is the entire point of this game, making the goofy graphics charming! If you want to make a game so stupid that it's genius, then you have to make it look stupid as well! Outside of the minigames, everything is solid for the most part. Wario's sly grin changes emotion several times and most of it is fairly cheery for the most part.

Sound: 8/10
The same thing that applies to graphics applies to sound. The majority of the minigames have very simplistic and short-lived sounds, but the other tunes are rather catchy, especially in Jimmy's categories. The music really shines in the NES games. The tunes are still the same as they were 15 years ago. They still have the classic Mario theme, the Balloon Fight theme, etc. The main downside is that we don't get to hear Wario's greedy laugh at all. You gotta love Wario's evil laugh.

Replay Value: 9.5/10
This game will last you a long time, guaranteed. With over 200 minigames and different difficulty settings and modes, you'll find plenty of stuff to occupy yourself with. Not to mention the original humor in this game never gets old. The developers really put their share of creativity into this one.

Rent or buy?
Buy. Never have I played a game so simple yet addictive in my entire life. The GBA version even surpasses the Gamecube version!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/04, Updated 07/18/05