Nintendo didn't do much for this game but they didn't need to, and the few things they did change work surprisingly well
Cons: Everything non-multiplayer was ripped from the GBA game (and most of multiplayer was); The graphics look pretty poor because they were ripped from the GBA game; Single player lacks depth or staying power; elevator theme takes over the crazy themes from the GBA game; If you aren’t careful about who you show this game to, you just might hear “turtle game, turtle game, turtle game” anytime they come in contact with your Gamecube (or Wii)
There are those games that show up, are extremely creative and different, extremely fun, and then suddenly disappear without most people knowing about it (except for a cult-like following usually). Luckily WarioWare Mega Microgame$ was a rare exception, at least to the last rule. Apparently, Nintendo was so confident with the game that they re-released the exact same microgame collection on the Gamecube with a few small changes for $30 the next year.
For those who have never played another WarioWare, WWMPG is based around a collection of 200 or so random, simple activities, that would suck as their own games. However, the game throws them at you at random, forcing you to quickly figure out what to do and do it. Still simple and easy, but you only get 4 lives, and the longer you survive the harder, and faster everything gets, making 5 second activities into about 1 second activites eventually.
That’s the basic gist of the game, and single player doesn’t do ANYTHING to change the formula whatsoever. It is that and just that. Multiplayer, on the other hand, gives you and up to 3 other players many goals to take on the microgames for.
The modes are as follows. You have 2 Survival based modes, one where everyone plays microgames when a spotlight shines on their character, trying to be the last one with a life left. The other has up to 16 players passing off a controller with one life at stake each (no spotlights in this mode). There’s another mode, called Outta My Way, where each player gets a chance to play 15 microgames, while the other three try and block the player’s view. Then there’s a Hot Potato style mode, where one player plays microgames until they win one, and pass the hotseat to another player. Meanwhile the other 3 players pump up a balloon on the hotseat, and whoever is playing the microgames when the balloon pops is the loser (everyone else wins).
The other modes are a bit harder to explain. There’s one called Card-e-Cards. In that mode everyone draws cards (with microgames on them) to add to a stack until one person draws an e-reader (remember those?) card and has to play every card face up on the stack. If they win, they get all of the cards. If they lose even one, they lose all their cards into the stack (face down, so no one else has to play them, and just gets them for free if they win). Meanwhile the other players try to steal cards from other players. Occasionally, the round ends with cards in the pile, and there’s a sudden death in which everyone plays a 4 player minigame for them. Whoever has the most cards wins the game.
Another mode Wobbly Bobbly, is possibly the weirdest mode in the game. Everyone starts off sitting on a turtle (and I am not joking), and they play a 4 player minigame (much like in the sudden death of card-e-cards), and whoever wins plays a microgame. If they win, everyone else gets a turtle added to their stack, if they lose, they get a (slightly smaller) turtle added to their stack. Then you balance on the turtles (which are flipped upside down. Also, more turtles are harder to balance). Rinse, repeat, and the last person still balancing wins (if you play with 3 or 4 players, the 3rd and 4th place people get to be turtles and bite the surviving players’ stacks). This mode is a fan-favorite around my friends (hence the last con in case you are wondering).
Then another mode Listen to the Doctor is flawed, but extremely fun when your friends play right. Basically, each player takes turns seeing a doctor, who gives them a microgame. The catch is that he tells them to perform an action (such as “scream as loud as you can”, “say your favorite animal”, or “close your eyes”). Then the other players clap to rate you on your success (since the game can’t tell if you performed the real-life actions). Unfortunately, this means that things can be unfair if players get clap-happy for some people and not others, or decide not to clap. However, when played right, this mode captures the party spirit of the game so well, and is amusing to watch people play.
The other two modes aren’t as interesting (according to this writer’s numerous friends and other people who have played the game). One is Othello in space, where you play a certain number of microgames (as listed on a space) to capture it. The other one has everyone cooperating to help one player play through the microgames as long as possible, by shining a flashlight (the screen is pitch black without it, blocking your view) to illuminate the screen.
Then you have a small collection of other games (based off of microgames) that offer nice diversions, but won’t last you that long. One is a jump-roping minigame, where you tap A to jump over a rope in turn with everyone else (up to 4 players if each has a controller, up to 16 if you use only one controller). There’s a simple paper-plane racing game, where you use left and right on the control stick to rotate the plane clockwise and counterclockwise (up to a certain hight. Note: you are flying downward).
As I said before, all the microgames came from the GBA game. Unfortunately this includes the graphics. What was passible on the GBA game is now muddy looking all stretched out on the big screen. There are hand-drawn character models and cutscenes too, which are colorful and sharp, but these are the only Gamecube appropriate items (and even these cut it, since these could have been available even in the SNES days). However, speaking squarely on the art style, the game is flawless. The microgames are based around random actions, and so are the art styles for each game. It works well, from the real-life picture of a dog waiting for you to shake its paw to the NES Link that you have to enter through a door.
The sound is also shared with the GBA version, however, these don’t seem as out of place and lazy as the graphics. The sounds are random, as with the graphics, and the music is quite catchy. There really isn’t anything else to say other than the fact that it works.
WarioWare Mega PartyGame$ is laziness from Nintendo in many ways. However, the few changes work well to make this a great party game (in between those rounds of SSBM), and I heartily recommend this to party people. Everyone else who doesn’t play with friends a lot should skip this and play the GBA version instead.