WarioWare Preview: Get It Together – Return of Microgame Marathons

The news that WarioWare was making a comeback and making its debut on Nintendo Switch was greeted with enthusiasm by fans of the quirky pedigree of the “microgame” series. The franchise’s long-running gimmick of launching marathons of these simple games that take less than a few seconds to complete has resonated with gamers since its Game Boy Advance debut in 2003. Now, Wario and his friends are back with more microgames. for them to complete. and several interesting twists on the WarioWare formula.

When you load into the WarioWare: Get It Together main menu, you see options for Story, Variety Pack, Play-o-pedia, Wario Cup, Crew, Missions, and Local Wireless. Right off the bat, this WarioWare appears to have a fair amount of meat on its bones, and as soon as my demoist dives into the myriad menu options my impressions are confirmed.

My demo begins in Story mode, which offers the traditional WarioWare experience. Here, you follow Wario and his team after they release their last game. Unfortunately, something goes wrong and everyone is sucked into their own game. As you play through Story, you meet different characters from Wario’s team as they play through the themes of the game. For example, the theme of Dribble and Spitz is fantasy.

The story mode can be enjoyed by one or two players. When you enter Story mode, you select a character to play, plus a group of characters. Depending on the theme, you have the opportunity to use this party in certain circumstances. For example, in the demo released last night on the Nintendo eShop, you rotate through the characters while playing through the microgames. Once you start going through a story sequence, it’s the same thing that WarioWare players know and love – the game throws you tons of bite-sized microgames with minimal time to react to instructions on the screen. screen, find out how to play the microgame. and complete the objective. If you play cooperatively, you have the added chaos of figuring out which character you’re controlling, how that specific character controls, and how to best use your character’s specific abilities to solve the microgame.

While all the microgames that I saw in Story mode are in one section, the diverse collection and wild stuff fit in perfectly with the WarioWare story. In one game, players have to lure an octopus into a cage, then close the door behind it, while in another, players have to high-five a floating plant man. The History section culminates with a boss stage; In this case, you must protect a character from the tentacles long enough to earn a key, then use the key to open the door and push the character to the escape area. It’s a strange concept, made even more unique by introducing the special abilities of the various characters. With over 200 microgames included in the WarioWare: Get It Together bundle, I’m excited to see just how unique they get.

After the boss stage, we exit Story mode and jump into the Variety Pack. This mode serves as a hub for party-style minigames. These games function as more extensive explorations of the mechanics of WarioWare: Get It Together. In Daily Grind, which supports one to four players, you go through side-scrolling stages with obstacles, enemies, and collectibles using the various characters in the game. Every time you get a power-up, you switch to a new character, keeping the experience fresh and earning bonus points. Because the characters have unique abilities, you never know what you will get when you switch to a new one. For example, Dribble can shoot enemies so they don’t hit him, while Dr. Crygor can swim and charge through the air. If a player is KO, he does not end the day or deposit his points, but reappears at the beginning of the next level.

The other Variety Pack game that I see in action is Puck ‘er Up. This game, which is made for two to four players, is a twisted version of air hockey that incorporates WarioWare microgames every time someone scores. If you manage to get the puck into a goal using your character’s skills and movements, you will be transported to a microgame while the other players do their best to interrupt you from outside the game. Although the scoring player is the only one in the microgame, the other players can attack the smaller screen you are on by shaking, rotating, or smashing it. The interruptions are almost too effective, sometimes they make the microgame impossible to see, but it is definitely in line with the exaggerated nature of the rest of the package.

While I don’t necessarily go to WarioWare for a longer format game like Variety Pack, all of the games feel in line with the original spirit of WarioWare. I’m excited to try these games for myself, but for now, they look super fun, even if I look forward to spending more time with the standard WarioWare modes.

At Play-o-pedia, you can access information on all the microgames you’ve found, as well as get clues on where to go to find new ones. You can also play them quickly. My demoist chooses High Tech, a microgame in which the two players must navigate a short platform maze to reach the roof and escape in a helicopter. When you choose your character, the game tells you how suitable the character’s abilities are for that specific microgame. Then once you enter the mode, you repeatedly play the same microgame to see how fast and difficult the game can get before failing. This mode seems like a lot of fun and a great way to master the microgames you battle with.

In Crew, you can see and interact with all the characters on the WarioWare roster. You can enter practice courses with each character to better learn their movements and abilities and customize your favorites with cosmetic colors. This mode also allows you to gift gifts, which are purchased with earned Wario Coins, to characters. If you give the right character a gift that he likes, he can become more powerful.

WarioWare: Get It Together is completed with Wario Cup and Missions. Wario Cup lets you play competitively to get the highest possible score and then upload your highest score to a leaderboard through ranked mode. Once on the leaderboard, you can compare your score globally or with friends. I didn’t learn too much about missions, other than that they are another way to earn Wario Coin in-game, so while I think they are secondary objectives that you complete as you play, I can only speculate at this point.

While I didn’t get a chance to play WarioWare: Get It Together, watching it in action reminded me of all the fond memories of playing my favorite games in the series like Mega Microgame $, Touched, and Smooth Moves. I can’t wait to see how chaotic multiplayer can get when WarioWare: Get It Together launches for Switch on September 10.