PixlBit

Games have become pretty advanced over the last couple decades. They used to focus on simply being fun to play, but nowadays developers look to create breathtaking visuals, cinematic experiences, deep player choices, and seemingly endless hours of content. The more of these checkboxes a game covers, the more seemingly eligible it is for a high review score.

I can’t look at Game & Wario with that type of mindset, because it is a game that relishes on past ideals; simply being a fun and addictive game. To be more accurate, it is actually a collection of sixteen fun and addictive mini-games, twelve single player and four multiplayer.

Some of the mini-games definitely stand out more than others, like “Gamer”, which has you playing the original Warioware handheld game on the Wii U controller while trying to hide from your mom on the TV. This is an extremely tense experience, as you are always trying to get in one more second of WarioWare before your mom gets crazy lasers in her eyes and freaks out. Another is Taxi, which has you driving and saving farm animals from being abducted by aliens. You fight against the clock, picking up animals while shooting at the UFOs.

Some others include a relaxing puzzle solving patchwork game, “Ashley”, a side scrolling shooter where you play as a witch on a broom, and “Kung Fu”, a jumping platformer where you simply jump to the end of a stage while avoiding pits and obstacles. “Kung Fu” shows off by giving you alternate views on the Wii U controller and TV. The Wii U Controller shows an overhead view where you can carefully avoid landing in pits and traps, while the TV offers a behind the back perspective so you can scope out the stage ahead of you; it is very cool and keeps you concentrated on the goal.

It is hard forget the “Pirate” game, a rhythm based panoramic game which has you dodging attacks from pirate ships to the left, right, ahead, and above. This is a test of timing and reflexes that is fun to play and tricky to master. It all rounds off with a hilarious dancing game, where creepy looking dudes to try get you to dance and pose with the Wii U controller; this has no effect on the game other than laughs for friends and a meaningless but delightful “Enthusiasm” ranking.

You’ll have the most fun with friends though. While there are only four multi-player games, but they offer endless amounts of enjoyment. I enjoyed a great game called “Sketch”, a Pictionary type game where one player draws, the other players guess, and points are distributed accordingly. I also love “Fronks”, which has you throwing little square guys at targets for points.

My favorite mini-game is Game & Wario’s rendition of hide and seek. One player walks around a map populated with a bunch of characters and tries to stealthily collect fruit as all other players simply watch the TV and try to uncover who the fruit thief is. I watched a “demo” video of this game before playing it, and trust me when I say it looks like the most boring thing you can ever do. However, sit some people down in a room, start playing, and you’ll probably watch a couple hours fly with huge smiles stuck to your friends’ faces.

It is also important to realize this is not a sequel to the Wii’s Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. While it has similar humor, Game & Wario is an intentionally slow paced game. It focuses on relaxing mini-games rather than Wario Ware’s “faster than you can think” approach. Game & Wario is a title that thrives on simplicity and short bursts of fun.

Shortness is my only complaint though. You can unlock all games within a couple hours, so it would have been nice to see more stages for each mini-game, or a few more mini-games period. However, I’ve already played multiplayer for over ten hours with friends and at no point did we stop having a blast.

Even though the Wii U launched with another mini-game collection in the form of Nintendoland, Game & Wario is a perfect complement to it and could easily be packed in with every Wii U. It has an extremely quick learning curve, making it enjoyable for gamers and non-gamers of any age. This is not the next blockbuster experience pushing the boundaries of your console’s technology, but it never tries to be. It only strives to be a fun, diverse, and easy to play experience. On that note, it hits all cylinders. Especially since it is available at a budget price, Game & Wario is a no brainer for anyone looking to entertain some friends.