Wario Ware is one of those bizarre games that drops in our laps every once in awhile. Nintendo has been the King of wackiness lately and Wario Ware fits in perfectly.
Graphically, the game is so varied that it's amazing. You'll go from standard GBA graphics to the old school look of NES games to simplistic drawings. This gives each mini game a unique feel to it. While most graphics aren't mind blowing, they add a lot of flavor to the game overall. Games like Wario Ware don't really need intensive graphics to give a feeling to the game.
I really enjoyed the sound in Wario Ware, especially the little Japanese song in the ninja girl level. The only real annoying part to me was when the sounds speeded up so much that it became nothing more than a annoying sounding blur. This is particularly true when you try to earn high scores by beating a minigame so many times. Once you go past 15 or so, it simply becomes a pain. It's better to just turn down the sound and enjoy the game. I have to give props to Nintendo for the amount of sound effects in this title. Each mini game has little sounds that are special to it alone. This keeps the sounds from becoming too bland. Normally I turn down the sound when playing my GBA, but with Wario Ware, it's much more fun to sit back and listen to them.
The gameplay of Wario Ware is the shining star. The entire premise of the game is to play through various styles of minigames. The storyline isn't special, but it doesn't really have to be in a game such as this. The fun comes in playing all of the minigames. Each stage is based on a certain genre, such as Sci-Fi and NES classics. There's nothing too difficult about this game, it's mostly based in timing. The only button you have to worry about is the A button and use of the d-pad. My biggest problem is how short the game is overall. A good 3 hours will have the entire storyline beaten, unlocking the extra games takes some time, but it's never really challenging. It's easy for casual gamers, who probably won't be able to appriciate this title for what is it anyway. I really wish there had been more levels, something to make this game worth the full price. Don't get me wrong, Wario Ware is one of those must haves for your GBA, but try to buy it at a discounted price. $30 is a bit too much for a game this short.
A lot of people have said replayability is what makes this game spiffy. I tend to agree. Beating the story mode is only a portion of the game as a whole. There are many games to unlock and modes to beat other than story. (Just take a good crack at that difficult mode, that's a toughie.) Unlocking every single minigame rewards you with extra minigames and 2 player games. Dr. Wario (yep, you guessed it, a spinoff of Dr. Mario) is one of the most rewarding games you unlock in Wario Ware. There are many others, but they lack the fun that can be found in Dr. Wario. There's a skateboarding game, a paper airplane, and a jump rope game, but you won't be playing those for long. The two player games are fun, but would benefit greatly if they used the connecting cable instead of being accessable on the same GBA. Playing shoulder to shoulder with a friend while peering at a tiny screen isn't really my idea of fun, but it's a nice touch to unlock.
Overall, I really enjoyed Wario Ware. It doesn't take much to beat this title, but the time you spend with it is great. You'll find it hard to put this game down and it'll always be great as a game to play while standing in line. Forget that magazine next time you are on your way to the bathroom, take Wario Ware instead. ;) Sadly enough, this game won't get the attention from the mainstreamers that it deserves, but that's really nothing new for Nintendo. Sit back and enjoy Wario Ware. Despite how short it is, it's a fantastic little game to chip away the summer slowdown with.
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