WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Video Description
Summary: Greedy Wario has found a new way to make money, hire his friends and have them create a bunch of video games while he keeps all the profits. Over 200 games await.
I had this game for the Game Boy Advance and had a lot of fun with it. Such a strange, quirky game, that eventually was re-released for the GameCube under the subtitle “Mega Party Games!” The GameCube version is a stripped down version of the Game Boy Advance release. While it does have the same microgames, and technically some different content, the progression is different. Furthermore, it includes a two player mode which has a unique twist on the character’s games, which is really cool, like a game within a game within a game!
This game was played using the Game Boy Advance emulator, mGBA in RetroArch. The GameCube version was played using the GameCube/Wii emulator, Dolphin. There is also a HD texture pack available for the GameCube version.
Story
The overall story is that Wario wants to capitalize on the gaming industry in his town of Diamond City. So, he hires his friends to create a bunch of games (over 200) and started a company, WarioWare, Inc., and he will keep all the profits.
Each character has a little story, but not much.
- Jimmy
- A disco dancer with a big afro. Jimmy dances and dances some more at Club Sugar, letting his phone play a groovy ringtone, before leaving and dancing and letting it ring again to a different tune.
- Dribble & Spitz
- Two taxi driving friends who pick up a child who wants to go to the harbor. Upon reaching the destination, the child transforms into a merman/mermaid and dives into the sea. The two friends realize the child never paid.
- Mona
- A high school student that works part time. Mona is late for work, so she speeds there as fast as she possibly can on her scooter. This catches the attention of the local police who begin chasing after her. Her animal friends help to turn the cop cars upside down by slipping on banana peels. Surely nothing illegal about this. But, she manages to get to work just in time for her shift to start.
- 9-Volt
- A grade schooler in Diamand Elementary that is a big fan of older Nintendo games. He quickly goes home on his skateboard, spins some records, and sees a commercial for the new Game Boy Advance SP on television. He quickly leaves to pickup the device.
- Orbulon
- An alien who planned on taking over Earth, but his spacecraft, a gigantic pig, has malfunctioned due to a meteor so he calls for help. A team of Space Hares appear to help him, but the moment he boards, he wants to take over their ship. So, they send him back to his own destroyed ship as he crash lands near Wario’s place.
- Dr. Crygor
- A mad scientist who lives on his own island. He drinks a strange liquid and has a stomach ache, so he runs to the toilet. However, it overflows. He tries to escape but the pressure builds up, launching him into the air. A bird carries him to safety.
- Kat & Ana
- Two twin sisters that are ninjas and in kindergarten. One night, the Diamond City castle is under attack by an evil skeleton. Ana fails at stopping him and sends a letter to her sister. Kat takes an entire year getting to the castle since she has to walk by foot. She manages to defeat the evil skeleton and save the castle.
- Wario
- A garlic loving fat man who wants to take the ideas of his friends, make his own game with them, and run off with the profits. Sure enough that’s exactly what he does. The game was a major success, so he runs off with the profits as his friends chase him down, but he gets in a rocket and secures his escape…or so he thinks. Dr. Crygor manages to stop him by bumping into the rocket. No more garlic for you, greedy Wario!
In the GameCube version, Mega Party Games, the story is a bit different and all flow together. Jimmy goes to Club Sugar and meets a lady who gives him an ultimatum, either her or dancing. Jimmy chooses dancing and the girl leaves, as he claims the rhythm made him do it. A taxi drives by, it’s Dribble and Spitz, who picks up another lady who wants to go to the farthest reaches out outer space. It’s actually Orbulon in disguise. Upon getting to space, Orbulon’s ship sucks up the taxi, but a rock hits the ship, crashing it back down to Earth, directly on Dr. Crygor’s lab. Crygor gets in the taxi and the four of them drive in the water to shore. All while Wario is watching 9-Volt and Kat & Ana on television, but his TV suddenly breaks. Suddenly Mona is driving to work and knocks into a soccer ball which goes flying to Wario’s place and into his TV, which fixes it. The end!
Gameplay
This is a game within a game, or rather I should say 200+ games within a game. There are a series of small microgames that you play that last just a few seconds before moving onto the next stage. It’s impressive that with the amount of games there is such a unique variety.
Each character has a theme for their games:
- Introduction (Intro Games)
- Jimmy (Sports)
- Dribble & Spitz (Sci-Fi) – also has remix of intro games
- Mona (Strange)
- 9-Volt (Nintendo)
- Jimmy (Remix No. 1) – A remix of prior three character’s games on level two
- Orbulon (IQ)
- Dr. Crygor (Reality)
- Kat & Ana (Nature) – also has remix of intro games
- Jimmy (Remix No. 2) – A remix of prior three character’s games on level two
- Wario (Anything Goes) – also has remix of intro games
In the story mode, you play through each character’s story, unlocking their games as you play. They each have a different set of games, and the amount needed to clear their level, with a ‘boss’ stage ending the set of levels. The boss stage is a longer game that may be more difficult. You only have four lives to win, and when you lose a life, you progress to the next microgame, or have to restart the boss stage. But, if you lose all your lives, you have to do that character’s games all over again.
Once you’ve completed the character’s games for the first time, you can replay for a survival round, and when completing the boss stage, you continue playing, but the games get harder. If you win a boss stage, you get an extra life, but if you lose it, you will not have to repeat it. Each game has a set of three difficulty levels. Each one makes the game go faster, adds obstacles, or other things to it that make it harder.
There is also a free play mode where you can select any games you’ve unlocked so far and play them on repeat as it cycles through the three difficulty stages. Each game has a record you can strive for, and when beating that record, you get a flower overlaid on the game.
There are also various other games you can unlock by completing certain objectives:
- Jump Forever – Beat Jimmy’s Stage
- Dr. Wario – Beat 20 Microgames on Jimmy’s Stage
- Chicken Race – Beat 2 Stages From Dribble, Mona, or 9-Volt
- Chiritorie – Beat Dribble, Mona, or 9-Volt’s Stage for The First Time
- Skating Board – Beat Jimmy’s First remix Stage
- Fly Swatter – Beat 25 Microgames on Jimmy’s First Remix Stage
- Dong Dong – Beat Kat and Ana, Dr. Crygor, or Orbulon’s Stage for The First Time
- Hurdle – Beat 2 Stages From Kat and Ana, Dr. Crygor, or Orbulon
- Paper Plane – Beat Jimmy’s Second remix Stage
- Sheriff – Beat 25 Microgames on Jimmy’s Second Remix Stage
- Easy – Beat Wario’s Stage
- Thrilling – Beat Easy Stage with A High Score
- Hard – Beat 15 Microgames on Thrilling
- Total Boss – Beat Wario’s Stage
- Pyoro – Unlock all Microgames in The Grid
- Pyoro 2 – Beat all Microgames With it’s High Score Needed
- Staff – Beat Wario’s Stage
There are even a few unreleased games that I could only access with the standalone version of mGBA. The cheats are as follows:
- Block Fever – 03000E61:2F
- F1 Race – 03000E61:5E
- Pong – 03000E61:66
- Ping-Pong VS – 03000E61:E5
The GameCube version, Mega Party Games, has the same games as the GBA version, but it’s primary focused on multiplayer. Think of it like a game within a game. Each character has an overall game to play, and then you play microgames to determine the outcome of the overall game.
Graphics
I like the cartoon style graphics the game has. Each microgame also has a unique style and distinctively looks different from each other. With the HD texture pack on the GameCube version, the sprites look absolutely amazing.
Sound / Music
The music is quite catchy and what’s impressive is that each microgame has its own music (mostly since some are reused). It’s more of a jingle since the track is so short, but that’s quite impressive.
Game Info
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