Wario Ware Touched

Ben was certainly touched...

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Avid supporters of the DS have mostly too been avid supporters of Nintendo handhelds in general. There's a good reason too, as Nintendo have been the masters of the handheld gaming scene for as long as life itself has existed, as far as I'm aware at least. This is why the various incarnations of the Gameboy have seen off many a technically superior foe. Handheld games are different from home console games and no game has illustrated this better than Wario Ware Inc on the GBA. Consisting of nearly 200 minigames, it's ideal for that brief pause at the bus stop, or better still, when taking a dump at work (or indeed anywhere, for I in no way wish to be seen as an excrement fascist).

It is without surprise but with much delight then that Wario Ware Touched has been gracing my DS as of late. When paired up with the original GBA Wario Ware, or even the newer Wario Ware Twisted in the additional GBA port of your DS, handheld gaming Nirvana is a near cert (though it must be said that the partnership of Mario 64 DS and Super Mario World is also extremely alluring).

Much like its GBA predecessors, Wario Touched is a collection of dozens and dozens of minigames, though this time instead of using the timed button presses of Wario Inc or the tilt controls of Twisted, Touched utilises the much-touted unique interfaces offered by the DS. The vast majority of the games use the touch screen and require you to either twirl, rub, tap or draw your way to success. As well as this there are also a number of breath controlled games, which whilst suffering from problems of their own (more on that later) are enjoyable nonetheless and worthy additions.

It's not just the minigame formula that this title shares with its GBA brethren either. On the whole this DS incarnation is graphically indistinguishable from the earlier games - itself surely a stark reminder of Nintendo's desire to champion gameplay and innovation over raw mechanical power. There are still some lovely graphical touches that do tell it apart; simple but cute 3D map animations run before each level and from time to time you stumble across the odd game boasting 3D imagery. On the whole though hand drawn frames and distinctly 16bit imagery prevail, yet the real beauty of this title is that none of that really matters. Given the choice between some lacklustre 3rd person shooter, albeit with lush 3D environments and accurately modelled damage physics, and the simple but immensely pure joy of a Wario Ware game, I'm with the fat moustached git every time.

The Wario Ware series is regarded as a landmark handheld title for a reason - it's 'effing wicked. One moment you're swatting flies on a pane of the glass, then five seconds later you're guiding a miner down a snotty nasal cavity, stretching out an elephant's trunk or tracing Japanese calligraphy (amongst many other surreal and indeed entertaining activities). Put bluntly, it messes with your mind. I certainly lost a life as I pondered the metaphysical implication of the minigame that has you playing a previous minigame from the fist Wario Ware on a GBA pictured on the DS touchscreen; all this only thirty minutes after I'd played the original game on a real GBA. In truth, I'm still reeling from the paradox. It's not just the simple, undiluted fun on offer that allows you to warm to the game either; the sheer scale of the programmer's imagination is consistently a joy to behold and I found myself laughing out loud (or lolling, as this loathsome twat in my office would call it) thanks to both the genuine humour and the often freakish surrealism.

So, a great title undoubtedly and in truth it's only due to the very high standards set by its predecessors that you may find criticism in Touched. I personally found it a bit easier than the first game and there were few level sets that I was forced to replay through failure (though like before I was always more than happy to revisit games I'd unlocked on the way). Perhaps this easiness stems from the fact that despite the huge number of games featured it's hard to escape from the feeling that a tad more variety would be welcome. Of course, all you did in Wario Inc was press buttons and all you did in Twisted was tilt your GBA, so in many ways this ethos is no different. Yet at the same time once you've twisted one lever the next feels much the same. It's an odd feeling that doesn't really hold up in my kind to logical analysis, yet it's still one I couldn't escape. The set of levels that require you to blow into your DS's mic are a fine example. They're clever and they're fun but blowing into the mic for ten games in a row, no matter whether you're doing it to cool food or turn a windmill, simply doesn't feel as varied as when you have a more direct and responsive interface, though that's not to say that the level of control possible with your breath isn't impressive - it is, as it was in Feel the Magic.

The fact that you cannot skip the cutscenes the first time you play a level is also frustrating (though you can skip on subsequent replays), particularly when you consider that Wario Ware is a title celebrated for its immediacy. The unlockables are also very hit and miss. Whilst the unlockable games on offer are very good, more often than not you're rewarded for completing levels with what amounts to small tech demos. These involve many things from wobbling a jelly to poking a chameleon; all are fairly cool for about twenty seconds but the chances are you'll return to none of them. As you would expect, the language barrier is minimal. Missing out on the "plot", were you to call it that, is probably of no real importance in a title such as this, though you'll be surprised how often missing out on the one-word prompt that precedes each game will cost you a life, even if you'll always grasp it after your second or third attempt.

Wario Ware Touched keeps up the entertaining tradition set down by those before it, even if in some ways it fails to progress the series forward as much as you might have hoped. If you allow yourself to dwell on this there's a chance that you might even be disappointed. However, if you consider Touched as partner to the GBA titles as opposed to a successor then there's much fun to be had. Taken together the three games of the series are all must own titles if you have the systems and if not then even reason alone to get your lazy behind down the shops and pick up both units. The only question that begs now is how Nintendo are to advance a series that has diversified so much already without allowing it to get repetitive. Only time will tell, but I suspect that like the games themselves we're sure of some new surprises yet.

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By Ben Parfitt