WarioWare Gold

WarioWare Gold
"Hey! Lookie here! It's-a Wario! I'm hosting the greatest video game tournament of all time! Here, in Diamond City!" — Wario
Protagonist(s): Wario Genre(s): Action Party Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS Release: EU: July 27, 2018 AU: July 28, 2018 JP/HK: August 2, 2018 NA: August 3, 2018 Developer(s): Nintendo EPD Intelligent Systems TOSE Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: WarioWare Predecessor: Game & Wario Successor: WarioWare: Get It Together!

WarioWare Gold is a minigame compilation/party game developed by Intelligent Systems and TOSE, and published by Nintendo, for the Nintendo 3DS. The eighth installment in the series and the first mainline game since WarioWare D.I.Y., the game follows Wario hosting a video game tournament as he attempts to get more money.

It is notable for breaking the record for the most microgames in a WarioWare game, with 316; this beats WarioWare: Twisted!, which had 223.

Why It Competes in the Wario Bowl Games

1. There is a total of 316 fun microgames to play (16 of those being boss microgames); while most of them are ones from previous games, there are also new ones to keep things interesting.
   • Each of the four Leagues (categories) of microgames, including Mash (where you use the +Control Pad and A button like in Mega Microgame$!), Twist (where you use the 3DS' gyroscope controls like in Twisted!), Touch (where you use the Touch Screen and stylus like in Touched!) and Blow (only in Ultra League; where you blow into the 3DS Mic), allow for various types of them.
2. Bright and beautiful graphics, and a nice new art style that resembles a Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon show. This will continue to be the case for future games in the series.
   • Despite the game's short length, the multitude of cutscenes more than makes up for it.
3. While there are only eight microgame categories (Intro Games, Sports, That's Life!, Fantasy, Nintendo Classics, Pop-Up, Microphone and Anything Goes!), they are split evenly among the cast members, such as three Volt Family members getting the Nintendo Classics category.
4. 5-Volt finally gets a level in the main story mode after being the main antagonist of the "Gamer" minigame in Game & Wario.
5. There is a lot of humor, from the cutscenes to character interactions, and the various art styles and gameplay in the microgames can be funny as well.
6. Compared to the previous titles, the story is longer due to featuring many cutscenes, including half-time cutscenes from Lulu and Wario after completing the leagues.
   • Additionally, players can skip cutscenes rather than watching the cutscenes without skipping when activating it for the first time, especially before the level starts.
7. This is the first WarioWare game to feature proper voice acting in cutscenes, with Charles Martinet reprising his role of Wario, and also featuring Erica Lindbeck (Ashley), Melissa Hutchison (9-Volt), Cristina Valenzuela (5-Volt), Robbie Daymond (Young Cricket), Kyle Hebert (Dr. Crygor/Dribble/Joe/Mr. Sparkles), etc.
   • Later in the game, you unlock a feature in the Prize Capsule that allows you to dub over the characters' voices to make them funnier.
8. Several unlockable minigames return from previous titles, such as Pyoro and Meowtroid.
9. The "Gamer" minigame from Game & Wario returns in this game as the unlockable Sneaky Gamer mode.
10. You can unlock many songs from the games in the series, including Japanese versions.
11. Alarm Clocks that can only be shut off by beating microgames ensure you are awake to play them, despite being boring to use.
12. Tons of replay value, from the many microgames you can collect to the prizes earned when you purchase them with the Coins you win from playing the microgames.
13. Wario Interrupts is a challenging mode where you complete microgames while Mario Deluxe messes with the UI, and you must find ways to work around this.
    • Also unlockable after the final level are the usual remix modes: All Mixed Up, Thrill Ride, Super Hard, etc.
14. Wario Kard is a bonus mode that appears after collecting all souvenirs from the Capsule Machine, in which you play rock-paper-scissors with your opponents' cards and can level them up.

Bad Qualities

1. The abundance of microgames can feel like a rehash at times, just like Rhythm Heaven Megamix. As such, less than one quarter of the 316 microgames are new.
2. Most of the prizes are filler, such as the many phone numbers used to call the characters in the microgames, and a separate alarm clock for each character.
   • It provides missed opportunities since toys and gadgets should have been the actual souvenirs like Twisted!, Touched!, and even Game & Wario did.
3. You can get duplicate character cards, which can be tedious for completionists. However, duplicate cards do level up the characters.

Reception

WarioWare Gold received "generally positive" reviews, according to Metacritic (where it scored 78/100 based on 45 reviews). Despite being a minigame compilation, the reviewers at Nintendo Life appreciated the additional work done by Intelligent Studios. Additionally, they found the older microgames to be reworked so well that they could not tell them from the originals. Criticism, however, was directed at the collectibles: some found them to be "worthwhile additions" and fun to collect, while others ranged it from boring to not engaging at all.

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