WarioWare stands as one of the most unique and ambitious Nintendo franchises of the bunch. An opposite take on the Mario Party series, this game throws hundreds of mini-games at you in a chaotic fashion that makes this one of the most entertaining and joyous titles in an overcrowded game release month.
While there isn’t too much here in terms of a single-player player experience, the multiplayer offering is simply fantastic. Several different modes work to break up the game’s repetitive structure from kicking in early, ultimately delivering an entirely exciting experience. The game makes the best use of the Joy-Con controllers with a speedy response time, it always finds a creative way to keep you engaged in the action.
Grab Your Friends & Get Crazy!
The first hour of the game is a tutorial framed as a “story mode” of sorts, that will teach you the basics of the game. It runs through a variety of mini-games as well as introduces you to the Forms. The easiest way to explain these is they are poses that you have to perform in rapid succession with joy-cons. It does take a bit to get used to, but I did have a lot of fun with it. Don’t look for an expansive or sensical story here, it is all for fun and ultimately designed for multiplayer mode.
The standard multiplayer mode has two players combining efforts across various minigames to progress. The most bizarre of these by far is the Copycat Mirror, where one player faces the TV with no joy-cons and the other with joy-cons must copy their actions in an attempt to win the game. It is a lot of ridiculous fun and I found myself and my housemates consistently playing this mode. There is also a competitive mode where you compete rather than contribute. It does allow you to switch up how you play, and the various modes keep gameplay feeling fresh.
The mini-games (well, micro-games could be the official term), offer up a quick and chaotic experience. I did things that I never thought I would do, like posing like a chicken and pushing out an egg, pulling an imaginary pair of stockings over a woman’s head, catching a fish with my thighs and many other insane and hilarious things.
Each micro-game is unlockable by playing the main campaign over 13 character stages, in which there are over 60 to unlock. By shuffling the micro-games at random, you never play the same game twice in one session which keeps things moving at a chaotic pace.
My only complaint with this game is that it doesn’t cater to all abled bodies. Those who are differently abled don’t get a look in here. The micro-games require you to stand and move around quite vigorously. As a result, there are no real accessibility options that allow players to dial down the level of movement required to participate. It’s not a huge complaint, but a complaint one must consider when purchasing this game.
My least favourite accessory in gaming is the Joy-Con strap, and this game requires you to have it on for certain micro-games that require you to hang the controller to compete in the game.
Final Thoughts
WarioWare Move It! is some of the most fun I have had on the Nintendo Switch, not only this year but ever. The story mode that acts as a tutorial blends well with the game’s main focus on multiplayer fun to get your friends and family having fun with the whacky scenarios that these micro-games spit out. It may be difficult for the differently abled to get involved with this game, hopefully, but I’m sure accessibility is something that can be looked at in future titles.
It’s been a while since the previous WarioWare game, but WarioWare Move It! is undeniably a welcome return to the series that delivers on its promise of insane and chaotic gameplay you will want to keep playing over and over.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Highlights: Addictive microgames, Great sense of humour
Lowlights: No accessibility for differently-abled gamers
Developer: Intelligent Systems, Nintendo Entertainment
Publisher: Nintendo Entertainment
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Available: Now
Review conducted on Nintendo Switch with a code provided by the publisher.
