When it comes to the WarioWare series, I often see people refer to this one as the worst. I’ve only played a handful of games in the series, and to be honest, the single player mode isn’t anything too special. I can see where people are coming from when they write this one off.
But then you get to the multiplayer minigames.
There are 4 multiplayer minigames and each one is very unique in its execution:
- Disco, where one player makes a rhythm and another player tries to match it, like a very simplified Guitar Hero. This one is easily the weakest of the 4.
- Sketch, which serves as a rapid-fire Pictionary. Each player takes a turn sketching a word they receive on the WiiU gamepad. The drawer gets one point each time a player gets it correct and the guesser also receives a point. You’re on a time limit that continues with each drawing, so you don’t want to spend much time on each one. Before playing, each player has to take a picture of themselves for their icon. These pictures aren’t saved and allow you to apply tons of dumb little filters, which is fun in itself.
- Fruit, which is similar to Gmod Guess Who. The player with the WiiU gamepad picks an unsuspecting guy and then gets inserted into an environment full of mindlessly wandering NPCs. The gamepad player has to steal 3 fruits within a time limit while the other players have to work together and find out which NPC the gamepad player is. Every 30 seconds or so, the game gives a highlight of which corner the gamepad player is in.
- Islands, which is my favorite one. You launch little creatures called Fronks onto giant buoys floating in the ocean and gain points depending on where they land. There are multiple maps, each one with a specific mechanic designed to shake each round up and keep it fresh. One of the most challenging maps is a gigantic, vertical buoy that tips if too many Fronks are on one side. If far too many accumulate in one spot, the buoy tips over and the game ends in a draw.
- There’s also a single player game I’d like to give a shoutout to: Design. Dr. Crygor needs your assistance to build blueprints for a robot. As a result, he’ll ask you to draw seemingly random things, like a 5cm line or a circle with an 8cm diameter. You have to guesstimate how much to draw, and neatness counts.
I cannot tell you how many times I busted out this game at parties for the multiplayer minigames. The Rhythm game was okay, but people couldn't get enough of the other games. I had so many countless nights of people laughing and shouting at the Islands minigame, people using insane logic to discover who the thief is in the Fruits minigame, and people excitedly racking up points in the Sketch minigame. They even really loved the single player Design game, too. This was a game easily brought people together for hours of fun and I'll never forget that. I would love to see a more fleshed out minigame collection like this. Arguably, I think the multiplayer minigames do a better job introducing the WiiU to casual players than Nintendo Land does. Simplicity goes a long way, and while NL games are fun, I feel they can be a bit too complicated for the average person sometimes. The G&W minigames are incredibly easy to understand and almost anyone can pick them up in no time.
And then of course, there’s Miiverse Sketch, which was fun in its own regard. People on Miiverse would enter prompts and you had to sketch them as quickly as possible. Afterward, you can see what other people drew, going through a gallery of strange scribbles with the occasional amazing art piece that leaves you confused as to how someone accomplished it on a gamepad in 60 seconds.
Overall, I have a ton of respect for this game even though more than half of it isn’t very engaging. It comes off as a bit of a WiiU tech demo, for better and for worse. Either way, I think the multiplayer minigames do a great job showcasing how the different the WiiU was compared to the Wii. If you’ve never played the multiplayer minigames, I urge you to get some friends together and try it out.
But then you get to the multiplayer minigames.
There are 4 multiplayer minigames and each one is very unique in its execution:
- Disco, where one player makes a rhythm and another player tries to match it, like a very simplified Guitar Hero. This one is easily the weakest of the 4.
- Sketch, which serves as a rapid-fire Pictionary. Each player takes a turn sketching a word they receive on the WiiU gamepad. The drawer gets one point each time a player gets it correct and the guesser also receives a point. You’re on a time limit that continues with each drawing, so you don’t want to spend much time on each one. Before playing, each player has to take a picture of themselves for their icon. These pictures aren’t saved and allow you to apply tons of dumb little filters, which is fun in itself.
- Fruit, which is similar to Gmod Guess Who. The player with the WiiU gamepad picks an unsuspecting guy and then gets inserted into an environment full of mindlessly wandering NPCs. The gamepad player has to steal 3 fruits within a time limit while the other players have to work together and find out which NPC the gamepad player is. Every 30 seconds or so, the game gives a highlight of which corner the gamepad player is in.
- Islands, which is my favorite one. You launch little creatures called Fronks onto giant buoys floating in the ocean and gain points depending on where they land. There are multiple maps, each one with a specific mechanic designed to shake each round up and keep it fresh. One of the most challenging maps is a gigantic, vertical buoy that tips if too many Fronks are on one side. If far too many accumulate in one spot, the buoy tips over and the game ends in a draw.
- There’s also a single player game I’d like to give a shoutout to: Design. Dr. Crygor needs your assistance to build blueprints for a robot. As a result, he’ll ask you to draw seemingly random things, like a 5cm line or a circle with an 8cm diameter. You have to guesstimate how much to draw, and neatness counts.
I cannot tell you how many times I busted out this game at parties for the multiplayer minigames. The Rhythm game was okay, but people couldn't get enough of the other games. I had so many countless nights of people laughing and shouting at the Islands minigame, people using insane logic to discover who the thief is in the Fruits minigame, and people excitedly racking up points in the Sketch minigame. They even really loved the single player Design game, too. This was a game easily brought people together for hours of fun and I'll never forget that. I would love to see a more fleshed out minigame collection like this. Arguably, I think the multiplayer minigames do a better job introducing the WiiU to casual players than Nintendo Land does. Simplicity goes a long way, and while NL games are fun, I feel they can be a bit too complicated for the average person sometimes. The G&W minigames are incredibly easy to understand and almost anyone can pick them up in no time.
And then of course, there’s Miiverse Sketch, which was fun in its own regard. People on Miiverse would enter prompts and you had to sketch them as quickly as possible. Afterward, you can see what other people drew, going through a gallery of strange scribbles with the occasional amazing art piece that leaves you confused as to how someone accomplished it on a gamepad in 60 seconds.
Overall, I have a ton of respect for this game even though more than half of it isn’t very engaging. It comes off as a bit of a WiiU tech demo, for better and for worse. Either way, I think the multiplayer minigames do a great job showcasing how the different the WiiU was compared to the Wii. If you’ve never played the multiplayer minigames, I urge you to get some friends together and try it out.