Publisher: Nintendo
Developer(s): Intelligent Systems, Nintendo SPD
Release Date(s): October 14, 2004 (Japan) May 19, 2005 (Australia) May 23, 2005 (North America) Unreleased (Europe)
Story: While playing with his Game Boy Advance, Wario becomes frustrated with a particularly hard game on it and throws the system at a wall, breaking it. He takes it to Dr. Crygor’s lab to repair it, where he places it in his invention, the Gravitator, which spits out dozens of buttonless objects similar in form factor to a Game Boy Advance. He demonstrates that to play, the device must be physically moved. Wario decides to take advantage of these motion-sensing abilities as a selling point and recruits his friends to design microgames based on this concept. This story sets up the game’s premise very nicely. I give the story a 7/10.
Gameplay: As with all of the games in the WarioWare series (except for Game & Wario), the gameplay consists of a series of “microgames” (which are separated by themes, such as sports or Nintendo classics); short minigames that require the player to understand and clear its objective within 3-5 seconds. The microgames in this game are made unique thanks to a gyro sensor that’s built-in the cartridge, and as such, many of the microgames require you to physically rotate the GBA to clear them, and they become more difficult as the game progresses. I give the gameplay a 9/10.
Graphics: The graphics are good and very creative, with each microgame having its own look and theme. I give the graphics an 8/10.
Music and Sounds: The soundtrack is pretty good, and the SFX is fine. Not much else to say here. I give the music and sounds a 7/10.
Controls: The tilt controls are very good and responsive, and the cartridge also has a rumble feature, which is a nice touch. I give the controls an 8/10.
Replay Value: You can occasionally collect capsules, which are fun to collect, and beating the game plus getting all capsules takes around 8 hours. The game itself is very addicting and may leave you coming back for more. I give the replay value a 7/10.
Final Thoughts: This is an excellent second entry in the WarioWare series that no Nintendo fan should pass up.
Overall: 9/10
Buy or Skip?: Buy.