by Michael Moore

WarioWare Touched! is just one of those games that defies description. It goes in that category of really strange games that are really a ton of fun. Basically when you get down to it, the game is merely a compilation of tons of mini games, 180 to be exact. Each one lasts maybe a few seconds and rarely do any go for more than that.

The structure of the game is pretty simple. Pick a character and then keep playing mini games until you lose all your lives. But, as you start to beat them, the games get faster and more complicated. That's the beauty of the game. Even though your playing the same games, the game itself doesn't get repetitive because you don't have time to think about anything else but what the next game is.

The importance of each character is more then aesthetic. The character you pick decides what kinds of mini games you'll be playing. There are basically three types of games: pointing, rubbing, and slicing. Some characters are combinations of the 3, others are specifically one kind of game. As you finish games, you unlock more characters and little extras like videos and such. I should mention that the game is entirely played with the touch screen. You never need to touch a button.

Let me give you some examples of the three types of games. There is a pointing game where you have to click the end of a mechanical pencil until the lead falls out. There is a rubbing game where you have to tickle a man's hairy armpit, and an example of a slicing game is the one where you have to unroll a tube of toilet paper.

For the most part, all the games are pretty simple and don't require too much thought to figure out or master. The trick with the game is that you never know what game is next, and you have to be able to quickly recognize the game, and then carry out what you need to do. This gets really hard once you get far enough into the game where its going really fast.

I think that this game is the first one to really show of the power of the Nintendo DS, not graphically or sound wise, but it definitely shows what kind of things are possible to accomplish on the DS. Hopefully future DS game makers will look to this game for ideas of how to make a really unique game. I only have two minor complaints with the game: maybe more mini games and a multiplayer mode would be nice too.

Rating: 9/10

Title
WarioWare Touched!
Copyright
Nintendo
Distributed by
Nintendo
Release Info

Release Date: February 15, 2005
Catalog Number: 245942
Number of Players: 1
System: Nintendo DS
Suggested Retail Price: $34.99