WarioWare Mega Party Game$ is billed as a twisted spin on the Mario Party games, and that couldn't be closer to the truth. WarioWare is based off of WarioWare Mega Microgame$ which was released on the Game Boy Advance back in May of 2003. What Mega Party Game$ brings is the same graphics, fast and addictive gameplay featuring 200 micro games, and a twisted multiplayer mode.

You can unlock all 200 micro games in the game's single player mode, which is based off of the original game on the GBA. The game takes you through several different tiers of different genres of games including sports, sci-fi, and classic NES games to name a few. New players might be overwhelmed at the simplicity and speed of the games, since you're thrown into an elevator going up 30 floors while running a gauntlet of micro games that last five seconds each. At then end of the 30 floors, you're taken to a boss battle ranging from a simple battle to a small level of gameplay. Your gaming skills are tested as you either have to use logic, careful timing, or simple button mashing to complete each game. You'll have a host of interesting games like picking a nose, guiding Link into a cave, Defeating Mother Brain, and hosing down a guy on fire. As you complete games, things speed up or gain a level which requires you to do more for each game. Things can get pretty fast pretty quick. In a nutshell, this is a game for people with short attention spans.

Once all the games are unlocked in the single player mode, you can try to beat records for each game for fun.

The multiplayer mode is really where the game shines. You can choose between several different modes. “Survival Fever” features the characters on a stage and a spotlight randomly shines on one (or all) players. The player(s) that the spotlight lands on must play a game. If they fail, their section of a crowd will leave, after four failures they're out.

"Balloon Bang" has the players taking turns playing micro games on a TV with a balloon attached to the top. While one player plays the game, the others hit the A button to pump the balloon up. The player playing the micro game when the balloon pops loses. The player has to pass a micro game to get back in line, if they fail, they keep playing. The action can turn frantic in this one.

You can also choose a few more modes such as “Doctor's Orders”, where you'll be ordered to tell an embarrassing story or make sheep noises while you play the game, “Outta My Way” features one player playing fifteen micro games while the other players can move their characters in the way of the action to mess that person up. Aside from games of competition, there are also games that encourage teamwork like “All for One” where the entire game screen goes black and the other players have to shine flashlights on the action to help the player out and a team jump rope game. Whether it's the single player or multiplayer modes, the games are fun, addicting, and sometimes just plain weird. Groups of friends will be sure to get their kicks out of this one.

One drawback to Mega Party Game$ are the graphics. The game pretty much emulates the GBA version of the game. This means you'll be looking at GBA graphics the entire time with no graphical improvements to the games from the GBA conversion. You'll even have a Game Boy Advance logo at the bottom of the screen just like the Game Boy player. Graphics range from 8-bit NES style visuals the green monochrome graphics of the original Game Boy, to stick figures and simple digitized images. If the graphical shortcomings can be overlooked, you'll have some fun with this game. There are some graphical additions to the multiplayer mode like the puppet-esque doctor in the “Doctor's Orders” mode and a spinning turntable in between the “Beat the Record” mode.

The sound department got a slight overhaul in the conversion to the Cube. Music sounds a lot better, though it's not too noticeable. Sound effects are still tinny and don't take advantage of the hardware they're on. You'll also get a few one-liners from the game's characters and from some of the micro games.

WarioWare Mega Party Game$ is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you still have a really entertaining game that's even better with the new multiplayer modes. On the other, you might come away feeling ripped off for spending your money on an emulated GBA game. The game is simple, addicting, and has a great sense of humor to it. If you don't own a Game Boy Advance and you're jonesing for a game with some old school style and presentation without a care for how the game looks, then look no further. This game is a great change of pace from that aging copy of Mario Party 5 sitting on your shelf. While the game should be applauded for being deliciously old school, the fact that it seems like Wario isn't the only one trying to get rich quick can put you off.

 

 

- Brad Hicks (aka Dr. Swank), SwankWorld Media