Damn, these mods are being made crazy fast now! Yep, just days after WarioWare Gold’s release, we’ve already gotten mods for the title, bringing visual overhauls to the microgames and cutscenes in the process.
Such as this interesting one found on Mario Making Mods. This mod is based on the Super Mario Bros microgame in 18-Volt’s collection, and reskins it to feature graphics based on other Mario titles.
Namely, Super Mario Land 2 and the Super Mario All Stars version of Super Mario Bros instead of the original game! Here are some pictures showing the mod in action:
As you can see, it actually works really well all things considered. Hell, if we didn’t know it was a mod (and someone posted it on Mario Wiki or the likes), we’d genuinely believe Nintendo was behind this thing. After all, it certainly fits the style of the game, as well as Nintendo’s tendency to update the graphics for the redone games in WarioWare Gold.
So if you’re interested, check it out. It’s a neat way to make one of WarioWare Gold’s microgames feel that bit more fresh again, and a look at the modding scene that may develop for this game in future!
Which is why we’re so happy to see that unused content has already been datamined from WarioWare Gold on 3DS! Yep, as posted by Ehm from the Cutting Room Floor Wiki, an early version of Penny’s intro cutscene exists in the files of WarioWare Gold. And it’s from such an early stage in development that it actually uses hand drawn sketches by the game’s character designer Ko Takeuchi in place of the artwork used in the final game!
Here’s a tweet showing off some of the frames:
Leftover test video in WarioWare Gold. It's an early version of Penny Crygor's intro cutscene, featuring super cute Ko Takeuchi sketches. I'll try to get a proper video recording of both versions online at some point, but it's just not happening right now. pic.twitter.com/2DswdtUKTW
In addition to a video showing how it works out in game:
It’s actually pretty charming really, and in many cases, actually looks quite a bit more interesting than the final cutscene does. Hell, we’d certainly check out a WarioWare game with an art style like this, even if it was just used for a single cutscene or extra souvenir.
But what do you think about it? Do you find it interesting to see this sort of content in video games, especially this soon after the game’s release?
Would you play a WarioWare game that looked like Ko Takeuchi’s sketches?
Tell us what you think either on social media or over at the Gaming Latest forums!
Well, it’s finally here! After 5 years of no Wario games and a whole handheld console generation without one in sight, WarioWare Gold has finally been released for the 3DS. And with over 300 microgames, numerous extras and unlockables celebrating every part of the franchise’s history, it’s clear Nintendo is aiming for WarioWare Gold to be every Wario fan’s dream WarioWare title.
But does it live up to the hype? Is it the gold standard for the WarioWare series, or is it another disappointment like WarioWare Snapped and Game & Wario before it?
Let’s find out, in our all new review of WarioWare Gold for the 3DS!
Graphics
Starting with the visuals of the game. How appealing does WarioWare Gold look in general?
Well to be honest, about as appealing as every other WarioWare game does. It’s a series that’s never exactly been a graphics powerhouse, and it’s one that doesn’t need much beyond appealing cartoony visuals to do its job.
And in that sense? WarioWare Gold does its job perfectly. The cutscenes are nice enough and look charming, the microgames retain the quirky mix of visual styles the series is known for and everything looks as polished as can be for this sort of title. It’s not gonna compete with something like Luigi’s Mansion 2 or Mario Kart 7 or the Mario & Luigi series’ pixel art, but it looks great regardless, and does exactly what you need it to do.
So, all’s fine on the graphics front. Let’s move on to…
Sound/Music
To the sound department, where things actually get a bit more interesting than the past titles. Why? Because unlike said titles, WarioWare Gold has full voice acting for all major characters and cutscenes. What’s more, it’s not even the ‘couple of treehouse members’ style cheap voice acting from previous titles either, with the voice acting actually being done by professionals with experience in the industry. In that sense, it’s quite the step up.
What’s more, it actually works out pretty well for the most part. Wario is still voiced by Charles Martinet and still sounds as good as ever, whereas the other characters get new voice actors who generally hit the mark in the sound department. Have a listen to some examples if you don’t believe us there:
As you can tell, they generally do a pretty good job for the most part. This ain’t no Mario Sunshine esque deal where Bowser sounds like Cookie Monster, this is actually decent voice acting that compliments the game’s cutscenes perfectly.
Well, for the most part that is. Because unfortunately, while most of the voicework here is indeed top notch (with 18-Volt, Dribble and Ashley being some sort of the standouts), some of the others is perhaps a little less so. Like how Jimmy T sounds less like a suave disco dancer and more like a generic everyman, or how 9-Volt sounds just a bit too much like an average kid. Don’t get me wrong here, they don’t sound bad or anything, just not ideal for their roles in the game.
Still, even if the voice acting isn’t perfect, you certainly can’t fault the music or other sound effects in this game one bit. That’s because WarioWare Gold has quite literally the best soundtrack in the series bar none.
And that’s because in this title, every classic WarioWare tune you can think of returns. Ashley’s theme? Check. Mona Pizza? Check. Tomorrow Hill and Four Seasons? Check.
The records section for the title is a literal museum for classic WarioWare music, with basically every memorable tune you can think of making a comeback here. It’s amazing really.
What’s more, it gets even more incredible when you realise something else about said songs too. Namely, they’re now completely uncompressed and can be listened to at their original level of quality. No more hard to pick out voices or GBA soundchip level graininess here, every tune in WarioWare Gold is as crystal clear as you can get:
But don’t think WarioWare Gold is a mere nostalgia trip. Oh no, the game has quite a few new tracks you can listen to and unlock too. These include a new rap song starring 18-Volt, various mini game tracks (including a few based-on Ashley’s theme) and a catchy Mexican dance song for the final boss game. All of which are as catchy as can be, and all of which suit their place in the game perfectly:
The microgame background tunes and cutscene songs are neat too, though neither are played long enough to leave much of a lasting impression due to the gameplay style. Either way, it’s a good soundtrack, and it’s the best one in the series bar none.
However, as neat as it may be, that alone won’t make WarioWare Gold a good game. A good game needs good gameplay as well as music and visuals, and fortunately, that’s one area where WarioWare Gold succeeds with flying colours…
Gameplay
Since WarioWare Gold is basically the best bits of the WarioWare series in one game, with all the modes, control schemes and mechanics to match. As ever, the aim to complete all the random microgames thrown at you in the story, with the game speeding up after every four or so are completed and getting more difficult after a longer boss game.
And also as ever, this means doing whatever random things the game throw at you, since you have no idea what style of gameplay will come up next. You might be dodging traffic, keeping a cat from getting wet via an umbrella or picking a giant nose, it’s all there and hilarious in its sheer absurdity.
Above: For example, this microgame has Wario trying to keep a solicitor out of his house by holding the front door shut
But WarioWare Gold goes further still with the randomness. That’s because as mentioned before, all control schemes from past games return in this one. That means at any one time you could be mashing buttons, tilting the console, touching the screen or even blowing into the microphone, all while not knowing what control scheme may pop up next.
Well okay, maybe not for the first part of the game. In that one, the microgames are all sorted by control scheme and each row’s sets are based around a single control scheme (buttons, gyro and touch respectively).
But the point still stands, since later on things get mixed up, and your concentration will become a definite necessity if you want to stand a chance.
Yet the insanity doesn’t stop there either. Oh no. That’s because beating WarioWare Gold unlocks a new challenge menu, which comes with a new set of special challenges to take on.
These take the already wacky microgame format and add another twist to the setup in the form of outside mechanics you have to be careful with as well. There’s Sneaky Gamer, which returns from Game & Wario and has you basically playing Five Nights at Freddy’s and WarioWare at the same time:
When it comes to crazy marketing moves, Wario has always been the king as far as Nintendo is concerned. He’s tried to brainwash customers into buying Super Mario Land 2 and destroying Mario. He’s promoted his Wii U title through a parody crowdfunding campaign called ‘Crowdfarter’.
And now with WarioWare Gold, it seems he’s taken over the 3DS eShop too! Yep, in an effort to promote WarioWare Gold outside of Japan, Nintendo have now redone the eShop to put Wario’s face front and centre on every game he’s in. For example, he’s now the star of Mario Kart 7 and Super Smash Bros for 3DS:
As well as the face on every other menu option too. Even the options for demos, videos and other basic eShop categories now have Wario or his WarioWare Inc friends taking centre stage. It’s a great way to market the game and provides the type of ‘hostile show takeover’ setup that suits Wario oh so well.
What’s more, this style of marketing doesn’t end with the eShop either. Nope, even Nintendo’s PR email for the demo maintains the ‘show takeover’ setup, with the entire message being written in character as if Wario sent it to advertise his own product:
It’s a great advertising gimmick, and one that ties in really well with WarioWare as a whole.
So, kudos Nintendo. You’ve actually been really damn creative when advertising this one, and it may well pay off for WarioWare Gold when it releases on July 27th!
Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a lot more WarioWare Gold media than ever before. There have been new trailers, the intro for the game has been posted online and well, in Europe and Australia, a whole demo has even been released for the title. All in all, it seems like Nintendo’s really been stepping up their marketing efforts with this one.
And well, they’re certainly not stopping there either. Oh no, thanks to the recent embargo on the game being lifted and more information being posted about the title online, we’ve now got a huge flood of new info about the title, including video footage of character story intros, cutscene dubbing and much more besides!
So, for your convenience, we’ve rounded up all this new info and put it all in one place. Starting with the latest trailers straight from Nintendo’s Japanese YouTube channel:
As you can tell, they immediately confirm that Gamer from Game & Wario is making a comeback, as well as that Pyoro is indeed returning to the WarioWare series. What’s more, it seems like it’s the original Pyoro game that’s coming back here, rather than one from the later titles. This means that in addition to new longform mini games being introduced (like the Ashley side scrolling shooter shown below), older ones will be getting remixed and remastered for WarioWare Gold too.
And those aren’t the only new WarioWare videos featured on the Japanese YouTube channel either. Oh no, new TV commercials for the game have been posted as well. Have a look at those below:
There’s not much to talk about on the commentary front, but they do show more footage of the microgames none the less. Like that one with Wario holding the door shut, where it turns out the harder difficulty has Wario fighting against a bear rather than a Japanese salaryman.
Or that the games based on Donkey Kong and Nintendogs (from Mega Microgame$! and Smooth Moves respectively) make a comeback here too. Pretty cool, especially given the large array of retro Nintendo microgames announced already. Guess 9-Volt, 18-Volt and 5-Volt all having microgame collections really helped out on that front!
Still, given the changes made to the series with this title, it’s likely the trailers aren’t going to be what everyone’s interested in about now. Instead, they’ll probably be wondering how the new character voice acting holds up, given that everyone got replaced this time around.
Well, here’s a look at it. Starting with Ashley’s intro in game:
As you can tell, the quality of the voice acting is… kind of mixed to be honest. On the one hand, Ashley’s new voice rather suits her character (a bored, apathetic witch with little to no emotion), and none of the voices sound painfully bad or anything.
Yet at the same time, Red’s voice acting is kind of YouTuber quality, with a tone that doesn’t really suit his character all that much. Again, it’s not painfully bad or annoying to listen to, but it is a little jarring in comparison.
Still, if you feel you can do better, that’s an option too. Cause unlike most games, WarioWare Gold gives you the amusing option to dub over the cutscenes in your own voice. So, here’s the intro to Mike/Dr Crygor’s stage, as dubbed by the folks at GameXplain:
It sounds rather goofy, but that’s all part of the charm really. You don’t have to take things too seriously if you don’t want to, and it’s likely most people online won’t.
There’s also quite a bit of footage showing the games themselves, complete with the character voice acting when you win or lose. For example, here’s 5-Volt’s stage, showing her presenting various Nintendo themed microgames:
As well as this one showing off the stages for Wario and Kat and Ana:
And there’s some footage of Ashley’s stage as well, to go along with the story intro shown earlier:
