I've beaten the main game but haven't touched the side content/multiplayer, so consider this a snap judgement review.
After WarioWare: Get It Together, I was somewhat worried about the future of WarioWare. Not that I wasn't expecting more games - GIT did well financially and critically - but what the series would become. That game was quite disappointing to me. The Switch with its Joy-Cons has such promise for a WarioWare game which is a series pretty known for showing all the little ways in which a Nintendo console can shine, but instead we got a game that didn't utilize the specialties of the Switch and instead had a gimmick which, in my opinion, made microgames less fun. On top of that, WarioWare Gold struck me with its fun, visually pleasant, and humorous cutscenes that were fully voice acted. Get It Together tossed this aside for in-game cutscenes that merely use character voice clips.
So imagine my delight when a new WarioWare is announced, not only returning to what I like about the series, but bringing back the cutscenes of Gold I love so much, and taking heavy notes from Smooth Moves, which is probably the best direction they could have gone. What you get is exactly what I wanted more or less: Smooth Moves with Gold's cutscenes, and taking full advantage of the console's unique controllers.
While the controls usually work great, there were a number of times where they simply wouldn't cooperate even though it seems like I was doing what was expected. A boss microgame where you cook steaks took me way too long because the game would just refuse to acknowledge me putting the controller down (this is possibly an error with my controller which is a whole other can of worms, but I've done little motion controls with these particular Joy-Cons, so I doubt it). Or a simple microgame where you lay down a food item with one hand and "cut" it with the other, it just would not register my chops. There's also the microgames that expect you to hold the right JC with your left hand and use its IR camera to pick up your right hand's motions; my hand must be messed up cause I physically am unable to do some of the motions/symbols I'm expected to (this is definitely a me thing, but I'm sure many other people out there have similar hand issues). Worst of all, though, is the game expecting you to have Joy-Con straps. I know these things came with the Switch and are packaged with Joy-Cons themselves, but unfortunately for me, I never keep them because games don't require them, and I almost always play in handheld. Until now, where you're (practically) required to have these separate accessories. You can trick the game and get past needing the straps, but it's obviously not ideal. There's not a ton of these games, but enough to be quite annoying when they show up.
The only other issue I have with this game is length. It's a maximum of three hours long (which I imagine you're breaking a lot or having a lot of issues if you're taking that long, no offense if that's you) which is pretty much no time. I can't say for sure yet since I haven't touched it, but there does seem to be a degree of side content - something WarioWare games shine in - I'm not sure how much, from what I've seen there doesn't look like a ton especially with one player, but it's there. If you're a long-time fan, the short game is nothing new and probably won't bother you, but new players might find this lacking, especially if you're paying full price.
Shoutout to the Nintendo-themed microgames this time around. Remember when they used to be nothing but NES games? This one has a microgame of a game from this year, that's awesome. I'd love for the Nintendo ones to focus on more recent games moving forward, though seeing ones like Mario Pinball Land and Super Mario 64 DS being represented is such a treat.
I suppose I'll mention Wario's new voice actor to end things off, Kevin Afghani (whose favorite food is sushi, according to the credits). This is probably a hot take, but personally I thought Charles Martinet's full-sentence Wario voice, as seen in WarioWare Gold, was... not his best. Love the guy and his voices, but I was kind of hoping for a new Wario voice, in all honesty, and Kevin does a great job. I'll be happy to hear more of his Wario performance.
anyway, i love mona warioware i hope she makes it into smash :)
After WarioWare: Get It Together, I was somewhat worried about the future of WarioWare. Not that I wasn't expecting more games - GIT did well financially and critically - but what the series would become. That game was quite disappointing to me. The Switch with its Joy-Cons has such promise for a WarioWare game which is a series pretty known for showing all the little ways in which a Nintendo console can shine, but instead we got a game that didn't utilize the specialties of the Switch and instead had a gimmick which, in my opinion, made microgames less fun. On top of that, WarioWare Gold struck me with its fun, visually pleasant, and humorous cutscenes that were fully voice acted. Get It Together tossed this aside for in-game cutscenes that merely use character voice clips.
So imagine my delight when a new WarioWare is announced, not only returning to what I like about the series, but bringing back the cutscenes of Gold I love so much, and taking heavy notes from Smooth Moves, which is probably the best direction they could have gone. What you get is exactly what I wanted more or less: Smooth Moves with Gold's cutscenes, and taking full advantage of the console's unique controllers.
While the controls usually work great, there were a number of times where they simply wouldn't cooperate even though it seems like I was doing what was expected. A boss microgame where you cook steaks took me way too long because the game would just refuse to acknowledge me putting the controller down (this is possibly an error with my controller which is a whole other can of worms, but I've done little motion controls with these particular Joy-Cons, so I doubt it). Or a simple microgame where you lay down a food item with one hand and "cut" it with the other, it just would not register my chops. There's also the microgames that expect you to hold the right JC with your left hand and use its IR camera to pick up your right hand's motions; my hand must be messed up cause I physically am unable to do some of the motions/symbols I'm expected to (this is definitely a me thing, but I'm sure many other people out there have similar hand issues). Worst of all, though, is the game expecting you to have Joy-Con straps. I know these things came with the Switch and are packaged with Joy-Cons themselves, but unfortunately for me, I never keep them because games don't require them, and I almost always play in handheld. Until now, where you're (practically) required to have these separate accessories. You can trick the game and get past needing the straps, but it's obviously not ideal. There's not a ton of these games, but enough to be quite annoying when they show up.
The only other issue I have with this game is length. It's a maximum of three hours long (which I imagine you're breaking a lot or having a lot of issues if you're taking that long, no offense if that's you) which is pretty much no time. I can't say for sure yet since I haven't touched it, but there does seem to be a degree of side content - something WarioWare games shine in - I'm not sure how much, from what I've seen there doesn't look like a ton especially with one player, but it's there. If you're a long-time fan, the short game is nothing new and probably won't bother you, but new players might find this lacking, especially if you're paying full price.
Shoutout to the Nintendo-themed microgames this time around. Remember when they used to be nothing but NES games? This one has a microgame of a game from this year, that's awesome. I'd love for the Nintendo ones to focus on more recent games moving forward, though seeing ones like Mario Pinball Land and Super Mario 64 DS being represented is such a treat.
I suppose I'll mention Wario's new voice actor to end things off, Kevin Afghani (whose favorite food is sushi, according to the credits). This is probably a hot take, but personally I thought Charles Martinet's full-sentence Wario voice, as seen in WarioWare Gold, was... not his best. Love the guy and his voices, but I was kind of hoping for a new Wario voice, in all honesty, and Kevin does a great job. I'll be happy to hear more of his Wario performance.
anyway, i love mona warioware i hope she makes it into smash :)