WarioWare: Get It Together!

Genre: Arcade / Party Game

Players: 1-4 Competitive / Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

WarioWare: Get It Together, released on Nintendo Switch in 2021, is this generation’s requisite entry in Nintendo’s family-friendly series of so-called “microgame”-filled Arcade-style titles. And perhaps it’s fitting that for one of Nintendo’s more unusual mascots, Get It Together is paradoxically both a predictable addition to a long-running franchise, but also a somewhat unusual one.

Previous entries in the WarioWare series have typically acted as a proof of concept of sorts for the unique features of the respective hardware each installment was on – 2005’s WarioWare: Touched! On the Nintendo DS had minigames that focused on the Nintendo DS’s dual screens, touchscreen, and microphone, 2007’s WarioWare: Smooth Moves on the Wii demonstrated a wide range of possibilities for that console’s motion control technology, and 2009’s WarioWare: Snapped! On the Nintendo DSi was all about using the Nintendo DSi’s camera.

However, the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS entries in the series both abandoned a major part of this established formula – 2013’s Game & Wario on the Wii U acted as a demonstration of the Wii U’s unique gamepad, but it ditched the “microgames” the series was known for in favor of more traditional minigames. And 2018’s WarioWare Gold on the Nintendo 3DS largely recycled content from earlier games rather than being a showcase for the Nintendo 3DS.

So then the question surrounding WarioWare: Get It Together is whether it’s a return to form for the series, another unique collection of microgames that acts as a showpiece for the Nintendo Switch. And the answer is… yes and no.

On the one hand, this is very much a WarioWare game – the microgames are back again, with over 200 new super-brief microgames in a wide and varied number of art and gameplay styles meant to be played in a rapid-fire style. On the other hand, players hoping this game might show off the Nintendo Switch’s touchscreen, gyroscopic motion control, infrared camera, Amiibo, or other unique features will find themselves disappointed – there is mechanically nothing that Get It Together does that couldn’t have just as easily been done on the GameCube, Wii, or Wii U. However, that’s not to say that this game doesn’t have its own unique “gimmick” to set it apart.

WarioWare: Get It Together’s plot, such as it is, has Wario and his crazy supporting cast of characters sucked into the team’s latest videogame, and where prior games in the series had a wide array of games that at times had nothing in common save for their simple and brief nature, Get It Together now has a point of consistency – the player is always controlling Wario or one of his comrades to complete these minigames.

The different characters here all have some way to move around and some sort of attack, all controlled using only the analog stick and one button, but despite this simplicity, these characters can vary wildly. Wario freely flies around on a jetpack and can use his signature shoulder bash to attack directly left or right, the kung fu student Young Cricket acts like a traditional platformer and attacks enemies by jumping into them, videogame-obsessed 9-Volt moves automatically until an obstruction forces him to turn around and he attacks directly up with an extending yo-yo that acts as a grappling hook to grab on to anchor points, and 9-Volt’s mom 5-Volt sleeps in place while her ghostly form freely floats about with players summoning her to teleport to her ghost and attack nearby enemies, just to name a few of the 20 unlockable characters in the game.

Rather than acting as a stabilizing element in a game series built on wacky unpredictability, the character-based gameplay here actually adds another element for players to have to quickly adapt to, as most of this game randomly selects a character prior to each microgame. This means that the challenge this time around isn’t just to quickly figure out and complete each microgame in a short amount of time, but figuring out how to do it with whatever character you’ve been randomly assigned. Players will get some control over this process, at least – you’re given the option to choose a party before heading into each round of microgames, but in most cases you’ll still have some characters you may like more than others, and some that may be better-suited (or worse!) for the microgame in question, although all microgames can be completed by every character.

And as mentioned, these microgames are typical for WarioWare games in that they run the full gamut in playstyles and art styles. In one microgame, you may have to feed a giraffe from fruit off of a tree, in another you may have to get your character to a mushroom in a recreation of the classic Game Boy game Super Mario Land, and in yet another you may be tasked with getting your character stuck in a giant nose, plugging it up. Suffice it to say, the WarioWare series’ eclectic and absurd personality remains fully intact here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

With the varied art styles here comes a wide variety of different graphical types, although mostly you’ll be moving your simple 3D cel-shaded characters in 2D backgrounds ranging from a painterly style to retro-style pixel art to hastily-scribbled line art. This is backed by energetic music that’s fun but not terribly catchy, along with short voice clips from all of the game’s characters.

Despite the addition of character-based gameplay to the series, this quickly feels very much in line with other WarioWare games, which generally means a solid, fast-paced, fun, and wacky time, although by this point it’s an experience that’s not nearly as novel or surprising as it was when the WarioWare series first began in 2003, nearly 20 years ago.

However, there is one more element that gives this game a boost, and that’s the implementation of a multiplayer mode. Players can play the main campaign in 2-player co-op, and upon completion of the campaign they unlock the “Variety Pack”, a selection of minigames for 1 to 4 players. I really wish these 4-player options were unlocked at the start, as the multiplayer gameplay here is one of the highlights of this game, and the restriction of the main campaign to only 2 players is somewhat disappointing.

Some of the minigames included here just expand on one of the microgames, making it a full-fledged minigame – Gotta Bounce has players hitting a soccer ball in the air, trying to keep it aloft as long as possible, Daily Grind has players working through a Platformer-style level trying to collect papers and avoid enemies while getting bonuses for using pickups to change characters as frequently as possible. And Friendless Battle has players fighting off the game’s cast of characters in an arena-style game.

However, most of the minigames in the Variety Pack are ways to give players the ability to challenge each other in a random assortment of microgames – Deulius Maximus has two players competing to complete a series of microgames before their opponent, Balloon Bang acts as a microgame-filled version of Hot Potato, Rising Star has players competing in co-op games to see who can help the most to complete each goal, and Puck ‘er Up has players trying to be the ones to push a puck into a goal, and then complete a microgame while other players use the game’s wonky physics to try to sabotage them.

These minigames are a lot of fun, and I can definitely see WarioWare: Get It Together being an excellent choice to make a regular rotation in a party setting, but they come with one caveat – since many of these games randomly-assign characters to players like the main campaign does, players who are well versed in what each character does have a distinct advantage, and players who are new to the game may find themselves struggling with oddball characters like 9-Volt, 5-Volt, 18-Volt, and the game’s final unlockable character (who I won’t spoil here).

Still, while it has its fair share of faults, it’s hard not to love WarioWare: Get It Together. This game does a fantastic job of exploring the microgame-fueled gameplay the series is known for in a new direction, and while it misses more than a few opportunities to be a more ambitious game or an even better multiplayer experience, it’s still delightfully fun and varied, and a solid addition to its franchise.

tl;dr – WarioWare: Get It Together! Is the Nintendo Switch entry in the family-friendly Arcade-style Party game that has players trying to complete over 200 “microgames” played in rapid-fire sequences. This game’s take on the formula has players interacting with the games using the varied cast of characters, and while not as ambitious as some entries in the series, it’s still a wonderfully fun time, especially when playing the game’s multiplayer features (most of which need to be unlocked through play). If you’re looking for a fun game to add to your Party Game rotation, WarioWare: Get It Together is an excellent choice.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up – Best Multiplayer, Best Arcade/Party Game

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