Gamenikki
Systems
Screens
Summary
pros
- Filled with a huge amount of bonuses
- Lots of replay value
- The gyro sensor and rumble pak take the gameplay to a new level
- Ingenious minigame design
cons
- You might look a bit like a tool waving, twisting and spinning your GBA around
final score
9
The Review
Wario Ware Twisted!
- Number of Players: 1
- Genre: Action/Minigame
- Developer: Nintendo
- Publisher: Nintendo
- ESRB Rating: E
- Online: No
- Supports: Tilt Control, Vibration, Battery save
If you lurk any of the many popular video gaming messageboards on this here Internet, you'll see at least one poster either expounding on - or making fun of - the overuse of the word "innovation" in the video game industry.
It's like this generation's version of "blast processing." Every third press release for even the most irrelevant of game-related things, like a cell phone game based on the Muppets or battling porno robots or something, is rife with hyperbolic commentary about how innovative the application is. Clearly then, you all understand then why most people (read: ME) would be jaded and cynical when a supposedly "innovative" game comes around.
In 2003, Nintendo used their anti-hero Wario to create a game design touted as innovative; the result, Wario Ware: Mega Microgames! for the GBA, became a big hit, and the idea - a game comprised of hundreds of deceptively difficult lightning-quick challenges - turned out to be rather novel. Nintendo's never content to leave a design completely intact, of course, so they went back to the well and added more quirks to the franchise in later Wario Ware installments.
The GameCube's Mega Party Games! saw the series get skewed towards multiplayer madness, and Touched! for Nintendo DS served as a showcase for the DS' unique hardware features. While those releases were very good, it started to seem like Wario Ware needed to be freshened up; after all, a series spawned of an innovative design probably should show off some new tricks more often than not, right?
So for Wario Ware Twisted!, the latest installment in the series, Nintendo designed the game to revolve around a twisting mechanic...implemented by way of a gyroscopic tilt sensor and a rumble pak built right into the cartridge. When this was revealed as the new gameplay hook, nobody knew what to think. But being able to finally play the game...man, it's probably the most ingenious design for a handheld game ever, no joke. If you thought your Game Boy Advance was old hat, you're going to have to think again. Wario Ware Twisted! is a shot in the arm for the portable powerhouse, and a hell of a new spin on an old favorite.
When you first grab the specially boxed package for Twisted! off the shelf, you know there's something different about this cart. You'd be correct, natch; the gyro sensor (and rumble pak) set this cart apart from the rest. While the cart might look unique, the gameplay formula hasn't been changed all that much, thankfully; the game is still all about scads of miniature gameplay challenges fired at you in rapid succession.
In typical Wario Ware fashion, you've got 4 shots to make it through each set of challenges for the game's characters, and each increasingly frantic task gives you no more than 5 seconds to pull it off. However, the way that these tasks are actually performed and experienced is the real difference - and that's a really good thing. The gyro sensor allows the game itself to recognize when the GBA's being shaken or rotated, and the rumble pak built into the cartridge lets the game give you actual physical feedback when you perform actions. It's not just for presentation, either; because of the rumble, microgames can be made to emulate things like the clicking of a combination lock, or the cranking of a music box. The gyro sensor and rumble combine to allow Nintendo to go crazy with ideas for microgames in ways you've never seen before, and the games here are perhaps the most fun in the entire series.
It's like this generation's version of "blast processing." Every third press release for even the most irrelevant of game-related things, like a cell phone game based on the Muppets or battling porno robots or something, is rife with hyperbolic commentary about how innovative the application is. Clearly then, you all understand then why most people (read: ME) would be jaded and cynical when a supposedly "innovative" game comes around.
In 2003, Nintendo used their anti-hero Wario to create a game design touted as innovative; the result, Wario Ware: Mega Microgames! for the GBA, became a big hit, and the idea - a game comprised of hundreds of deceptively difficult lightning-quick challenges - turned out to be rather novel. Nintendo's never content to leave a design completely intact, of course, so they went back to the well and added more quirks to the franchise in later Wario Ware installments.
The GameCube's Mega Party Games! saw the series get skewed towards multiplayer madness, and Touched! for Nintendo DS served as a showcase for the DS' unique hardware features. While those releases were very good, it started to seem like Wario Ware needed to be freshened up; after all, a series spawned of an innovative design probably should show off some new tricks more often than not, right?
So for Wario Ware Twisted!, the latest installment in the series, Nintendo designed the game to revolve around a twisting mechanic...implemented by way of a gyroscopic tilt sensor and a rumble pak built right into the cartridge. When this was revealed as the new gameplay hook, nobody knew what to think. But being able to finally play the game...man, it's probably the most ingenious design for a handheld game ever, no joke. If you thought your Game Boy Advance was old hat, you're going to have to think again. Wario Ware Twisted! is a shot in the arm for the portable powerhouse, and a hell of a new spin on an old favorite.
When you first grab the specially boxed package for Twisted! off the shelf, you know there's something different about this cart. You'd be correct, natch; the gyro sensor (and rumble pak) set this cart apart from the rest. While the cart might look unique, the gameplay formula hasn't been changed all that much, thankfully; the game is still all about scads of miniature gameplay challenges fired at you in rapid succession.
In typical Wario Ware fashion, you've got 4 shots to make it through each set of challenges for the game's characters, and each increasingly frantic task gives you no more than 5 seconds to pull it off. However, the way that these tasks are actually performed and experienced is the real difference - and that's a really good thing. The gyro sensor allows the game itself to recognize when the GBA's being shaken or rotated, and the rumble pak built into the cartridge lets the game give you actual physical feedback when you perform actions. It's not just for presentation, either; because of the rumble, microgames can be made to emulate things like the clicking of a combination lock, or the cranking of a music box. The gyro sensor and rumble combine to allow Nintendo to go crazy with ideas for microgames in ways you've never seen before, and the games here are perhaps the most fun in the entire series.
Written by: Jonathan Point-Du-Jour