Put simply, Wario Ware: Twisted! is a must-buy.
User Rating: 9.6 | WarioWare: Twisted! GBA
Wario has come up with another scheme to get rich, and it just so happens to involve his recent discovery of tilt technology. Having designed a few hundred new microgames with his friends, it's now up to you to play through them all again. Such is the story of Wario Ware: Twisted!, the latest GBA incarnation of the series. Plot-wise, it may not seem like a huge variation on the first game, but there's actually a lot of new stuff to be discovered underneath what may seem to only be some cosmetic changes to what was found in the first game. Twisted! plays almost exactly the same as the first entry in the series, in that you are given a never-ending stream of "micro-games" to complete, each of which grows faster as you beat more and more of them. However, the addition of the tilt sensor makes the game stand out entirely on it's own. Instead of controlling the action with the D-Pad, you control it by tilting the system itself. Actually, the movements that you have to perform come closer to rotating the device than tilting it, but that's not terribly important. Moving the system instead of controlling it with buttons it gives motion more of a fluid feeling, and all of the movement makes the action feel a lot more exciting to boot. Some games go as far as to require you to rotate the entire system a full 360 degrees, which can be quite an experience. Usually, the game isn't too picky about hit detection or anything like that, but occasionally you'll come across a microgame that gets a wee bit nitpicky about just how much you move the system, and that's when it all bogs down. If you can get past those brief moments though, you'll be very happy with how the game plays. The microgames themselves are all entirely new. You'll find a few past themes present, such as the collection of NES games that have been re-arranged to take advantage of the tilt sensor, but other than that everything here should be new to you. Games are grouped according to the type of actions that you'll have to perform in them. For example, Kat and Anna's games are all controlled solely by the "A" button, the only button that you'll actually need to use in this game, seeing as how everything else is controlled by the tilt sensor. Mona's games are controlled with "petit spins," meaning that they all require only small, sometimes more precise, movements of the device to complete. Jimmy's games, on the other hand, require much larger movements, sometimes even requiring you to turn the entire system all the way around. You'll meet other variations on the tilt theme too, like Dr. Crygor's games, which require you to manipulate gravity to do things like pour garbage out of a garbage can. It's a delight to play this game, it really is. The tilt sensor, as said before, really makes everything move a lot more fluidly. It makes gameplay a lot more exciting too. No longer will you be content to simply sit around and press buttons as you play. The tilt sensor requires your full attention, as you speed by dinosaurs and hammer nails into the ground. The microgames are just as bizarre and entertaining as the ones found in the first Wario Ware game, which means that anyone entertained by the variety in that title is sure to be entertained by what's found here. There are games where you have to make a flower grow by shining sunlight on it, ones where you must guide a hang-gliding Wario to a treasure chest located on a cliff side, and ones where you need to flip a pancake with a frying pan and then catch it. You'll be astounded by the variety of it all, and it's fun to see just how much you can find in it. There is also an extended series of "souvenirs" for you to unlock by playing through the microgames again and again, which range from models of each character to full-fledged games that can keep you amused all on their own for hours. There really is a staggering amount of content in this title. The game's graphical style is simply dazzling. Just like the previous entries, it's style comes from the fact that it actually comes without a specific style in it's microgames. You can go from cartoony characters to almost photorealisim and then back again. Everything changes so quickly that it can almost become difficult to take in. It's fun to see things change from cartoons to stick figures. The almost schizophrenic nature of the graphics keeps things exciting every time you play the game. You'll always be eager to see just what comes up next. This sort of excitement just repeats itself endlessly as the game goes on. Admittedly, it does diminish just a wee bit once you've seen everything that the game has to offer, but even then it's fun to watch everything. The game's sound is another delight. Some of the songs in the game have actual lyrics that are sung as you play. You'll hear everything from warped versions of old NES themes to a running radio commentary on a baseball game. The sound is enjoyable for the exact same reason that the graphics are: it's just fun to experience all of the weird stuff that the developers have come up with. The sound effects are fun too, of course. All of the microgames come with commentary from the characters based on how well you're doing, just like in the first game. The requisite amount of wacky sound effects are present too, which gives the game an appropriately cartoony feel that is very easy to enjoy. Basically, there's nothing out of place here, and it's all absurdly fun to listen to. Put simply, Wario Ware: Twisted! is a must-buy. It's impossible to stress that enough. It's fun, exciting, and never gets boring. On top of that, there's simply so much that's been added into it that it's hard to imagine not finding something to amuse yourself with. The tilt control is incredibly fun to play around with, and makes the game feel like something more than just a sequel to the first Wario Ware. It's such fun that no GBA/DS owner should miss it. Games like this don't come around terribly often, and it would be a mistake not to pick this one up as soon as you have the chance.
