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A new WarioWare game has been recently released on 3DS: WarioWare: Gold.  It’s kind of a ‘best of’ the series with over 300 games from the franchise.  So in honor of that, I figured I’d post a blog about all the games in the series, as it is one of my favorites!

WarioWare: Mega Microgame$

Who would’ve thought that a game about 3 second mini-games that you have to quickly figure out would be fun?  I loved this game so much that it was my Game of the Year back in 2003.  Can you believe it’s been that long since the first game?  That was also the first year that I started writing for GamerDad.com!  Did you know that the same folks who worked on the first WarioWare game also worked on the Game Boy Camera, and some of the mini games in that are the same?  Only bad thing about WarioWare is I think it kind of replaced the Game & Watch Gallery series, which I also loved.  I don’t like using the expression “on crack” but WarioWare is basically Game & Watch “on crack.”  It even got imitator games, like Hot Pixl on the PSP.  If you haven’t played a WarioWare game yet, you should!

WarioWare: Mega Party Game$

A lot of people complain that Nintendo just repackaged the GBA original into a multiplayer GameCube game, and they kind of did.  But it was so much fun and they had a lot of good ideas on how to make the micro games into a multiplayer experience.  Plus, the game was only 30 bucks, which was pretty low for a GameCube game from Nintendo.  I had a lot of fun playing this one with friends back then.

WarioWare: Twisted

Back on the GBA, Nintendo included a motion sensoring device right on the cartridge, and you would twist and rotate the GBA around to play the games.  It was very creative at the time.  Was this game, along with Yoshi Topsy Turvy, Nintendo’s experiments with motion controls they would later use with the Wii?  Maybe.  Did you know that in Japan, this game came out before the DS WarioWare game did, but in the US, we got the DS game first?  Kind of weird.  Many people claim that Twisted is one of the best WarioWare games.  I enjoyed it a lot, but for some reason, it didn’t stick out in my mind like some of the others did.

WarioWare: Touched

Back when the DS came out, touch screens were a bit of a novelty, as cell phones as we know them now hadn’t come about just yet.  So all the mini-games in this edition used the touch screen and microphone, two staples of the DS.  A lot of people say this was one of the weaker entries, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves

And of course when the Wii came out, they had to have a WarioWare game with full motion controls.  I had a lot of fun with this one, but since they had to tell you how to hold the remote between each game, it kind of slowed the pace down a bit.  Also since the Wii was home to tons of mini game collections like this, Smooth Moves kind of got lost in the shuffle.  Plus it was pretty short.

WarioWare: Snapped

When the DSi came out it could do two things that the DS couldn’t.  Take pictures, and download games via DSiWare.  And that’s where Snapped comes in.  It came out near launch of the DSi, and you could only download it.  Which was kind of a new thing back then for handhelds.  The game used the camera to view your head as you leaned around and play mini games with an amusement park theme.  Kind of like how when you get your picture taken on a roller coaster.  Only problem was the game worked about as well as the PS2 EyeToy, which means not very well.  And there were only four character stages, so it was a pretty short experience.  Probably my least favorite WarioWare game. 

WarioWare: D.I.Y.

So this is basically Mario Maker for the WarioWare series.  Using a Mario Paint style interface along with some ‘if, then’ programming style statements, you could make your own micro games!  The game also had a lot of pre-made games you could play and take a look under the hood at to see how they made them.  Because of this, I consider the game very educational, too.  It even won my Game of the Year Award when it came out (2010 I believe). 

Well, OK, there’s another reason why this game won my Game of the Year award that year.  I apologize if you’ve heard this story too many times, but it is one of the biggest feathers in my game playing and reviewing cap, so I’m rather proud of it so bear with me while I tell it again.  Shortly after the release of D.I.Y., Nintendo held contests where you could make WarioWare games, upload them to the server, and they would select a few to be featured on their main page every month that anyone could download.  Well one of mine won!  It was a really dumb game where you must feed a kitty healthy food instead of fattening food.  But it won so I was happy.  I even wrote an article about it then, here’s a link to it.

Game & Wario

In this one you play mini-games that use both the Wii U screen and TV screen, but it’s a bit of a departure because the games aren’t three-second mini-games in this one, just regular arcade style games.  Because of this, some people don’t even consider it part of the WarioWare series, but it has the same characters so I think it is.  Plus when you consider the WarioWare games are called “Made in Wario” in Japan, which sounds like Game & Wario in a way, it makes a bit more sense. 

Some people have also claimed this is one of the worst WarioWare games and one of the worst Wii U games period, but I really liked it.  It was fun to come back to every day to see what goodie you get, and my brothers and their friends enjoyed the Pictionary style drawing charades game you could play with it.  Some of the games were really creative, too.  My favorite character is 9-Volt because his games always involve Nintendo titles and references.  In Game & Wario, in his game you must play WarioWare on the bottom screen, but must also watch the top TV screen in case you mother checks in on you.  You must flip the controller over if she peeks in, and if she catches you playing, it’s Game Over!

Smash Cameos

I have to talk about the WarioWare cameos in Smash games since there is a significant amount of them.  Of course you can play as Wario since the Wii one, and he’s in his WarioWare garb and most of his attacks are from that game, too.  There are also assist trophies of other characters like Kat & Ana and Ashley.  There are also two WarioWare stages.  In one you must do what they tell you to do, like in a WarioWare micro game, and if you do it, you won’t get penalized.  The other stage is based on 9-Volt’s game in Game & Wario that I just talked about.  You play in 9-Volt’s bedroom but if his mom comes in and catches you in her view, you take damage!  I hope both those stages make it into Smash Bros. Ultimate!

WarioWare: Gold

As of this writing, I haven’t gotten the new game yet.  I do have it on order, though, so I should get it in the mail soon.  It’s basically a ‘best of’ WarioWare game, with over 300 micro games.  Some are old, but some are new, too.  But even the ones that are old have been retouched with better resolution, so the whole thing looks new if you ask me.  Plus all the story cutscenes and modes are new, so yeah, it’s new enough to me.  You can download a demo of it on the 3DS eShop, that’s how I know so much about it already.  It looks like it takes a lot of the games from the first one, Twisted, and Touched, and organizes them that way.  They also have new modes like one that sounds a lot like 9-Volt’s “Gamer” game from Game & Wario that I’ve talked about already.  Also the characters are now fully voiced.  I can’t wait to play the full game!

And that’s all I feel like talking about WarioWare right now.  In the comments section, tell me your favorite WarioWare games.  Who are your favorite WarioWare characters?  Mine are 9-Volt, Mona, and Kat & Ana.  Later!  --Cary