WarioWare: Touched is a game that most DS owners have eagerly awaited, and luckily it doesn't disappoint.
User Rating: 8.5 | WarioWare: Touched! DS
When WarioWare Inc: Mega MicroGame$ first appeared on the GBA in 2003, it seemed to come out of no where. Mega MicroGame$ featured 5 second long mini games that came at you quickly and with increasing speed, plus the game featured some of the weirdest Japanese humor seen in any game I've played to date. Well now the next installment of the series has arrived, this time on the Nintendo DS, but it still features all the weirdness of the first game. Gameplay: Like the original WarioWare, WarioWare: Touched features mini games that last anywhere from 3-5 seconds. The setup of the game goes as follows, Wario has enlisted a bunch of people he knows to create mini games for his game company and as a game tester you must test the games out. In order to play a certain person's mini games you just tap on the person and the games begin. A character will usually have a theme set to their games, such as dragging, slicing, poking, etc. Before each mini game begins a word will appear on the screen such as pop, or slice; thats the only instruction you get on a mini game and you have to interpret it pretty quickly because as previously stated you only have about 5 seconds for each game. Seeing as the DS is still a new machine, Nintendo has decided to show off its dual screen, touch screen, and microphone capabilities alone in this game, that means none of the face buttons are ever used in the game (save for maybe one or two toys, which will be covered later on). The entire game is played using the touch screen and microphone, not to mention some games require you to look at the top screen in order to know what to do. Although this may seem like it would make it easier to figure out what to do when compared to the original, rest assured that you'll be challenged just as much in this version. Aside from the main mini games, Touched also features unlockable toys that give you something to mess around with when you are bored. The toys are unlockable in various ways, but you usually gain them through playing the mini games of the different characters. I find that the toys are usually only good for showing off the DS' capabilities as they are simple little things such as a yo yo that you control with the stylus and using the microphone to blow bubbles. Luckily there are a few toys that are just like the unlockable games from original, which require you to do a certain task in order to rack up points, those are actually quite fun. Graphics: The graphics in WarioWare: Touched are hard to judge, most of the mini games feature simple GameBoy or GameBoy Advanced graphics, but they are intended to be that way. The simplicity of the graphics just ads to the charm of the game, it shows that we really don't need high end graphic engines in order to have fun with a game. But, there are a few mini games that feature 3D graphics that look pretty nice, and also there are some nice 3D effects used to show traveling in certain cut scenes. Overall, the graphics won't disappoint, their simplicity is actually a nice change from most of the games I've been seeing lately. Sound: The sound in WarioWare: Touched isn't anything all that special, although it does a nice job of adding to the quirkiness of the game. A of the couple of the tracks actually feature lyrics, which is interesting to see on a handheld, though the songs are very kiddish. When playing the mini games, the sound speeds up along with the speed of the games, this adds to the tension of the situation and works at putting pressure on the player, which is a good thing. The sound pretty much does a good job of making the game weird and fun, yet its nothing to memorable. WarioWare: Touched isn't a game with an epic storyline, orchestrated music, or revolutionary graphics, its a game dedicated to bringing gamers fun and it achieves this greatly. The two biggest flaws that I see with the game are it's length, it can be completed with in an hour to an hour and a half although it is very re playable; and the fact that it features no multiplayer modes, which would have been a great addition. With the current lack of DS games at the moment, picking this up will really give you something to play on your new DS for a while to come, and I'd bet that you'll pick this one up for a quick play even when the DS has a huge library of games to choose from. 
