Bizarre
Wario Ware is a very odd game indeed. It’s something that you couldn’t possibly imagine to be worth even a sentence of review space, let me give you a simple explanation of the game just to so you can see what I mean.
“In Wario Ware you play a series of random mini-games based on classic arcade and console games – where each game is played for about five seconds max before moving on to the next game.”
There, sounds pretty dull when you put it like that, but here’s the hook; you must complete over 200 of these little games, each getting faster and more difficult as you go. You also have only four lives to complete it in. Now this in itself will probably just get a few “Yea – keep going” responses by now so I will. Examples of the games include playing five seconds of Super Mario bros. where you have to stomp Goombas, five seconds of Metroid, Five seconds of a nose picking game, five seconds of Duck Hunt and five seconds of puzzle games and ancient arcade games. So the nostalgia hook is there.
The controls for these games are painfully simple, you use eight directions and (A) button and that’s it. Each game has a different control technique so the difficulty curve comes from figuring out what it is that you have to do on the game you are playing. You will be cursing and kicking yourself for hours; it is a highly addictive experience that demands you play again and again to improve your score in a kind of Tetris mentality. The single player mode is represented by an apartment block and nine different doors, only one door is accessible at first and this is the main game where as you complete the games you proceed to the next level which is run by one of the several strange characters in the game. Each level has around 25 games that are themed, sports, Nintendo classics, Sci-fi and many others each with an extended “Boss” stage where you play a full game at the end. Complete all of these and other more difficult levels open up for you to compete in as well as other surprises.
Join Me!
The single player mode is all very well but where the game really excels is in its multiplayer content. Get a few friends in and be prepared for a tear of joy and laughter, this game gets seriously funny as well as competitive. The main single player premise is used in the multiplayer mode as a way to advance through another lesser game in which you are all competing. The most basic of these games include players trying to last the longest as their characters disco dance, and when the spotlight lands on your character it’s your turn to compete in the mini-game. These get much more difficult as the music goes up tempo to ridiculous speeds and if you lose a game you lose some of the crowd watching you dance, lose all the crowd and you are out of the game. One game involves a balancing act in a Dojo, where you balance on turtles; all players have to play one of a series of challenges that are completely crazy such as the Japanese guys that have to crawl on their elbows to reach a trophy in the middle of the screen, or the “Tease the Cat” challenge. Win the challenge and you get to play a normal mini-game, if you win that then your opponents get another turtle to balance on (more difficult) and if you lose then you get one.
The most bizarre of these games and definitely the most hilarious fun if you play it properly is the “Doctors Surgery” game. Here players take it in turns to see the doctor, where this doctor will give you some instructions before you play a mini-game. These can be really great such as “Play the game while cowering in fear…” or “Play the game while looking at your nose”. So you have to play the game while acting stupidly in front of you friends and the way you win is down to how well your friends think you took the doctors advice. If they liked it then they are obliged to make their chosen character clap on screen, if not then the opposite applies. When I played this with my friends I really did hurt myself laughing. It's great stuff.
