Pros: Attention Zelda fanatics, seek this one out! Anywho, welcome to Game & Watch Gallery 4, the most comprehensive and best curated collection of Game & Watch games ever released!

There are a whopping 20 G&W games included, and 11 of which have modern interpretations that involve the Mario universe cast of characters (everyone gets a turn here too, there's even a game where Luigi boxes against Waluigi!) where 6 of said modern games are remasters of previous G&W Gallery modern games. Whew, it's hefty, especially compared to previous G&W Gallery entries!! And not only are there a lot of games here, they've chosen the best of the bunch (Octopus, Fire, Chef, DK 1, Jr, and 3, Fire Attack Cement Factory, Rain Shower, Tropical Fish, Bomb Sweeper, Safe Buster, Climber, and more!), these are all quality titles included!! The higher the score, the faster and more difficult the games become, and if you manage to cross 1000 points in a specific game, you earn max stars, and those stars are currency, essentially to unlock more and more G&W games! Eventually, you'll unlock games in the museum menu, which is a sub-category that only includes 'classic' games, no modern titles, but even these selections are quite fantastic with upgrades from previous G&WG games, and additionally, classic games in this entry feature "shadow" images, which are just background "ghost" images that show where the active character objects will move across on the playing field, which helps greatly in gameplay knowing where exactly movement happens, and it also reflects what playing on an actual Game & Watch system feels like. I only wish these extra classic games also had modern takes (Mario's Bombs Away particularly, as it involves Mario in what appears to be... the Vietnam War??? hahah!).

But the final game unlock is the ultimate goal, which is the final G&W title to have ever released in fact, Zelda, and boy, is this one a cool as hell addition! Playing as Link as you fight off Moblins, ghosts, and Stalfos through various dungeons as you grab items and weapons to face off against a dragon boss to collect pieces of the Triforce, to eventually save princess Zelda! Comprehensive for a G&W game, right?? It's a bit simpler than what you're probably imagining, heh, but they manage to make it work, and make it fun, as you shield backwards or forwards on a 2D plane, avoiding enemy attacks, to try and kill the Moblin guard in each room, it... works! And definitely worth tracking down this game if you're a big Zelda fan, as this is one of the rarer officially developed Zelda titles from Nintendo.

And there's more! A couple of the games included are multiplayer, yeah, there were multiplayer G&W games back in the day, and now they have some modern takes here too! Two games, Donkey Kong 3 and Boxing, have multiplayer link cable support, where two people can face off against one another in simple but fun combative games. In DK3, Mario faces off against Donkey Kong in a 1-on-1 tug-of-war style game, where you're shooting either bubbles in modern, or bug spray in classic, on a three tier playing field, as a bug or fireball or ghost moves between them in the middle. Push those elements in the middle of the playing field using your spray all the way to your opponent's side of the arena to knock em out!! Can get quite energetic, it's probably my favorite (also playable Donkey Kong? Hell yeah! In fact, the classic G&W version might be the first time Donkey Kong was ever playable in any video game?!? Yeah, I think it is!) And boxing is essentially the NES game "Urban Champion" but, it's more fun, I promise, haha! Where you can raise or lower your fists, and punch high or punch low, and if you punch your opponent where they aren't guarding with their fists, you'll give em a solid whack, keep at it to give em a KO, and it's as simple as that! Fun little multiplayer games, whether classic or modern!

Also, for all those Smash Bros. fans out there, Mr. Game & Watch, the dude himself, actually shows up here, hah!

Cons: These are simple high score games, where you're doing pretty much the same few things over and over, with the challenge of keeping up your performance as the speed increases and additional variables are thrown in as well, it's like you're spinning multiple plates at once. I find it incredibly satisfying and fun, but I understand that it may not be everybody's jam. This is a "Minigame collection" after all. And like said above, I wish every playable game had a modern version, as a lot of the classic games playable in the museum are excellent, and I would've loved more. And if that's the major complaint, that I would've loved even more, then you know you got yourself a pretty great package here.

What it means to me: I grew up playing the Game & Watch Gallery series on Game Boy and Game Boy Color, so I had already been a fan, but when they announced this one, it was next level. All the modern games looked lush as hell, with vibrant colors and details pushing them beyond what you'd typically even see on the SNES, the backgrounds alone were stunning in games like Rain Shower and Octopus, I thought. And these backgrounds even change colors or go through different seasons the higher your score is, which is just lovely to look at, and keeps things fresh the more you play. It certainly became one of my most anticipated titles! And it delivered too! Dozens upon dozens of hours were put into this game, and I don't regret a minute of em, so much fun! Also, extra little note, this is, to my knowledge, the only video game to feature both Rare's Donkey Kong (who shows up in the title screen) as well as Yoichi Kotabe's Donkey Kong (the classic style DK from DK '94 on Game Boy), who's featured on the box art as well as in "modern" DK games included. Since this was one of Nintendo's first releases to include Donkey Kong after the Rare buyout from Microsoft (which happened in September 2002, and this game released in October of 2002, pretty dang close!) Just thought that was neat!

Pros: Very accessible for English players, as its gameplay of "keeping the beat" is simple enough for anyone to understand, with relatively easy controls and consistent gameplay the whole way through with its diverse set of kooky and fascinating "musical minigames". It's hard to describe just what these minigames are, like a music video that gives you purely visual prompts telegraphing the beats on screen, in order to assist or guide you through the gameplay in a satisfying soundscape.

Made by the same team that made WarioWare, it has its same signature quirkiness, where the actions and set pieces are oftentimes so silly they're ridiculous, but in a way that keeps you glued to the screen. And here, these aren't five second microgames, naw, you're playing through a whole, how do I put it, full length "song"... that's why I compare it to a music video. Each "song" has you performing actions to the beat depending on what the context of the game is, whether it's jumping around on turtles and whales in the ocean as a rabbit, or shooting ghosts with a bow and arrow as they try to sneak past a gate, or playing as mice running across a table-set hiding behind teacups to not get caught by a cat. And all of this, is done via the music, with the actions being on beat. The mix of that rhythm gameplay and the visual storytelling in each game is so delightful, and so unique, that you might even burst out into laughter here and there, I sure did! And after a series of musical minigames are completed, they award you with remixes and medleys to play, which are fantastically fun, going from song to song and beat to beat gameplay in succession during a single medley, is incredibly satisfying to perform, and to perfect! And yeah, the game rewards you for perfecting these songs, without missing a beat.

Cons: Some games are more obtuse than others (particularly if you don't know Japanese, as one or two games here includes non-English voice acted prompts for what button to press to a beat) but for the most part, each and every game gives enough gameplay variety, and visual and thematic variety, to keep the fun flowin' to the end. However... Unlike WarioWare, there is no centralized mascot in this game, there is a little Samurai Drummer that hosts the game, he's cool and all, but he's hardly a personality to be stamped on the cover of the box or the title screen, guiding you through this adventure. And that's another thing, whereas WarioWare patched all of its "games" together with characters and stories, with an ending even, this game doesn't do that at all, you just have separate minigames to play, fun as they may be, without a connecting story through it all. I feel this game would've been helped greatly by a strong centralized mascot character to carry you through a story of sorts, just as WarioWare did. Not saying it should've been Wario, or even any existing IP character, but somebody with enough of a presence where... Where maybe they'd have made sense as an inclusion on the roster of a future Smash Bros., if you catch my drift, heh...

What it means to me: This was the first game I ever imported from Japan, and boy what a great choice that was! I knew I'd love it, considering I loved WarioWare, but also, Emulators were a big no-no, not just because of the obvious reason, but also because timing is so incredibly important, that I wanted the authentic experience on the actual cartridge on the actual hardware. And it was worth it, this game provides hours upon hours of fun rhythmic joy, and I can go back to it time and time again. It's hard to beat!

Pros: ADHD heaven: the Game. It's creative gameplay, it's funny and stupid, it's visual variety, it's wonderful colorful characters, and it's an incredible novel concept of playing five second "micro-games" in succession one after another. It just works.

Initially, I couldn't wrap my head around what this game was when it was first announced... I thought... A minigame collection? Well, no, there are minigames, but that's not what this is. It's like... if video games were Flash Cards that test your gaming abilities, performance and reaction time, and keeping you on your toes, not knowing what five-second-game will come next. Well, there are multiple categories, though no game goes beyond the simple controls of d-pad and A button only, so you're never put in a place of too much confusion. There's also always a single prompt that appears when a microgame is introduced, and I feel it's just enough to suggest to the player what to do in the microgame. And these categories help separate the games into different modes so it's not too much unexpected in one place, and in WarioWare here, there are different characters that are keepers of these different gaming categories.

Firstly, Wario, the mascot who's used perfectly for this game and eventual franchise, as he matches the silliness and chaotic energy of the style of gameplay found here, even though it practically has nothing to do with the Wario games that've come before. But he's used great as a mascot here, and his likeness benefits the success of the product. And to differentiate him from his prior appearances, they've dressed him up in a wildly colorful biker outfit, and even given him a hog of his own to ride around town. Other characters are all brand new, and they're all fantastic too, yeah, all of them. Jimmy, the disco dancer, hosts sports themed games, Mona the fashionable ice cream shop worker hosts "weird" games, 9-Volt the nerdy kid hosts retro Nintendo themed games (which, was the huge draw for a Nintendo nerd like me), Kat and Ana host animal themed games, Orbulon hosts "thinking" games that take slightly longer than five seconds, Dribble & Spitz are a dog and cat duo and they host sci-fi games, and Dr. Crygor hosts "photo real" styled games, and then one final category is a Wario remix, where Wario is featured in new microgames that can fit snuggly into any of the above categories. It's a fun journey with a TON of variety, and little microgames that are so goofy and fun, that often you'll wish they were full-blown games all in their own right. And with these characters also comes great presentation, as each have their own little story intros and outros, as well as unique visual and audio storytelling, with some great music as well.

In addition to the main campaign, there's other modes where you can play each microgame for highscores, as they get faster and harder the more they loop. As well as "hard" and "thrilling" modes, as well as Boss Rush and such. Speeding things up, setting things to maximum difficulty, only giving you one life, etc. And then there's also unlockable minigames, separate from the microgames, little high score games like jump rope, skate boarding, and paper airplane, but also "multiplayer games" where one player uses the left side of the GBA and its L button, and another player uses the right side of the GBA and its R button, these minigames are frenetic and exciting, and a blast to play with a friend (Vs. Chiritorie and Vs. Dong Dong are favs of mine).

Cons: Some of the visuals can look rather janky, but I kinda chalk it up to charm, honestly, so much of this game is weird, and some moments that look off model, actually add to the quirkiness. Otherwise, I don't see any real issues here, some Microgames are more difficult than others, and sometimes you wish a prompt would clue you in more or less, but it's never to the point where you feel cheated, it works, and if they didn't throw you for a loop every now and then, it wouldn't have that chaotic energy that you want out of this game, which is a huge part of the fun factor!

What it means to me: Like stated above, when I first saw the announcement of this game, I didn't know what the heck I was looking at, thinking it was a minigame collection, but I remember seeing some of 9-Volt's NES games, like Zelda and Duck Hunt and such, and wanting to try this game out just for that... But... Once you try WarioWare, that's it, you're in, it was like no other game before it and especially if you're into highscore games, this one will keep you playing for a long long long long long time.