WarioWare: Get It Together!
Review
I’ve always been an oddball, and that goes double for my choices in video games. If you were to ask me my all-time favourite gaming franchise, I’d say WarioWare without a second thought. WarioWare just clicks with me on a level I can’t articulate, but I’ve been playing the games since the sixth grade and earlier this year a new entry was released. You better believe I pre-ordered that sucker, and now, here’s my review. How does it compare to its kin? I should mention this game is very new, so spoiler warning. I don’t spoil everything, but I do spoil story mode, so reader discretion is advised.
Developers: Intelligent Systems, Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Written by: Danny K
The story for Get it Together is that Wario and crew have just finished a new game, only to be sucked into it. Now they need to clear their levels of game bugs to get out. The story isn’t much (frankly the fact that there even is a story is bonkers) but it works. And this is only the second WarioWare game to have an actual story, the first being WarioWare Gold. The story is stronger here but still takes a back seat once the games start.
The gameplay is vastly different from the other WarioWare games. See, this go around you have a little sprite for each WarioWare character, and all have their own sets of abilities, as well as pros and cons, which may make certain games easier or harder, depending on the skill set. For example, Wario can move around freely and can dash forward. 18-Volt cannot move, but can throw CDs in all directions and can grab onto rings if he does need to move. Red flies around, dropping bombs straight down. You’ll need to experiment and find which ones you like best.
Your avatar will be literally in the game (I mean, that’s kinda the story, right?) and have to interact with things to win. Watch out though, because they can be defeated. But defeat doesn’t always mean loss. In some of the games, I got batted away and still won. In story mode, you select a team of characters, first a set of three, then four, then five. For all but the last few levels, the creator of those levels is pre-selected and will be the one to play the boss mini-game. Once you finish the first half of story mode, you get a fake ending cutscene, but it turns out there are still some folks missing, so everyone goes back in to free them.
These last games are remix stages, where you play games from previous levels with some kind of condition, such as having to play fast or all games being on max difficulty. Then you play a bunch of the games with Penny, who...well, she’s broken but in your favour. Then, in a WarioWare first, we have an actual boss fight. All of the characters are given the challenge to attack the eyes using their skills and must do so within a time limit.
Like in Gold, while going through the levels the first time, if you fail you get to continue for a cost of one hundred coins. Once you’ve cleared them the first time, it’s all about getting a high score and unlocking the rest of the games, since you won’t unlock them all on the first run. Once you finish story mode, the game really opens up. However, as this game was only released this month, I don’t want to spoil anything else, but rest assured this game tries to make up for the short shelf life that WarioWare games have as a single-player experience.
I’ve heard people whining about how this is too different, so it’s not WarioWare. Shut up. It is WarioWare, just a little different. But by no means less fun than before. It’s even crazier and I love it for that.
The presentation is certainly awesome. While we don’t get as much voice acting as we did in Gold, what acting there is is still good. Everyone’s voices have been slightly changed since Gold, and in some cases, that’s for the better. (Ana, I love you, but your voice in Gold was borderline grating) The art styles change from game to game and you’d think they’d clash horribly, but no, it all blends together beautifully. And all of the music is very good on the ears, and hey, Penny gets her own song too.
I kept this review sparse because I did not want to spoil it too much. If you’re a WarioWare fan even in passing, you need this, it’s not even a question. WarioWare Get it Together has all the wackiness and insanity that WarioWare games are known for, and a whole lot more. Bravo, Nintendo, bravo! This is easily my favorite new game this year. And thank you, WarioWare, for being so beautifully weird.
Author: Danny K