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GBA | Family | Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgame$

Boxart for Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgame$
Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgame$ 48 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.0
  • SOUND: 4.5
  • CONTROL: 4.5
  • FUN FACTOR 4.0
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.5
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.2

Review: Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgame$

Review by FENNECFOX | 05/23/2003 | 14:40:59 PM PST

Sick of games? Don't want to touch another console as long as you live? Then try this?it's the un-game.

There are mini-game collections, and then there is Wario Ware. In perhaps the most out-there Nintendo release since Earthbound paid a visit from Neptune eight years ago, Wario takes video games to their Max Headroom extremes, blasting out constant visual stimulation in five-second intervals. Strangely, its biggest fans will probably be people who don't play games very much.

Pick Your Nose
The games in Wario Ware (all 200 or so of ?em) are divided evenly among nine characters, each with a couple dozen mini-games that you must complete to advance forward. These aren't your momma's mini-games, however: Each one's onscreen for only a few seconds, and you get the barest minimum of instructions, so mastering them requires less talent and more primal instinct.

The real hook about Wario's games, though, is their subject matter. "Strange" is far too weak a word to describe most. "Insane" doesn't really work, either. No, Nintendo's designers have taken a left turn off Eccentric Lane and are now renting an apartment at Absurdist Avenue?you will eat apples, fry eggs, help snails reach magic mushrooms, use eye-lasers to save the Earth, beat dreaded enemy Mario at rock-paper-scissors, hammer nails without hitting your thumb, and tuck Wario's shirt in for him after an ill-advised visit to the smorgasbord. The game has its sane moments, too, especially with 9-Volt and his Nintendo software collection?lots of fun if you're of a certain age in your gaming career.

Touch Your Toes
So, obviously, Wario Ware isn't your typical game. You can't really play it like a typical game, either: Hours of it at once will make your eyes glaze over. That's why this title's so good for "casual" gamers?it's a blast in 15-minute spurts, and if you stick to that schedule, there's enough action inside to keep you engaged for weeks.


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