Forget mini games – it’s all about micro games this week on the Nintendo Switch.
WarioWare: Get It Together! is a breath of fresh air on the handheld console and brings a whole new meaning to the tried-and-testing genre.
The long story, short, is that Wario has created his own video game only for the blinking thing to get infected by computer bugs.
As is customary in this kind of situation, Wario and his work buddies get mysteriously sucked into the game itself.
And they are tasked with playing their way back out, cleaning the game of any gremlins in a series of fun micro games in the process.
There are more than 200 micro games in this new Switch hit.
Some of them can be over in less than a second, they’re that quick, and they push your reflexes to the limits in ridiculously fun ways.
And they’re incredibly varied too.
One second you can be jumping up, trying to be the first to squeeze toothpaste out of the tube, the next minute you could be shoving you character straight up someone’s nostril to ‘plug the hole’.
The emphasis is on speed and silliness and some of the ‘games’ are so basic in task that you can barely call them games at all.
You’ll be asked to yank out a bloke’s armpit hair, fight your way out of a bin bag, or simply switch on a light switch while in the complete dark.
The payoffs and presentation of each micro game make you laugh though and it’s very clear WarioWare was built to get the player giggling first and foremost.
There are a series of characters to adopt as the story mode progresses, each with their own unique abilities that will help you down the line in finding a unique team-up of heroes to help you conquer any given scenario.
Some jump high, some fire magical weapons, some simply don’t stop moving and let you swing a boomerang around like a loon.
You’ll need lightning fast reflexes to best these off-the-wall challenges, particularly in local co-op – splitting the Joy-Cons away from the console.
Away form the story mode there’s also a Variety Pack, which is a competitive party mode made up of 10 manic sections for you and up to three other players to check out.
And for the completionist, there are tons of online challenges to beat and compete to say you’ve smashed all the game has to offer.
Players can even throw their own hat in the ring with Wario Cup, a rotating weekly high score challenge.
WarioWare has absurdity at its heart.
And the speed of the game, plus its generous amount of wildly differing micro games, make it a fun title to play over and over with pals.
In solo gameplay I suspect the dazzle will wane once you’ve tried all the micro games a couple of times. That’ll take less time than you think as they’re so frenetic and over so quickly.
But Nintendo has done another good job here giving players a unique new game that the Switch hasn’t seen before.
Well worth a look.
VERDICT 4/5