If ‘Touching Is Good,’ Then Warioware: Touched Doesn’t Disappoint

wariowareWarioware: Touched takes gamers on a wild and fast ride through 200 micro-games that stem from playing classic NES games to just simply picking your nose. While isn’t going to win any game of the year awards, it doesn’t try to. It simply gives fans of the series what it wants, which is a solid addition to the series that takes full advantage of the system it’s on. Even though it’s a tad short, it doesn’t disappoint its loyal fans.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Warioware series on the Game Boy Advance, it’s all about micro-games. Each level consists of many micro-games that get faster and increase in difficulty the farther you proceed. Considering how good you are, the game can get insanely fast at times. The only thing that separates Warioware: Touched with its predecessors on the Game Boy Advance and Gamecube is that this edition relies totally on the stylus and microphone for all gameplay control. Simply put, fans of “Feel the Magic” on the DS will adore this game because it has more polish and deeper gameplay mechanics and is more fun to play.

The gameplay variation in Warioware: Touched however is the one element in this game that brings everything together. Players are asked to draw, rub, poke and slice objects with their stylus. In addition to all of this, one specific level forces you to simply use your microphone and scream or blow into it to make your character do what you wish. Seeing your character respond in such a fashion can create hours of fun, enticing gameplay that can’t be found on any other system out there right now. Despite solid gameplay mechanics, the most entertaining elements of Warioware: Touched are its speed and its sound. First time players of the series may be unable to keep the stylus moving at such a
rapid speed in the beginning, but should be able to get used to the speed of the game after an hour or two.

As far as the sound in this game is concerned, no other game takes this much advantage of the built in surround sound of the DS better than Warioware:Touched. Every single level is accompanied by lush sound effects and music that capture the essence of each level perfectly. Eventually one plays the game so much that the songs became stuck in your head and from what I’ve seen from a few message boards on the Internet, they don’t come out easily either.

The one drawback this game unfortunately suffers from is its length. Despite over eight levels consisting of over 200 micro-games, it only takes about 8 hours to complete. Once you finish the game however, you are able to unlock several other micro-games. These games consist of playing a piano, two player ping pong, using one DS and having a calculator. These micro-games add to the games already moderate playability and make up for the games short length.

Simply put, Warioware: Touched is a great example of what can be done with a system like the Nintendo DS. Even though the game is a tad on the short side, the game is so much fun that you’ll find yourself playing the game a lot even if you have already beat it. Fans of previous Warioware titles will find another impressive title to add to their collection, while new DS owners who have never played the series will find something that is definitely worth their time.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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