I have a great fondness for the WarioWare series. Ever since first been gifted WarioWare: Touched back on the Nintendo DS as a young teenager, it's always held had a soft spot in my games catalogue. The mad collection of party-style minigames (or "microgames) surrounding Wario and friends typically offers great replayability, frantic fun and a weird zaniness that Nintendo should embrace more often.
It's something that carried on through to WarioWare: Smooth Moves on the Nintendo Wii and thankfully it's something that has carried on through to the latest iteration on Nintendo Switch. WarioWare: Get It Together is delightful. Zapping Wario and friends into the middle of a video game that the former was developing is a really interesting premise, giving every character their own manoeuvrability to complete each minigame.
While Wario has a jetpack, Mona travels by moped. Ashley zips around on a broomstick, while 9-Volt skateboards, and so on. It keeps you on your toes throughout and changes things up enough to the very end. That end, though, turns up much quicker than anticipated. More specifically, the main story can be beaten in less than three hours... if not quicker. It's disappointing, and at the price offered is unjustified.
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WarioWare: Get it Together launched at the RRP of £39.99 / $49.99 / AU$69.95. At that price margin, there simply needs to be more. Nobody's questioning the quality. Nintendo constantly delivers on that front.
And yes, the WarioWare series has a history of slightly shorter campaigns than most but the side-missions and added content normally make up for what is lacking in the story. Not here, though. It's just getting to the stage that the big N's firm stance on launching a title at full price is getting out of hand. This is the same stance that saw Mario Tennis Aces disappointingly launch at full cost, yet never validate that claim.
It doesn't help that these prices are strictly frozen for all eternity, either. That was part of my thinking process when considering when to pick up the game. I love the series and I know it's never going to drop in price. If anything, it will only go up in cost, as many of us have discovered time and time again whenever trying to reclaim a former beloved game from the GameCube or N64 era. So what's the answer? Miss out on playing a fantastic game, or begrudgingly give in to Nintendo's price stance.
There's a free demo available so before making the jump, it's worth trying out or even worth waiting for a sale... if that ever happens. To end on a better note, it is a damn fun game and has been giving me tremendous bursts of joy on my travels recently. It just would have been better if it was kinder to my wallet.
