Having “accidentally” broken his GameBoy Advance, Wario takes it to be fixed by mad scientist Dr. Crygor. When he gets it back he finds that it has now gained the ability to play games by twisting the handheld.
In WarioWare: Twisted, after accidentally discovering spin technology and always being out to make a quick buck, Wario reassembles the developers at WarioWare, Inc., to make the craziest set of microgames yet. The pace is just as frantic as the original, but there’s a new twist to the split-second gameplay with spin-controlled microgames.
System: GameBoy Advance (DS)
Genre: Action, Puzzle
Release dates: October 14th 2004 (JPN), May 19th 2005 (AUS), May 23th 2005 (USA)
Players: 1
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
Origin: Japan
Rating: E for Everyone with Cartoon Violence and Crude Humor
Prepare to be twisted and turned in ways you’ve never experienced before as the innovative and exciting WarioWare: Twisted launches on the GameBoy Advance (SP). Players must battle their way through a selection of fast paced microgames by literally tipping and tilting their GameBoy Advance using the all new tilt sensor! In addition, this unique game encompasses a cartridge with rumble functionality.
Taking the popular WarioWare formula of randomly generated mini-games and wickedly tight time limits, WarioWare: Twisted adds extra excitement thanks to the inclusion of the all new tilt sensor. This latest gaming innovation from Nintendo detects how players physically move their GameBoy Advance and transfers the movement to the in-game action.
WarioWare: Twisted does not use the GameBoy Advance control pad at all, instead all in-game movement is controlled by tilting and rotating the console. The player is put on a knife-edge with under five seconds to figure out and solve an onscreen puzzle. Microgames have players altering gravity, shaving a man’s face, catching pancakes and even doing sit ups. Failure to complete a task correctly, or within the time limit, results in the player losing 1 out of the 4 lives per session and the game moving onto the next challenge.
Fans of the series will be glad to know that each minigame successfully completed is unlocked as a stand-alone game, letting them challenge increasingly difficult versions of their favourite game in a high-score challenge. Successfully completing the various levels also unlocks over 130 zany items and minigames for you to play.
Each character you encounter on the game map has their own style of gameplay:
Wario — Microgames do not have a time limit in the introductory 7-minigame stage. Later, Wario has a full-fledged stage called Speed Spin, which features the same games but with a strict time limit. Seconds are added after the successful completion of each game. He also has Speedier Spin, which sets even fewer seconds.
Mona — Mini Spin: Microgames involve small spins and perfect precision.
Jimmy T. — Big Tipper: Microgames involve large spins.
Kat and Ana — Tap Out: Microgames only involve the A button.
Papa T. & Mama T. — Family Scramble: The microgames that were originally introduced by Mona, Jimmy, and Kat and Ana are used. The Family Scramble starts on medium instead of easy difficulty.
Dribble and Spitz — Steer Clear: Microgames use both the gyro sensor and the A button.
Dr. Crygor — Gravitator: Microgames involve using the gyro sensor to alter gravity.
Orbulon — Time Warp: Microgames have longer time limits.
9-Volt — Spintendo Classics: Microgames are based on NES-classics. 18-Volt also makes an appearance here as 9-Volt’s new buddy.
Wario-Man — Spandex Challenge: Microgames involve any kind of spinning action, the A button, and Wario.
Fronk — Frantic Fronk: Microgames have half the time limit, and appear randomly in a big mix during certain levels in Story Mode (Fronk does not have his own stage).
Inevitably the highly competitive ‘High Score’ mode will have even the best of friends bickering about who is the WarioWare: Twisted grand champion. For this very reason the game includes an unlockable strength challenge to settle any scores! A player holds a side of the GameBoy Advance each with their finger on their shoulder button. When the game says go, players must twist the console towards their opponent to knock down their onscreen character!
Watch the WarioWare: Twisted launch trailer.
So what are the main features of WarioWare: Twisted?
* Each game pak is equipped with a gyro sensor that detects sideways motion. Control game play by rotating the GBA SP left and right.
* Play more than 200 all-new, lightning-quick microgames by rotating the GameBoy Advance SP left and right and pressing the A button. The simple controls allow gamers of all abilities to pick it up and play, and the high-speed action of the games makes it impossible to put down!
* Play through the microgames to unlock more than 130 souvenirs from Diamond City, including bonus games, moveable figurines, music, instruments and many other novelties.
See all of 9-Volt’s WarioWare: Twisted microgames mayhem.
Now let’s see how much fun WarioWare: Twisted is on a scale from 1 to 10?
FUN FACTOR – 9.5
The WarioWare series is known for being both fun and wacky and this time it’s got more interactive gaming added on top. WarioWare: Twisted includes the innovative extra features of the tilt sensor and rumble functionality to make all 200 new microgames sensitive to movement, while giving rumble feedback. My favorites would have to be 9-Volt’s awesome throwbacks to classic NES games like the Super Mario Bros. series, but really most games are hilarious as you quickly try and figure out how to rotate your GameBoy Advance (SP or even DS) with each fun new game. Time to embrace that pick-up-and-play motto, this exciting handheld game was made for it and will put a big grin on your face. WarioWare: Twisted is packed with a ton of fun and completely different from anything else on the system.
Graphics – 8.0
The 2D visual style is very pixilated retro, and it’s all over the place since each microgame gets a somewhat different style, but all in all it fits the game’s crazy themes. There are some decent 3D effects in the mainly 2D cutscenes. The many different microgames have a modest yet zany look that suits this GameBoy Advance microgames collection.
Audio – 7.5
The sound effects are minimalistic but varied enough to matter. The voice acting is plain wacky and had me laughing often, because there’s a lot of it and it’s so in tune with each microgame. The music is appropriately hectic!
Ingenuity – 9.5
In WarioWare: Twisted the creators tried to make a game that would represent the basic movement that is required to complete each microgame. And it works; it’s completely genuine thanks to the special gyro sensor that detects sideways movement, thus adding a new (well implemented) innovative twist to the already fast-paced gameplay experience. It’ll require your eyes to be peeled to the GameBoy Advance screen as you twist and turn it, but that’ll just take some more focus and a little getting used to. The internal rumble feature gives very effective force feedback too. The only button that you sometimes use in the microgames is A. Easy does it!
Replay Value – 8.0
Expect to play through the single player mode in a few hours. Unlocking all 200 microgames and 130 items (including bonus games, moveable figurines, music, instruments, etc.) in the game requires practice & skill and will keep you entertained long after you first finish the game. And the topscore microgames add a lot to the replay value of such a short yet undeniably fun experience. It’s great for short bursts of play.