PN Review: Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgames (WiiU Virtual Console)

When I heard Nintendo was bringing Gameboy advance games to the Wii U Virtual Console I was just a tad excited. I didn’t have a very extensive GBA library back in the day so I figured I wouldn’t be to interested in any of the games they would pick. Lucky for me I was wrong! Wario Ware Inc. was one of the best games I owned. I remember playing this for hours, it was a good friend to me on those long car rides my parents enjoyed so much.

Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgame$ was first released in North America on May 26, 2003 on the Gameboy Advance. It was the first game in the Wario Ware series, and pretty much the first game of its kind. It consists of over 200 microgames, all of which are just a few seconds long. This fast paced gameplay is a good way to keep your attention and the different variations of the microgames keep it pretty fresh.

We start off our colorful adventure in the home of none other than Wario himself. He looks bored, picking his nose watching TV. When all of the sudden a commercial for a new video game catches his eye. He seems very intrigued and figures if he can make a mega hit game himself he can become rich! This immediately motivates him, of course. He then gathers his friends from all around Diamond city and they each help him make a part of the game.

Each character in the game has their own unique personality and style of microgames for example, Jimmy T. He’s the guy with the most funk, and the biggest afro. His games are mostly sports themed (baseball, basketball, tennis). Then there’s Dribble the bulldog and Spitz the cat, the fastest cab drivers in Diamond city. Their games are based on a sci-fi theme. Another fun character is 9-Volt, his games are based on Nintendo classics such as The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bro’s, Metroid and many more.

The microgames themselves like I said earlier, give you just a few seconds to complete your task. Using only the A button and the control pad you will progress through a series of different microgames. One that stands out is the ‘Gold Digger’ microgame. A nose sits in the middle of the screen, nostrils exposed while a floating hand with the pinky sticking up floats back and forth underneath it. You must successfully press A at the right time to lodge the pinky into the nostril within the time limit, thus picking a nose. Sounds strange doesn’t it? Well it is, but in a good way. Also, its not as repetitive as you might think. While some microgames are repeated multiple times there are 3 difficulty levels for each game. That way you don’t get too comfortable.

 

 

It will only take the average gamer about an hour to play through the whole game, but don’t let that fool you. There are quite a few unlockables and also 4 multiplayer games. These 2 player minigames are played on one controller and for the most part are pretty entertaining. The cut scenes in the game are very cartoony while the microgames each have their own art style. I have no complaints about the graphics although the pixels were a bit blown out on my flat screen TV, I actually noticed a lot of the small details I hadn’t noticed before in the Gameboy Advance version.

Also thanks to Miiverse you’ll be able to share some of the whacky moments in this game with your friends. A game manual has been added for the Wii U version and restore points so you can stop the game whenever you need to. While its not your ordinary game I highly recommend swinging by the Wii U eshop and purchasing Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgames. It’s a very addictive, entertaining and fast paced game from the crazy imaginations of those we love at Nintendo.