Game & Wario

by Gregory Moffett

This one came as a surprise.

I had an inkling that my brother was getting me the incredible Super Mario 3D World for Christmas in 2013, which he did! What I didn’t expect was a second game in my stocking, one that I hadn’t ever really envisaged getting.

When I opened up Game & Wario, I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the gift but was realistic about my expectations. I had highly enjoyed Wario Ware Inc: Mega Party Game$! On Gamecube and Wario Ware: Touched on DS but was aware that Wario’s first appearance on Wii U was a significant departure from the style of those games. Unfavourable reviews led me towards the decision to wait for the game to reach the bargain bins before eventually picking it up, if at all.

With a significant portion of the day spent playing Mario’s latest adventure which, admittedly, started a little slowly before ramping up the fun to thrilling heights, Game & Wario would finally get its chance in the spotlight.

Working my way through several of the single player games was a little up and down with some more compelling than others but it was dipping into multiplayer that really brought the experience to life.

While I enjoyed having those warm feelings of Captain Falcon’s Twister Race return in Ski, featuring Jimmy T, and hiding 9-Volt under the covers to evade the gaze of his terrifying mother in Gamer, Sketch provided some ridiculous multiplayer entertainment, something which is still enjoyed on a regular basis to this day.

Laughing and joking together with friends and family as we drew hilarious pictures of random items throughout the course of the evening was something to cherish. It was amazing to have my parents participate as the last time they ever played games with my brother and I was all the way back in the SNES era with Super Soccer.

Sketch is now one of those games that gets rolled out any time there is a group of people over at my house as it’s almost certain to bring everyone together and ramp up the happiness levels.

Individually, however, there is still plenty of amusement to be had amongst all of the different games on offer and it wasn’t until this year that I revisited games such as Shutter and Ashley and really began to appreciate what they offer.

Game & Wario still has plenty of life left in it as there’s more to do in each of the individual games than I initially expected and I look forward to giving it some more time over the festive period amongst many of my other old favourites.

Christmas 2015 is unlikely to offer any new gaming experiences in the Moffett household due to the relative disappointment at what Nintendo has been able to provide towards the end of the current year on both Wii U and 3DS but it’s been fantastic to relive some of my most memorable moments from the last couple of decades and I want to thank you all for sharing this trip down memory lane with me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!