Game & Wario

Genre: Compilation / Arcade / Various

Players: 1-5 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Game & Wario, released on Wii U in 2013, is a family-friendly Compilation of various minigames, most of them simple, Arcade-style games. Of course, when you see “Wario” and “minigames”, most Nintendo fans automatically think “WarioWare”, and this game is clearly at least tangentially related to that franchise, sharing the same cast of characters and eclectic aesthetic. But Game & Wario ditches the WarioWare series’ rapid-fire fast-paced game design in favor of something a little slower, and potentially a little meatier. Amusingly, the game’s framing device of a plot is that Wario has gathered together his friends to create games for their universe’s version of a Wii U, expecting to make a fortune selling them. Yeah, I know, pretty ironic.

Much as in the WarioWare games, Game & Wario is kinda’ all over the place in terms of presentation, aiming for an eclectic, absurdist mix of styles that includes hand-drawn 2D art, pixel art, and some simple 3D, with simple 2D animated cutscenes in the “Flash animation” style in between the bits of gameplay. It works well enough, and is consistent with the series, but isn’t impressive in any way. This is backed by a similarly eclectic range of music and short voice clips for characters, also on-brand for the WarioWare franchise.

However, as I noted before, this isn’t a WarioWare game. Each of the WarioWare franchise characters here represents exactly one game, meaning this minigame collection only contains about a dozen minigames, as opposed to the hundreds of “microgames” you tend to find in the WarioWare series. There’s one asterisk I’ll append to that in a moment, but for the most part, Game & Wario sacrifices WarioWare’s variety and fast pace for a bit more depth, with each of the minigames offering something more substantial than a mere microgame.

More to the point, all of these games seem to be designed as tech demos to show off the Wii U gamepad and its unique abilities. Almost all of the minigames do something that could really only work using the Wii U and its gamepad, combining the dual-screen mechanic, gyroscopic motion control, and touchscreen in interesting ways.

Well… potentially interesting. The games vary in quality, with some faring far better than others. Wario’s game is pretty good, using the Wii gamepad as a bow and arrow, shield, and whac-a-mole all in one. Mona’s is a photography game that has you using both screens to find the people you’re meant to be photographing, also quite decent. Dr. Crygor’s game has you drawing geometric shapes and guesstimating their size, something I found to be surprisingly engaging. And Dribble & Spitz’s game uses the two screens and gyroscopic motion control to have you multitasking driving a taxi and shooting UFOs, which was a fun and fairly unique experience.

But then you have stinkers like Jimmy’s Skiing game, which has you tilting the Wii U gamepad to guide the guy down a twisting ski course (think Nintendoland’s F-Zero game and you have the right idea). Kat & Ana’s game is a take on a jigsaw puzzle, not bad but hardly all that creative. And Ashley’s game is a Shmup where the motion control feels gimmicky more than anything.

When WarioWare had microgames that were stinkers, it wasn’t so bad because there were multitudes of other microgames, and they were over in 5 seconds. Here, each one of these microgames has to carry far more of the overall package, so when one just isn’t very good, everything feels like it’s slowing to a slog while you complete it.

However, I saved the best one of the lot for last, 9-Volt’s “Gamer”, which many players may recognize from the Super Smash Bros. stage directly inspired by this minigame. In this one, players use the Wii U gamepad to play a scaled-down version of WarioWare (containing only a few dozen microgames, unfortunately). However, while they do, they have to keep an eye on the TV screen to watch for 9-Volt’s mom bursting in, and must be prepared to press a button to put away the game before getting caught. It’s an inspired and clever take on the WarioWare series that’s meta and a delightfully creative use of the Wii U’s unique hardware.

All in all, this is a mixed bag, and pretty much all of the minigames are still at least a tad shallow, but they’re fun, and the good ones are worth returning to. It’s just a shame that you have to play through the not-so-good ones to get to them all.

There is one other issue I should note before concluding this review. As I write this review in 2022, the price to purchase this game on eBay is absurdly pricey, selling anywhere from $60 to over $100 for a used copy of the disc. Compare this to the price of the game on the Wii U eShop, selling the game for $30, and you can see why I recommend that if you have any interest in getting this game, get it on the eShop now before the Wii U eShop closes in March 2023, because at that point the game will be much more expensive to get ahold of.

In the end, Game & Wario is one of those experimental “tech demo” games like Nintendoland that will only ever be released on the Wii U, because it was clearly designed around the Wii U hardware, making it a good showpiece game for what makes the Wii U unique. Having said that, not everything it does works, and what works is often somewhat shallow. Be that as it may, this game is still delightfully unique, and what actually does work is the sort of thing you’ll want to come back to play again. If you’re a Wii U owner, I think this is a game you should absolutely give strong consideration to getting, even if it isn’t likely to become your favorite game on the platform.

tl;dr – Game & Wario is a family-friendly Compilation of minigames that make use of the Wii U’s unique hardware features. However, while it shares WarioWare’s characters and aesthetic, this is not WarioWare – this game sacrifices WarioWare’s fast pace and variety for a bit more depth (but not much). The dozen or so minigames here are hit and miss, but when they hit, they’re a delight, and a truly unique demonstration of the Wii U’s capabilities. You have to slog through a few stinkers to get to all the good ones, but overall I feel like it’s worth it, and if you own a Wii U, you should absolutely get your hands on this game on the Wii U eShop before that eShop closes. It’s not likely to be your favorite Wii U game, but it is still a unique experience you’ll only get on the Wii U.

Grade: B-

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