Wario Ware Inc. is a game like no other. The gameplay is very strange, believe me. In these microgames, you complete a very simple task, like catch a stick, stomp a Goomba, catch a piece of toast, or eat an apple. These regular microgames last five to ten seconds long, and when you do what you're supposed to do, you'll move on to another microgame. Now, can you find another game like this? I don't think you can. Anyway, time for the Review, with a 0 to 4 star scale as always.
Graphics: *1/2
This category is very hard to rate because the graphics vary so much from microgame to microgame. Berry Berry Good and Hasty Pastry both have a delicious looking cake in them, and many other games have real-looking graphics. I would never expect a game on a 32-bit system to have real-looking graphics, yet some of the microgames definetly do have them. That's great.
Unfortunately, nearly all of the other microgames' graphics are not very good. At all. Not only do some games look bad, but some look plain as well. Boom Box, Boing!, and Chicken Pinch look very plain, and I am one that does not like that at all. There are a ton of bad-looking games, like Jumpin' Rope, Super Wario Bros., Baseline Bash, and Coconut Catapult, to name a few. Then you've got the microgames based off NES games, with the same kind of graphics as you remember them. Not all of these non-reality games have really bad graphics, but out of them all, there are more microgames with bad graphics then there are with good graphics.
Sound/Music: ***1/2
The music for the microgames, although it only last a few seconds, is very good. I really like that Wario Whirled song, but my favorite out of the microgame music has got to be the music for The Maze That Pays. Some of those IQ games have good music as well. The music from the Nintendo microgames are also great. To make things even better than it is, you'll get to listen to the awesome Chill music in Dr. Wario! Some of the better music in Wario Land 4 is also in this game, like the Palm Tree Paradise music for Balancing Act or the Crescent Moon Village music when you get a game over in Easy/Total Boss/Thrilling/Hard Mode. The character voices are definitely not as good as the music, and 9-Volt, Kat, and Ana probably have the worst voices, but other than that, the music in the game is excellent.
Difficulty: *
This game is not really all that hard. Many microgames are definitely hard on faster speeds, but there are quite a few games that are cinches even on their hardest form of difficulty. With that in mind, there are few games you'll actually have trouble with. Wario Kendo and Cat Nap are pretty hard, but not insanely hard to beat the required score for Grid Mode (10 points for both). Balloon Fight and Hoppin' Mad are not easy either. These four games may easily be the only ones you'll have some trouble with. Nearly all of the others are very easy.
Controls: ****
What's better when you only use the Control Pad and the A Button for the microgames? Not much! There are barely any microgames in which the controls are sloppy.
Characters: ***
Some of these new characters are pretty good ideas. I like 9-Volt and how all her microgames are based off Nintendo games or toys. I also like Dribble and Spitz, and Jimmy T. isn't too bad either. I'm not really a fan of all those other developers but some like the ones I mentioned are pretty good ideas.
Story: ***1/2
The main story is not bad. Wario is watching TV and gets the idea of creating a video game that he hopes will sell well, and with the help of his friends, he creates Wario Ware, Inc. But most of this rating comes from the stories on the developers' stages, which are very creative. While not excellent, the stories in Stage Mode are very creative, which makes this rating very good.
Microgames: ***1/2
For simple objectives like these, the idea for many of these microgames is great. From mashing the A Button to completing something (Banana Munch) to timing something (like catching a mug in Mug Shot) to avoiding something for five seconds (F-Zero) to finishing a small course (Blow Hole Bridge), there are many different kinds of microgames. And there are even more kinds of microgames than that. I like this idea of having more than 200 very simple, five to ten second long microgames instead of, say, 50 or so 1-minute long minigames. Some microgames are very similar to each other though, like Log Chop and Shingle Smasher (say that three times fast) being identical. But still, I like these microgames. The boss microgames? Well, they're longer, and more complex, so instead of finishing a five-second long level, you'll be going through a much longer one. The boss games are not bad, but I wish that 9-Volt's boss microgame was something like, say, completing a level in a game instead of just pitching baseballs back from the Ultra Machine. Overall, these microgames are very good.
Stage Mode: ***1/2
This is the main mode, where you play the developers' stages to unlock microgames and other mini-games. When you play the developers' stages, the microgames you'll play are randomly ordered. I like that idea of having randomly ordered microgames. I also like how the microgames get faster the more you clear. Yet another thing here I like is having two remix stages that start on Medium difficulty. One problem: I wish you would get a reward for getting a good score on more of the developers' stages, not just Jimmy's stages. But still, Stage Mode is very good, and I like it.
Grid Mode: ***1/2
Grid Mode is very good too. If you like getting high scores on things, you'll love this mode. This time, you play the microgames themselves over and over again. You'll first go through the three difficulties of the game on the lowest speed, and when you do that, you'll play through those three difficulties again, but this time the speed is slightly faster. You'll keep playing these microgames on each difficulty, getting faster and faster, until you lose all four of your lives. This is a great mode in my opinion. There's one minor problem: some of the target scores for microgames (the number of points you need to get a medal) are too low. It's way too easy to get 5 points on a boss microgame. It should be maybe 7 or 8 points, not 5. Some of the microgames' target scores are too low as well. If I can get 999 points in that Spunky Monkey microgame (which I have), the target score should be at least 30 points, probably more.
Easy/Hard/Thrilling/Total Boss Mode: **1/2
Here's another idea in the game I like. Clear as many games on a certain difficulty or speed until you lose all your continues. That's a great idea. The target score for Easy Mode (15 points) is too low, however. It should be at least 100, maybe 150 (I've gotten 231 points on Easy Mode, by the way). I also don't really like Total Boss Mode. A good idea is to probably have the nine boss games in random order, with the first three being slow, the next three on medium speed, and the final three on the fastest speed. Oh, by the way, there should also be a Medium Mode, where you can clear as many microgames as you can on medium difficulty and medium speed.
1-Player Full Games: **1/2
The 1-Player Full Games are okay. The best one is Dr. Wario, and Skating Board is not bad either. But then, you've got some bad ones like Jump Forever, which is hard and boring. Most of these full games are an extention of one of the microgames. Most of them are pretty fun. Overall, these full games are above-average, but there are some bad ones out there.
VS. Games: *
The VS. Games aren't too good. They're mostly boring and not really all that interesting. There's not really much to say about them, but they're just... not good. Chicken Race may be the only good one, but it isn't excellent.
Replayability: **1/2
If you like getting high scores on things, you'll be playing this game for a while. If not, it might not last very long. I like to get high scores on things myself, and that's where the positive rating comes from.
Fun Factor!: ***1/2
Yes, this is a very fun game. You'll definitely enjoy yourself while playing it. A little bit of fun is taken away in some microgames, but that's not a major problem. Some of the microgames and epilogues are hard to play or watch without at least laughing a little bit.
Overall: ***1/2
In my opinion, Wario Ware is a great game. It's fun, it has great music, and the gameplay is great. Although it's not excellent, it's a great game and a definite buy in my opinion.
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