WarioWare: Snapped!
 |
 |
Copyright Nintendo 2008-2009
Nintendo DSi
Review by Blue Protoman
Website: www.bpsdomain.b1.jcink.com
A picture’s worth a thousand words. Heard of that saying? Well, apparently, Wario has. Since 2003, he’s been making games of kickass quality, making my standards for the series skyrocket. He made this game (Well, actually, Intelligent Systems did) in which you play by moving your hands and face, similar to the GoGo TV. But, does the game do it right? Does this new WarioWare game live up to my expectations? Sadly, no. WarioWare fans won’t be pleased.
As I already said, you play this game with the DSi camera on the inside by moving your hands, face, and head. Look at the pictures. (Neither of them are mine, so that’s not me in the pictures.) In one, you’re grabbing coins. In the other, you’re trying to put on a hat. Notice that there’s no 5-second timer. Are these, by coincidence, two microgames that are longer than 5 seconds? Yes, but it’s no coincidence. These microgames have been hella extended. Instead of 5 seconds, you now have, like, 20. Takes the speed and intensity (the two most important things of WarioWare) straight out of the game.
As if that weren’t enough, the game’s been shortened. A lot. Past WarioWare games have microgames somewhere in the low hundreds. This one has 20 microgames. That’s it. Four characters appear (and not 9-Volt, sadly), and they each have 5 microgames, plus one minigame, the credits. You don’t even unlock anything, everything’s available from the start. You can probably finish all 4 character’s microgames and the credits in half an hour.
At least, you could if there weren’t problems with the controls. Which brings me to my next point. You are rendered as a silhouette. This is done so the game can detect motion easier. Slight problem, though. You have to be a vastly different color than your background for the game to recognize you when you first get ready for the camera. You need to put your hand and face in the outline, but the game doesn’t know you’re doing it right half the time. Apparently, my tan skin is too similar to my white background. Once you actually start the game, things are less painful, but if you shut the game off before you start out of impatience, you won’t be missing much.
This game isn’t all bad, though. What I’m about to tell you is perhaps the one thing in the game that keeps my score above a 5. At the end of each microgame series, your gameplay is turned into a series of 5 pictures. (assuming you completed all 5, else you lose one picture per failed microgame) Wario’s pictures are animated, Mona adds props you your pictures, Jimmy turns your pictures into a 5-panel comic, and Kat & Ana also add props to your pictures, but they’re different, as Kat & Ana’s series requires two players.
Normally, the people at Nintendo are geniuses at making games (unless said game has “Wii” in the title), but this time, they come up short. I think this game was made more to show off the DSi’s capabilities than to be fun. Sorry, Nintendo, but this game’s below my standards. Maybe your next WarioWare game (which I will definitely review should it come to America) will be much better. This game gets a paltry 6/10. If not for the pictures at the end, it would be 5/10. This game costs $5, but there are better uses for your money. Go buy PiCTOBiTS instead.