Whoever says video games...haven’t played WarioWare before.
And it might just be the zaniest WarioWare yet, this time putting you in direct control
of a small cast of characters that you play as across every microgame.
On top of featuring a renewed focus on multiplayer that we haven’t seen since WarioWare’s
GameCube days.
Now WarioWare has always been a little meta, but Get It Together takes it to the next level
by taking the typical WarioWare trappings...and trapping the entire WarioWare crew inside
them.
And it completely changes how you play the game.
Sure, you’re still trying to survive an onslaught of rapidfire microgames with simple
objectives, like DODGE, or ESCAPE but this time you’ll do so by directly controlling
one of a handful of characters across each one--and it changes everything.
At times, it almost feels more like a rapid-fire platformer....or a shooter?
Or whatever the heck you’d call this?
Point is, each character plays quite differently, and as a result, it completely changes how
you play each Microgame.
Wario can freely jetpack around while dashing side-to-side, Cricket moves & jumps like a
platforming character, whereas Kat & Ana can’t stop jumping at all and can only fire projectiles
to the left and right respectively.
And then there’s 18-Volt who can fire projectiles in any direction, but is a sitting duck...unless
he grabs hold of one of the gold rings that are added to some microgames for characters
that otherwise can’t get around.
And since the character you play is randomly changes between microgames from a small pool
of that you pre-selected, you really have to keep on your toes.
I was concerned that this new character-based gameplay might homogenize the entire experience--which
is the last thing I’d want in a series as off-the-wall as WarioWare--but it actually
has the opposite effect, adding another layer that makes the action even more frantic and
unpredictable, with many Microgames feeling entirely different based on who it’s paired
with.
Platforming your way out of this cave is one thing, but having to do so by grappling gold
rings is quite another, or trying to clear out all the enemies as a character who can’t
fire projectiles.
And with around 20 characters and 200+ microgames, that leaves thousands of possible combinations
to explore.
And since you can never be sure which combo you might end up with, it makes for a truly
exhilarating experience as you have just seconds to come to grips with your character before
being thrown into the next microgame.
Story Mode is the main point of entry--and in fact, is required playing if you want to
unlock the rest of the experience--which you absolutely should.
It’s short--only a couple of hours at most--which isn’t out of line with the rest of the WarioWare
series.
Like previous games, it spreads the 200+ microgames across a dozen or so levels, each based around
a loose theme, like fantasy, nature, or my favorite, Nintendo Classics.
For your first playthrough, each level is paired with a character who’ll automatically
join your team, though the remainder of the slots are left to you, which ensures you have
a chance to try everyone out--not that there’s any lack of opportunities in this game.
As always, you have 4 lives to try and get through 15 or so microgames before taking
on the level’s boss--which is more of an extended microgame, or minigame, I suppose,
than it us a proper boss fight.
If you win, you’re off to the next stage.
Lose, and well, you’ll have to start the entire thing over--or at least that’s normally
how it would go, but this time you can pick up right where you left off by cashing in
a small amount of in-game currency.
It’s almost too convenient to ignore, which can make the Story Mode feel easier than past
games as there’s no real penalty for dying, which I found slightly disappointing--YES
I KNOW IT”S OPTIONAL.
But of course, the real challenge lies in replaying the stages on an endless loop to
try and net a high score, without a safety net, besides the 1-Ups that successfully clearing
a boss stage rewards.
The microgames on the whole are as fun and diverse as they’ve ever been, with scenarios
that could only make sense within the context of a WarioWare game, like this bikini-wearing
banana.
The Nintendo games, as always, are a stand-out, even if they had to take a few more liberties
than usual to fit Get It Together’s unique format.
I will say that I’m still not a huge fan of the boss stages in general, as they can
feel repetitive and slow the pace of the game--although I did quite enjoy the Nintendo one, which
is essentially just a series of new Super Mario World levels, which feels particularly
great to play when using a more grounded character, like cricket.
For perhaps the first time, there’s an actual singular “Story” interwoven throughout...but
it’s incredibly barebones, and is told almost exclusively though basic text-heavy cutscenes
which hardly add anything meaningful and quickly feel repetitive.
But they’re short and don’t slow down the pace too much, so whatever.
Better yet, the entire thing is playable with 2-Players, a first for the series--and it’s
a ton of fun.
It works pretty much exactly the same, only now with either player having the chance to
complete the objective--or hinder, as the case might accidentally be.
But that’s just the kind of chaotic energy that made me fall in love with WarioWare in
the first place.
Some microgames are even slightly modified to account for both players, ensuring they’re
always interesting.
And as one who’s played through literally every WarioWare campaign to date, having some
company certainly helped make the entire experience feel even fresher, and made revisiting levels
in pursuit of a high-score far more enjoyable than just by myself.
Speaking of multiplayer, you’ll find quite a few games to play in Variety Pack section
that unlocks after completing the Story Mode--and it contains both the best and worst this game
has to offer, with about half of the 10 games being brilliant, and the other half being
pretty . Most of the modes support 2-4 players, and there’s a pretty clear theme that separates
the good ones from the bad: the half that incorporate the microgame experience are consistently
great, whereas the ones that bafflingly focus on just the characters themselves miss the
point entirely.
Those games include a subpar soccer game, a poor imitation of a volleyball game, a bad
platforming game where you seek out...paper contracts, and a ridiculously simple fighting
game, all of which are either too shallow, random, or unbalanced to be much fun..
The diverse cast of characters work within the context of an always-changing microgame
landscape, but they’re not strong enough to hold down entire minigames of their own,
divorced from the rapidly changing microgame context.
Especially since some characters are so vastly superior to others depending on the game that
it’s not even close to a fair fight--but even when it is, the action is too fundamentally
simple to be engaging for long--if that..
Button mashing your way to victory with a single attack does not a good fighting game
make.
Now while most of the Variety Pack’s modes are multiplayer, there is one exclusively
single-player mode mixed it which is basically multi-man melee from Smash Bros--and it isn’t
terribly fun either..
The good news is, you can easily ignore all of those and focus entirely on the other half
that are actually great.
Take Puck’er Up for example, which isn’t just a clever name.
Here, players compete to be the one to knock a puck into the goal, which awards them the
chance to play a microgame--if they successfully complete it, they’ll earn a point--but lose
and your opponents will get points insead.
But that’s not all, because the other players who aren’t playing can screw with the player
who is by, shaking, swinging, or even squishing the screen--which is bloody hilarious.
There are literally times that the designated player can’t even see the screen at all--although
it did making a victory all the sweeter.,,and frustrating if you don’t.
Duelis Maximus is a pretty standard head-to-head with both players facing off in a microgame
challenge, where you take damage for failing a microgame--or in the case of the lightning
round variant, if you’re not first to complete it.
It’s simple, but effective, and I had a lot of fun with it.
Although the lack of a 4 player option is unfortunate, especially since the GameCube
pulled off a similar feat 20 years ago
Rising Star is a little more unique, as two players cooperatively compete within the same
microgame space, with a God-like character awarding the win to whomever he determines
did the most work--which I’m not entirely sure is always rooted in reality, but it’s
consistently hilarious all the same.
He’ll even take away points for a bad performance, so make sure to say your prayers to the WarioWare
gods before engaging.
Sly Angle is a neat little competition where players partake in several rounds of bespoke
microgames, with the winner being able to pin a...well, pin to a board, in an attempt
to control as much space as possible based on how your pins connect up--possibly even
overtaking space an opponent had already claimed.
I found this mode is most fun with at least 3 players, as it felt just a little too slow
and predictable with two.
Finally, returning from WarioWare on GameCube and Wii is Balloon Bang, which has everyone
frantically trying to inflate a balloon while they take turns playing microgames--if the
balloon explodes while you’re up, it’s game over.
It’s fast & furious...and funny.
Great stuff.
Although I had a blast with the good half of the multiplayer modes, they're definitely
more suited for quick diversions than something you would specifically invite your friends
over for to play, but they're certainly a great compliment to any fun-filled night.
Regardless of how you play, the presentation is consistently wonderful--especially with
regards to the amazing title screens in Variety Pack, whether it’s the wistful nature of
“Gotta Bounce” that nearly gave me an existential crisis, or the absolutely wonderful
art of Frenemy Frenzy.
And that extends to most of the rest of game too, whether it’s the introductory cutscene
for each level, or the varied art styles for each and every microgame.
There is no shortage of creativity on display in WarioWare: Get It Together and feels right
at home with the rest of the series.
There are only two parts of the presentation that gave me pause...first are the literal
pauses in the voiced dialogue, with only about half of the text cutscenes being voiced, which
is a little jarring--like the budget ran out halfway through a line.
The second is performance related.
While it mostly runs at a stable 60fps in single-player, with the rare exception, I
did notice some considerable frame pacing issues in multiplayer at times, generally
as the pace picks up, which was a little off-putting in a game that demands fast and accurate inputs.
Although the core WarioWare experience is short outside of high scores and the endlessly
replayable multiplayer, the game does attempt to extend replayability in a few different
ways.
First is the Wario Cup, an online leaderboard essentially where you compete in a different
challenge each week.
We obviously weren’t able to try this much during the preview period as the first challenge
is still on-going, but it seems fine.
The second is a strange but somewhat addictive gameplay loop where you can use the cash you’ve
earned from playing playing the game--including by completing various MIssions, which are
essentially in-game achievements--to buy random prizes--err, sorry, prezzies--from prezzie-laying
chicken machine, which you can then gift to whichever characters you’ve unlocked in
an effort to level them up.
This has absolutely zero impact on the gameplay, and is purely for the purpose of unlocking
extras related to that character, including different skins, palette colors, and best
of all--nifty little artwork that you can do nothing else with but gawk at.
It’s all nearly meaningless and borderline complete waste of time--probably around a
dozen hours or so in my case to unlock most of it--but I can’t deny that I had a bit
of fun trying to figure out what each character might like to try and maximum my return--especially
when a group of friends and myself debated the merits of who might like what.
Of course Wario would like a book about mustaches...of course.
It’s overall a pretty forgettable addition, but it works well enough in providing some
extra incentive to revisit aspects of the game once you’ve completed Story Mode once.
Although if it doesn’t interest you, then there isn’t a ton left for you to do outside
of replaying Story Mode levels or messing around with the Variety Pack’s multiplayer
games.
Ultimately, WarioWare: Get It Together is a wildly fresh take on what’s already a
pretty zany series....which is saying something!
Rather than being beholden to the console gimmick, it reinvents itself by giving you
a variety of playable avatars...and it works remarkably well, injecting a breath of fresh
air into a series--that for all of its zaniness--has nearly tip-toed up to the border of feeling
stale at times.
That, combined with an excellent 2 player cooperative mode and some truly great multiplayer
experiences found in the Variety Pack, resulted in WarioWare: Get It Together being a game
that I liked a Lot.
If you’re a WarioWare fan, it’s absolutely worth checking out, especially if you have
friends along for the ride--even if the ride might be a short one.
And there you have it, our review of WarioWare: Get It Together.
Let us know if you plan on picking it up in the comments below.
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