Wario Ware Touched

[chuddy_2001uk]

There really is no denying it. Games are addictive. They have the power to sit you down for hours on end looking at its pixelated magic thinking about nothing else but to beat it. Whatever it takes you will see those credits and hear that music. You’ll even loose hours of sleep as you think of ways to get past that door or open that chest. Video games immerse you into your own little world. A world of fantasy, horror, adventure or even the battle field from d-day and with that addictive gameplay, the perfect game will immerge.


Forget about all that. Forget about a world of fantasy with magic and level ups. Throw away the thought of a video game crammed with lush graphics and sweet music. Lastly, lob the idea of a massive adventure right out of the window. Enter the phenomenal, WarioWare: Touched!


Wario Ware first saw the light of day back on the GameBoy Advance in 2003 and is by far one of the best games to be released on GBA. If you haven’t played on that little beauty going by the long titled name of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ then be ashamed, very ashamed. WarioWare, Inc invented a new genre which was the Microgame. Not quite as long as a mini game but an extremely short “snippet” of gameplay. The Microgames were random, crazy and extremely fast paced and really got that heart of yours pumping towards the 20th game count. The aim of the game was to get through as many of these fast and frantic games as possible, get over a specific score, get rewarded with even more mini games until you’ve unlocked everything. This is the same story for Touched! But it’s somehow a little shorter this time around…



Story

Not much to see here, seriously. Fans of the series will know that Wario loves to make loads of cash and Nintendo carried the trend on to this game. The introduction starts with the big man walking around with what seems to be two GBA’s that he has stolen, he trips, resulting in throwing his GBA‘s in a manhole. As if by mysterious magic, an old man with a white tunic(?) wrapped around him floats up out of the hole. To Warios surprise, the old man is holding a DS and the GBA’s Wario was cradling earlier. The random floaty man (sorry I have no idea what his name is!) then asks which one is Warios and Wario, being the greedy person that he is, takes both. Confused and amazed by the two screens, he discovers that the bottom screen is in fact touch sensitive! Wario sees this as a potential money making scheme and so makes you play the games. We’re not entirely sure what the whole aim of this game is but it’s masses of fun. Anyway enough of the story onto the graphics.



Graphics


To me, graphics don’t really mean much in a game and it’s just as well really because apart from a few Microgames, the majority of them are in strict 2D and look like they have been done in Microsoft Paint. Not all of them, mind, but you will notice them when they pop up. The general look is impressive though, with bright colours and the sort with a different back ground boarder style/colour for each game that requires one. Although this doesn’t seem too important it would be pretty annoying to have white boarders staring at you all of the time. The colours do fit in with the Microgame which is being played though so no worries there. In the Microgames the “layers” usually consist of one or maybe 2-3 but adds depth into the screen even if it is ever so slightly but makes a hell of a difference to the gameplay. Animation is also sometimes poor and could of done with a bit of polishing up just to make it that bit more presentable but then again, it is WarioWare so you really won’t have enough time to ogle at the scenery or you can expect a GAME OVER screen rather rapidly. Having made the appearance plain, simple and somehow stylish and unique it’s easy to keep track of what you’re doing in each Microgame thus making a quick and very playable gameplay experience, no matter where you are (our lovely Jo from the forums even managed to play it in the car while off road!) or how long you want to play. As mentioned before there are a few games that ere 3D. The ones that are, are of course impressive but just feel like they shouldn’t be in the game somehow, in a sense, out of place. WarioWare: Touched! also makes brilliant use of the dual screens with numerous games being stretched across both top and bottom screens making for interesting gameplay. In one Microgame have to fire a crossbow which is on the bottom screen to make the arrow hit a moving (and annoyingly small) target located on the top, good stuff. To conclude, you can expect to be looking at simple, yet unique visuals from this game offering no surprises whatsoever in the looks department apart from how simple it is which is truly not a bad thing in WarioWare. Doesn’t push the DS’s capabilities in the slightest.



Sound


Unlike the graphics, the sound is quite amazing and makes you wish that the GBA had two speakers instead of a puny little one which gave out as much base as a mouse playing the drums with feathers and wood . Thankfully WarioWare’s sound is presented in stereo and it’s a real treat when you plug those trust headphones in that of which I highly recommend . The in game tunes are as addictive as the game itself and you’ll soon find yourself humming your way through those manic moments. Ashley’s music is a prime example and is very catchy indeed. The song actually contains lyrics and although the whole piece gets repeated over and over, it doesn’t get annoying. Unfortunately, Ashley’s Microgame frenzy will be the only time you will hear a song with words included but then again, the other tunes that accompany each character are as addictive and decent sounding as of Ashley’s. While on “music” there is a nice touch to be found while progressing through each set of Microgames: the music increases in tempo and in pitch which tenses you up big time if you are aiming for a high score, you have one continue and the Microgames are literally flashing on the screen. The occasional voice acting can be heard now and then and depending on if you complete a task, you will hear either a good comment or a bad comment. For example, Wario says things like “EXCELLENT” if you complete a Microgame or “MAMAMIA!” if you fail. Although this doesn’t effect the gameplay as such it does help you. An example of this is if you get confused and your stuck there knowing nothing of what to do and haven’t got the foggiest about if you have completed the Microgame correctly, you’ll soon hear about it with a characters cry/shout/grumble. To conclude, the sound is very pleasing with a few surprises here and there but it sounds a whole lot better with headphones on.



Gameplay


If you back track to the beginning I touched upon the concept of the game but as a rule, I’m going to go into very detailed detail to how you progress through the game, what you unlock and what to expect.


As said before, Touched! Is very much like it’s original outing for the GBA in the sense that how you do things and how you progress through the game is actually very much the same as the GBA Wario Ware. You start off with one character, which is Wario, the man himself, who offers a collection of mini games. You play his micro games until you surpass the required score (30 to be precise). Doing so unlocks two new characters. Obviously you then move on to beating 30 of each person’s micro games to unlock even more people’s collection of crazy and down right random games until you’ve beaten the game. That’s it. But the speed is where the whole thing changes. As you complete the micro games, the speed goes up and up and up (etc.) until you lose (and hopefully grin at the huge score you’ve gained!). Micro games will be literally flashing up on the screens around the 50-60th mark and you will find yourself not blinking for minutes on end. Frantic really is an understatement and Uber frantic barely describes it. Indescribable? Spot on. 12 or so micro games into each character and your faced with their very own boss. Some are very crap but then others are a nice breathe of fresh air and splits the game up nicely. As with the micro games, the boss battles get harder as you proceed further. Right now I would really like to cover the lifespan but this isn’t the place to do it so just bare with me. So there you have it, the main game summed up in a few sentences but what are these micro games you ask? I’ll explain by showing a portion of the individual characters general overview of micro game and the “type” of micro game you can expect to face during those moments of madness.


- Wario

You will be TAPPING your way through these slightly easy-to-do micro games. Games like “pop” will show up where you have to pop some balloons to reveal a picture. “Chisel” is a game where you have tapping to tap a block of cement revealing a statue of some sort, “Calculate” finds you racking your brain solving a mathematical sum, pressing equals and praying to god that you got it right. Some more bizarre than others but Wario is definitely the character to “train” yourself and prepare you for the next batch of games. Now moving onto…



- Ashley

Personally this character is by far my favourite character out of the lot. Mostly because of the most catchy tune since Baby Park’s song from Mario Kart. Her specialty is dragging things. From dragging clothes into a rather ugly looking ladies trolley to dragging coins into a cheeky little purse. Although this doesn’t seem varied, they are. Its difficult to describe but they are. Ashley’s games are really good to play and you get a good sense of control from them. It’s just as well that the micro games are outstanding because the same cannot be said about the boss.



- Mike

Mike isn’t just a name for someone it’s something that hasn’t been included much in other DS games. Spell it like “Mic” and you know exactly what I’m talking about. Blowing into the Mic is the theme of Mike’s games. It’s really good to see this being implemented into the game because it makes the person playing it look like a real lemon and also adds a varied gaming experience which is always a bonus. Mike’s games are fun but you get the feeling they were added in after the game was finished and the only need to “blow” to complete a micro game leaves you a little light headed after the first batch of micro games. Blowing into the ear of an unsuspected slightly retarded male looking female and breathing on a glass window to make it so frosted that it’s impossible to see through are just 2 of the 30 micro games that Mike has to offer.



- The Others

Having a different theme or style for a character continues throughout the rest of the cast. For instance some micro games are getting you to play through a whole library of old and dusty Nintendo games that you hadn’t laid your grubby hands on since you were three. Another characters enables you to “turn” everything. Fans of the old series will see the familiar (not the same though) characters that offer a mixture of about 2 or so characters micro games which is always a barrel of laughs if you haven’t played it before. Summing up, there are plenty of characters to keep you busy with each having their own unique style of play. But we all have a favourite…



Lifespan

Anyone who would say that Wario Ware took them more than 3 hours to complete should get shot. In the head. Twice. Touched! Is by far the shortest DS game out so far. It took me roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes to unlock almost everything and I’m not the biggest fan of sitting down for that amount of time but I did. The initial though I had was extreme disappointment but then I found myself playing the games non stop for a further 4 hours, went to bed, woke up and started again (before I had breakfast). This so called “pattern” lasted for about a week but I still play it frequently to this very day, even in school. What you WILL go back to is the funny little “toys” you unlock when you gain certain scores in certain places. These prove to be useless but a hell of a lot of fun when you are to the height of boredom. Getting high scores will also getting you scribbling/tapping away at that touch screen of yours. Other than that there isn’t much else to do. Just remember it’s immensely addictive. Fans of RPG’s with endless stats and hours upon hours of gameplay should stay well away unless you are looking for a gem of a game with a new twist. But people who are open for an extremely random, short, easy-to-pick-up, innovative, fun game then go to the shop/mall and get this game. Trade in your game cube if needs be. You need this.





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Graphics - 7.5/10

Not exactly Metroid Prime: First Hunt but it is pleasing yet very scruffy around the edges in some circumstances. Fits in though and you can’t really expect more from a WW game.


Sound - 8/10

Excellent surround sound but you will learn to appreciate it a lot more with those trusty ear phones on. Clear, crisp and very nice. Ashley’s theme song = raving mad.


Gameplay – 9/10
Unforgettable and very enjoyable. The excitement does wear thinner as time goes on but this game is perfect for car journeys and the sort. Also varied and out of the ordinary. Just what the DS needs!


Lifespan - 6.5/10

Harsh score but very true. As said in the core review, 2-3 hours at it’s best but you will come crawling back. Guaranteed.



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I really enjoyed this game and am still. Some may think it’s way too short and would rather stick with Feel the Magic, but if you seek a game full of frantic moments and short bursts of swearing outrages, then you will feel right at home. It certainly makes great use of all the DS' new features; Well done Nintendo, I salute you! Now to catch up on some sleep…

[bajones9]

i think that it does wear thin after a while, but while its new it brilliant, and who knows you may return to it afterwards. Ashleys theme tune is AMAZING. i could listen to it for ages, and have done on several occasions.

I rate it overall 91% - mainly cos its fun and innovational (and great theme tune too)

[lemmywinks]

When I first played this, I really couldn't stop laughing, it was just TOO random... who'd of thought swatting flies would be so much fun???

[Lite_Noxus]

It really sucks that I don't have this game yet. I like this Review so much. Nice, chuds.