We've come to expect a certain level of quality out of the "WarioWare" franchise... What happened here?
With "WarioWare: Twisted" the game included a Gyro Sensor that would register motions you made with you're GBA to control the actions happening in the game. "WarioWare: Touched" took advantage of the DS's unique features (I.E. Touch Screen Control, Mic Recognition) and "WarioWare: Smooth Moves" used the Wii's motion sensing to create a "Similar to Twisted" experience, But yet was still all new. The things that these games have in common is that while trying something new for the most part each time, It has always worked pretty well, At least to my satisfaction... So what's the difference between this latest addition and the others? Allow me to indulge.
When "WarioWare: Snapped" was first announced it seemed to me that this would be a fitting addition to the franchise. After all, Very much like the previous iterations this version was taking advantage of the unique and current hardware of the time. In this case it was the DSi. The game uses the inner camera of the DSi to register you're image and motions, effectively putting you in the game. It's not too different a concept from what the Eye Toy was offering on the PS2 a number of years back, But we all knew that it would have that "WarioWare Charm". When you watch the game in action and read it in writing it seems like a shoe-in, But the reality of the situation is much different.
While it's true that the mini games still retain that certain charm and style, the controls are essentially broken. For every three or four mini games that you make it through, there's another four or five that inexplicably won't register. Part of this issue is the DSi's ultimate need for the perfect lighting. Because the game won't let you play until you get the camera properly calibrated, (You hold a pose in front of the camera while it reads the lighting and compares you're skin contrast to the background) you wind up sometimes having to move to a more sufficient area to register, or you're flat out denied the ability to play the game. It was pretty disheartening to have the game reject my playing two or three times in a row. That brings me to the other issue, If at any time the game ceases to recognize you it will abruptly boot you out of the game and back to the title screen with a somewhat crazy "Warning" Screen. The first time you see it you'll wonder if perhaps you're DSi is busted or something!
My other issue is the extremely limited number of mini games available here. There's only a grand total of Twenty mini games, Five for each of the Four characters present (Which fans of the series will immediately be familiar with, No new faces here!) With Kat and Ana's set of mini games requiring two people to play. There is a rather enjoyable mini game that you can play while watching the credits which in it's own right could have been a standalone game.. It's pretty entertaining. Still though, The whole experience only lasts for about a half hour at that, and with the wacky control issues you'd be hard pressed to play it more than a few times.
While it's true that there is some interesting fun to be had when things work right, (particularly watching the crazy slide show of funny faces or odd movements you might make during you're game time at the end of a set of games) For the most part, the inaccurate controls and confusion of some of the mini games bog this entry down. For 500 Nintendo points, it's still pretty cheap, But in all honesty I can't recommend picking it up. However, If you're a fan of the series and want a bit of a showpiece to demonstrate the unique aspects of the DSi, then sure, By all means check it out. But just be prepared to spend some time getting things to calibrate.
Overall Score 4/10