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Posted on July 8th, 2005 - 2781 Reads

Rated Everyone WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ GameCube Review

-- Written by Clark Kent Nielsen



 Wario is a casual villain. He doesn't try to take over the world, kill innocent people, or kidnap princesses. All Wario wants is money. This was evident in his first debut, Wario World, in wich our anti-hero set off to reclaim his treasure. His next GameCube outing, WarioWare: Mega Party Game$, is also a ploy to get money-- but in a more literal sense. That dollar sign in the game's title is exactly what Nintendo thinks of this game, and it shows throughout.

Do you have a short attention span? If so, WarioWare is perfect for you. The game consists of over 200 mini-games fired randomly in rapid succession at the player. Each mini-game only lasts a few seconds before the next one comes up, and the whole process gradually gets faster and faster. The mini-games require quick reflexes and a sharp mind to beat. Some games are beat by mere Mario Party button tapping. Other games are more intricate and involve balancing, dodging, shooting, catching, counting, matching, or remembering something. It sounds simple, but when you only have a few seconds to accomplish the task and each round is somewhat random, it gets to be really challenging. All this is done with the least bit of seriousness, too. One game involves a girl sniffing a booger back into her nose. Another game requires a quick play of "Super Wario Brothers." It's the wacky presentation and fast-paced nature that makes WarioWare such a unique and intriguing ride. What hurts the experience is that every mini-game is pulled straight from the original GBA version. Rather than making an entirely new WarioWare for the GameCube, Nintendo decided to reproduce what was already available. How insulting!

That's right. The mini-games are taken directly from the Game Boy Advance, pixel for pixel! Nothing has been cleaned up. Nothing has been altered to take advantage of the hardware. It reeks of "cheap port" to the highest degree. I've repeatedly said I don't mind a tamed-down visual presentation, but the GBA is for GBA games. I expect a certain amount of polish out of a GameCube game. This is truly a shoddy job, something a kid could make with MS Paint and some sprites off the Internet. To complement the hyperactive nature of the mini-games, the sound department is equally sporadic, over-the-top, and wacky. You are constantly being bombarded -- and I'm using the word to its fullest -- with grating sound effects, loud voice-overs, and too-too-happy music. This game gives me the same kind of headache I get from watching Rugrats. Every Nintendo-developed game never has a volume control, either. It's like they insist that their games be played "whole," but playing WarioWare "whole" is as effective as pouring hot soup in your ears. It's all too much.

The analog stick and A button are the only buttons of any use in Warioware. The D-pad can take the place of the analog stick, but you are less likely to mess up when using the latter. The only problem is that it's sometimes confusing what you're supposed to do for a particular mini-game. With such limited controls, you'd think you could figure it out, but it'll take a few tries of the same game to grasp what you're supposed to do. A great alternative is to use the Mad Catz Beat Pad that comes packaged with the MC Groovz Dance Craze game. This is the best place to substitute a controller for a dance mat, and it makes WarioWare a lot more entertaining and fun.

The game emphasizes its four-player appeal directly in the title "Mega Party Game$," but the multiplayer is the most disappointing aspect of all. There's simply too much waiting. Almost every mode revolves around players taking turns playing the mini-games. It would have been great if the screen split four ways so everyone could play simultaneously, or if the mini-games actually included all four players. Some modes rotate players fast enough that it's not too big of an issue, but if this was how I wanted to play, I could have easily passed around a GBA instead. One mode does have some four-player mini-games that decide who gets to play the next single mini-game. When these aren't relying directly on chance, they are remarkably good fun, but the small variety is too short-lived. This "Mega Party" will probably only happen once just so you can show your friends what WarioWare is.

Final Comments: The WarioWare franchise is a fun and frantic trip back to the days when all you needed were two buttons and really fast reflexes. The trouble with Mega Party Game$ is that it offers nothing new over the original GBA game. It's essentially the same! The only real difference is an unfairly disappointing multiplayer mode. That's not enough to make it stand apart. If you don't own a Game Boy, then Mega Party Game$ still makes for a unique and refreshing experience. Yet no matter where you come from, you can't help but notice that this game is a mega rip-off.

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