Made In Wario Twist

[Harmunt]

I love it too. The girl in the office loves it more and keeps nicking my GBA during lunch..

Next time she does this, simply kick her in the twat... sorted.

There you have it - your very own 5 second mini-game!

[dr_lha]

Come on NOA! Announce this game for a US release!!! Grrr....

[Dave White]

i am currently in japan.

seen this everywhere the packaging is excellent!

never even new about this

[Ste Pickford]

Found any veggie food yet?

[The Liberal Elite]

This game is amazing.

Nothing much else to say, really.

[Jools]

Found any veggie food yet?

It both blows and sucks to be a veggie in Japan. They find a way to add fish or meat to everything. Even if you ask are things veggie (which they won't be), if they say yes you gotta realise that bacon, ham, sea food and a whole bunch of other stuff aren't even considered to be meat in Japan.

-Jools

[DeDeDe]

Apologies for bringing up this topic again, but, in a strange coincidence with the upcoming release of Wario Ware: Twisted! in territories outside of Japan, I recently got hold of the Japanese version, after looking forward to playing the game for some time. Hopefully now more people (especially those who have decided to import the title from the US) will also be able to post their thoughts on the game, because --in all honesty-- I have very mixed feelings about this sequel to the original GBA game.

Whether in its Wario Ware or Made in Wario guises, this new iteration in the series has garnered perhaps some of the most positive reviews in the GBA arena. Most memorable of all, in my opinion, is the review in this month's issue of NGC: "There are a few hundred reasons why Wario Ware Twisted is the best GBA game since Advance Wars" --referring to the amazing quantity and variety of the minigames included in the game, of course; but I admit that --forgetting for a moment that I don't consider Advance Wars to be the best game on the GBA-- I can't quite agree with all of the positivity surrounding this new Wario Ware game.

Admittedly, I thought that the original Wario Ware was an amazing game: the strange and eccentric nature of the game, coupled with a dizzying and frenetic pace and structure kept me glued on my GBA for hours when I first got the game. But, now having played a host of Wario Ware games within a short time-span, (Wario Ware: Touched! on the DS, Wario Ware: Mega Party Games on the GC, and now Mawaru Made in Wario on the GBA) I'm beginning to think that a lot of the success of the original game was due in large part to the element of surprise and eccentricity infused into the game world.

To be sure, there are a lot of things that Wario Ware: Twisted! does right: despite the fact that the cartridge very nearly doubles the mass of the GBA even when inserted, the rotating-sensor and rumble motor built into the game not only presents a new, somewhat tactile nature to the traditional Wario Ware-type minigames, and the way it's been designed to be an intricate part of the game (and not just a gimmick) is quite a remarkable achievement in itself. The game also retains a lot of the ingenuity, variety and humor seen in all of the other Wario Ware games, and it's a pleasure (at first) to go through the game's episodes of the various characters. And the wealth of extras besides the minigames not only adds a welcome touch of replayability to the game itself; but also adds to the game itself, in the surprising range of well-crafted toys and Game-and-Watch-like games of its own included in the package.

What I most admire about the Wario Ware series, however, is the element of post-modernity in the work. My most treasured moment in the original Wario Ware was the moment when I recognized that, in a Space Invaders-type minigame, (And in contrast to an earlier minigame of the same sort) I was not controlling the defending spaceship: I was a UFO which was being shot at by the spaceship at the bottom of the screen. Twisted! has very similar moments --none more awe-inspiring, in my opinion, than when you are shown a Yoshi's Island-inspired "circular" version of the first level (or a part of it, really) of the original Super Mario Bros. Brilliant!

However, this doesn't take away the fact that, in my view, the Wario Ware game has changed for the worse in some areas and has been neglectful in improving other areas. I can appreciate the evolving style of the franchise. I can see how it's been influenced in large part by the "superflat" art movement in Japan (Warning! These links are not work-safe) --and I would posit that the game series itself can be considered to be part of this movement, but I disagree with the style that the series has developed over time, to be honest. Looking at the games following the original Wario Ware, I think it's quite evident that, (adding to the comments aired in the recent Edge feature) in its use of a "classical Nintendo" style, the first game was a compromise of sorts made for the approval of the supervisors and marketers at Nintendo. It's only after that first game that the series began to get away from frames within the minigames --for example-- and introduce its "real" style. However, I must admit that I preferred the style of the original game: similarly to works of the "superflat" movement, the artwork and design of Wario Ware: Twisted! verges on a cute-but-repulsive aspect that I can't get to grips with, personally.

But more importantly is the factor of the structure of the games in the series. I realize that criticizing the "if it ain't broken, why fix it?" ideology is not the popular thing to do, but I do find it problematic and a shame that the developers behind the Wario Ware have shied away from developing the Wario Ware mechanics beyond what the first game showed. I don't mean to say that what Wario Ware was doing was completely original at the time --even so-called predecessors of the game (such as Konami's Bishi-Bashi games) owe a lot to track-and-field games of yore. But Wario Ware did it differently, in a refreshing twist of the formula, and that's what made it a rather special game. In many ways, however, it's been content with resting on its laurels. Kimi no tame nara shineru/Feel the Magic: XY/XX/Project Rub might have been criticized for a variety of things --the most common argument is that it's "a poor man's Wario Ware"-- but it showed new ways in which minigame architectural plans for games can evolve, to a striking array of interesting results. Compared to Sega's game, the formula of Wario Ware: Twisted ("Beat each character's episodes and individual minigame records repeatedly for fun!!") seems not only quaint, but quite antiquated as well.

Admittedly, perhaps I'm being too harsh, as Wario Ware: Twisted! is, in reality, quite a lot of fun. Despite initial worries that this game didn't have any two-player games, it was a delight to have been proven wrong with the discovery of various two-player toys and minigames in the bonus section, for example. It's a great game, but it's ironic to see that, in trying to escape the claustrophobic cell of "Nintendo classicism" by making the Wario Ware series, the Wario Ware team has developed its own cell --in which they seem to be rather happy. Wario Ware deserves more, in my opinion --certainly more than Wario Ware: Twisted!

[Captain Olimer]

So what your whining about is that your getting more of the same, and that the art is different, thus worse?

Too many Wares in a small space of time, perhaps. But I love them all so far ( GC,Ware,Touched) and I'll be getting Twisted come launch.

Go back to Wario and beat your high scores. That post was overly long for what could have been a simple explanation.

[rafaqat]

So what your whining about is that your getting more of the same, and that the art is different, thus worse?

Too many Wares in a small space of time, perhaps. But I love them all so far ( GC,Ware,Touched) and I'll be getting Twisted come launch.

Go back to Wario and beat your high scores. That post was overly long for what could have been a simple explanation.

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Bit harsh that.

It' nice to have someone properly explain the way they feel about a game rather than make an assumption that readers will understand exactly what they mean with fewer words.

Anyway, what I want to know is, will this game work fine with the DS? Anyone tried it? Just wondering if the different size and shape of a DS makes things harder/awkward?

[Keyboard Koala]

Apologies for bringing up this topic again...

Wise fwom your gwave!

[Jools]

Ah, my old thread has been resurrected. I still think the game is ace all these months on. Its loads better than the DS version, which I'm sure is why it was so lacking in promotion before release, I guess they didn't want to steal any of the DS's thunder.

-Jools

[DeDeDe]

So what your whining about is that your getting more of the same, and that the art is different, thus worse?

Too many Wares in a small space of time, perhaps. But I love them all so far (GC,Ware,Touched) and I'll be getting Twisted come launch.

Go back to Wario and beat your high scores. That post was overly long for what could have been a simple explanation.

←

Perhaps you're right in suggesting that my opinion of the game might have been influenced by the fact that I've been playing too many Wario Ware games in a relatively narrow period of time, but at the same time it's made me more sensitive to the imperfections of the game series' formula.

Leaving aside my personal interpretation of the art style for a minute, I don't think that Wario Ware: Twisted! is flawed because it offers "more of the same," but because I feel it's detrimental for the game that the developers decided not to develop the basic game ideas further than what they presented in the original Wario Ware. The various added interaction mechanisms and added modes (touch-screen/microphone, tilt sensor, multiplayer modes) have cloaked --and quite successfully, I might add-- the fact that the basic structure of the games themselves hasn't changed in any significant way. Sure, some aspects of the structure have been polished over time, (the minigame counter, for example) but it's a shame to see that the creative designs of the minigames are not mirrored by equally creative designs in respect to the game structure.

Anyway, what I want to know is, will this game work fine with the DS?  Anyone tried it?  Just wondering if the different size and shape of a DS makes things harder/awkward?

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I generally don't play GBA games on my DS, (Columns Crown is an exception to the rule, but only because the backlit screen of the DS improves the game slightly) so I've been playing the game mostly on my original GBA. However, I've just tried playing it on my DS and I must admit that it was not as awkward as I thought it would be. Admittedly, it became obvious that the game is meant to be played on the original GBA: the feeling from the rumble motor is dampened when playing on the DS, and it's not quite as comfortable or easy to rotate as on the GBA. (You might have some problems with minigames that require you to rotate the portable quickly and/or rotating it in full turns.) Nevertheless, it's quite playable --and a surprisingly good compromise.

Ah, my old thread has been resurrected.  I still think the game is ace all these months on.  Its loads better than the DS version, which I'm sure is why it was so lacking in promotion before release, I guess they didn't want to steal any of the DS's thunder.

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Actually, I thought it was interesting to see that many minigames in Twisted! (including the famous toilet-paper-pulling minigame) were stolen from this version for inclusion in Touched!. Regardless of its status as an artifact of post-modernity, it's interesting evidence that shows that (as hinted at in the Edge feature) the DS game might have been slightly rushed for the DS launch.

[Jack]

Gave the tilt-patched version a go, and went off to order it about five minutes after. The "Mewtroid" game may well be the funniest thing I have ever seen in a game, ever. Even better than "Eagles on pogo sticks", even better than Monkey Island 3's duelling banjos, even better than any WarioWare gag yet.