WarioWare: Get It Together! Review: absurdly addicting, strangely tame
"WarioWare's character swap gimmick: Get It Together brings unnecessary confusion to a perfectly entertaining microgame collection."
advantages
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Crazy microgames
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Adorable comedy
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Strong gameplay loop
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Addictive crew management
disadvantage
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Weak character gimmick
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There is a lack of creative controls
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Low party game potential
Within minutes of playing WarioWare: Get it Together! I looked completely perplexed on my switch. I wasn't confused by all the incredibly smooth statues or gachapon pooping chickens; I just didn't understand why I was pushing buttons on my Joy-Cons instead of swinging them around wildly.
In previous iterations, the WarioWare games have taken full advantage of Nintendo's engineering experiments and have thrived as a result. WarioWare: Touched! makes great use of the Nintendo DS touchscreen, while WarioWare: Smooth Moves is the rare Wii game that has been enhanced with motion controls. In theory, the Switch is a perfect place for the series. The gyroscopes, the HD rumble, and the seemingly forgotten IR sensors all feel like features that could have merged into yet another intuitive collection of 5-second mini-games with creative control schemes. Why did I move a joystick and press A instead every game?
WarioWare: Get It Together! is a welcome return for one of Nintendo's funniest series of lightweight portable entertainment. Though it's hard to ignore how much a missed opportunity it is too, as it trades enthusiastic control experimentation for some oddly down-to-earth gimmick.
What a character
Structurally, WarioWare: get it together! is something of a return to form after Wii U's mind-boggling Game & Wario. It's a fast-paced collection of mini-game gauntlets that require players to complete bite-sized challenges in quick succession. One minute you squeeze ketchup over a plate of spaghetti, the next you put out the fire by tilting a peeing putti statue at the right angle. The joy of WarioWare is that players don't have more than a second to process their bizarre visual gags. Games end in seconds, making it a constant flurry of absurd punchlines.
The main difference this time around – and it's a big one – is that the game features multiple characters, each with their own particular style of play. Wario can move freely across the screen and overcome obstacles. Meanwhile, 9-volt only drives back and forth and shoots a projectile straight up. Each microgame is designed to be completed by any character, although in some situations players may need to think outside the box.
It's as clever as it is uneven. Sometimes I would stumble upon a surprising solution that made me feel like some insane genius who destroyed the game. A microgame prompts players to push a dog's tongue up so it can swallow water from a leaky faucet. Instead, I found that I could use Penny, who has a water pistol, to just fill her mouth without interacting with her tongue. The skill premise works best when players can accidentally stumble upon such little aha moments.
Get it together! often asks players to put together a small team of characters to tackle a particular playlist, but there are certain characters that I never think of using.
However, these are only a few. More often I came across goals where my character was objectively worse than others. This is especially notable when it comes to characters who can fly around freely vs. those who can only move by grabbing moving rings. In a mini-game, players look for a cell phone signal. With a character like Wario, it's so easy to fly past some symbols to find the right one. With someone like 16 volts, a stationary character who has to throw a projectile at a ring in order to move, the same game is a complete battle.
Get it together! often asks players to put together a small team of characters to tackle a particular playlist, but there are certain characters that I never think of using. Characters like Pyoro, tongue out at an angle to attack, are difficult to work with and have no real advantages. Why should I choose it over Ashley, who flies freely as she shoots projectiles in all directions? The game never gives a good answer to this question, which makes certain characters feel completely out of date.
Content pipeline
While its core gimmick doesn't quite work, the game is still a delightful curiosity. There's a fast-paced but fun two and a half hour story mode (which appears short but is comparable to previous WarioWare games), but the real fun comes from keeping track of the high scores. Players can immerse themselves in microgame playlists and try to complete as many as possible before losing four lives. While the microgames aren't always the most brilliant creations in the series (aside from the Nintendo-themed, which includes a hilarious cameo from the tea-times of Fire Emblem: Three House), they're especially addicting when played at the high stakes -speed glove.
Most surprising, however, is how good Get It Together! connects all of its little systems and modes together. The story mode and play-o-pedia (which allows players to simply play a particular microlegame over and over) serve as the main hook of the game, but are part of a larger ecosystem. The game features achievements that reward coins for completing various challenges. These instruct players to achieve certain goals, e.g.
Coins earned through achievements flow into the game's bizarrely fun Crew Management mode. Players basically use in-game cash to purchase random items from chicken-shaped gachapon machines. These items can be given as gifts to any character, giving them a certain amount of experience points. As they level up, each character is given some easy customization options and some art. I quickly became obsessed with trying to unlock each and every “Prezzie” and deduce which gifts would be best for each character in order to maximize the experience gained.
Most surprising, however, is how good Get It Together! connects all of its little systems and modes together.
More importantly, level-ups increase the skill points of a character in the Wario Cup who has the potential to be the game's permanent hook. Each week the game features a different Ranked Challenge playlist for players to participate in. Get a high score and win fantastic prizes. With the game sorely lacking online features, this is the only real leaderboard. I spent hours perfecting the first week challenge, a collection of hyper-fast games where players only control the 9 volt skateboards. The more I upgraded it in Crew mode, the higher the point multiplier I would get in the Wario Cup.
Then the full pipeline is revealed. Play mini-games to get achievements. Unlock achievements to get coins. Use Coins to Buy Prezzies. Use Prezzies to level up characters. Use upgraded characters to gain an advantage in the Wario Cup. It's an elegant bow that has tied me up for a lot longer than I expected. With the Wario Cup handing out ongoing weekly challenges, there's a good chance I'll stop by once a week to achieve this full cycle.
Spoilsport
Get it together! Has a heavy emphasis on multiplayer, which isn't surprising given the Super Smash Bros-like character selection screen. Two players can work together to get high scores, or up to four can compete in a series of mini-games. While some of the multiplayer modes are simple duds, like a boring volleyball game that feels like it was built in Nintendo's game builder garage, the modes that revolve around head-to-head clearing of microgames offer one hectic fun. Finishing a game in seconds is difficult enough, and it only gets tense if you try to finish it in front of three other people (or try to finish it while those three people frantically bounce the screen up and down as you try to play). .
While it's easy to imagine the multiplayer working with players who all know the game, the overly complicated character system makes it more difficult as a casual party game. In WarioWare, figuring out how to get to a goal in the blink of an eye is already hard enough for a novice (my inexperienced multiplayer partner stared at the screen in amazement when vague commands like "fill" flashed on the screen). In Get It Together! they also have to learn 20 different characters and their functions. Story mode does a good job of introducing each character's powers consistently, but there are no tutorials in multiplayer.
Here I come back to my disappointment with the game's lack of joy-con support. WarioWare: Smooth Moves is so successful as a party game because its microgames are so easy to understand. When players are asked to "pick up the phone," it's easy to figure out that they need to raise the Wiimote to their ear. The best WarioWare titles have a natural design that makes them so irresistible.
While it's easy to imagine the multiplayer working with players who all know the game, the overly complicated character system makes it more difficult as a casual party game.
That is not the case here. Instead, players have to explain the already confusing premise of WarioWare and then shut down the character system. And since some characters are just harder to control or objectively inferior to others in mini-games, I wouldn't blame a newbie for feeling completely confused by what's happening … for the wrong reasons.
Get it together! works best as a solo high score race played in 10 minute rounds. It's just a shame it's so hard to sell as a party game with the Switch sorely lacking in that department. Let me throw my Joy-con through my TV!
Our opinion
WarioWare: Get It Together! contains a healthy dose of absurd fun thanks to a very well constructed series of gameplay loops, but it's hard not to think about what could have been. Its character-driven premise is weak compared to previous entries that included intuitive technical gimmicks. Both the microgames and multiplayer suffer from a lack of creative control. The strangest thing about this episode is how tame it feels at the end.
Is there a better alternative?
WarioWare has a very unique premise, so not really. Super Mario Party is a better mini-game-focused party game, but you'll have to dig up a Nintendo DS or Wii to find a better WarioWare game.
How long it will take?
I was able to clear the story mode and unlock each mini-game in about six hours. Even if you're keen to keep track of some high scores, it's hard to imagine most players going into double digits.
Should I buy it?
No. At least not at the full $ 50 price. I had quite a lot of fun with WarioWare: Get It Together !, but it's hands down a sleek package that is best enjoyed in 10-minute bursts that expand on its contents.
Editor's recommendations