Common Sense Note
Parents need to know this is a platform game about a character who becomes a thief. It offers puzzles and simple micro-games. Wario is rude and crude, and specializes in bathroom humor, although there isn't anything overtly offensive. The combat is minimal and not difficult, but the levels are long with challenging puzzles, and the saves are few and far between. Children with short attention spans will become bored.
Families can talk about jokes involving body parts, and what each family defines as appropriate humor. Since Wario's goal is to steal items, families can discuss stealing and other anti-social behaviors. What is an antihero? Do you find yourself rooting for Wario, even though what he is doing is wrong?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Anise Hollingshead
Wario, Nintendo's famous antihero, is off on another misguided adventure -- this time to become a master thief. In WARIO: MASTER OF DISGUISE, he reverts to his platform-gaming roots while retaining his recent micro-games obsession. But the combination isn't a successful one, resulting in a clumsy game that is frustrating to play.
While watching TV, Wario is magically transported into a TV show starring the Silver Zephyr, Master Thief. Wario steals the Silver Zephyr's magic wand and vows to prove he's the better thief in hopes of gaining his own TV show. Wario then travels to a ship to prove his pilfering prowess.
To become a "master of disguise," Wario learns how to use the magic wand to create costumes. Throughout the game he becomes Arty Wario, Cosmic Wario, Thief Wario, Dragon Wario, and others. Each costume provides Wario with unique abilities such as shooting cosmic blasts, jumping high, drawing blocks for climbing, and destroying blocks. To change Wario's costume, players draw symbols on the DS touch screen with the stylus. Unfortunately, the game frequently has trouble recognizing these check marks, circles, and squares, and either nothing happens or the wrong costume appears. This can be problematic during a boss battle.
Gameplay consists of two separate themes: platform puzzles and micro-games. Combining these two play patterns is a good idea in theory, but the implementation in this game is a flop. Using the touch screen with the stylus to change disguises to attain special abilities may have seemed like a great way to use the DS' touch screen capabilities, but the awkwardness of the execution during platform play detracts from the game.
The platform puzzles are the main thrust of the game. While well designed, there are too many in each level without adequate save points, resulting in players having to replay levels repeatedly. Combine this with the boring micro-games, along with the repeated dialogue interruptions, and the result is a fractured mess. Unlike the fun and zany micro-games in WarioWare Twisted, these micro-games consist of sliding puzzles and tracing games that aren't much fun and become increasingly dull after each successive play.
Another annoying design flaw is the lack of timely explanations for new game elements. Many times these important explanations are introduced after the fact. For instance, early in the game Wario blasts things with his cosmic ray and collects small gems. He's not told the purpose until the next level. Likewise, during the first boss battle, a pair of sunglasses appears as the "hint" symbol at the bottom of the screen. Only after the battle is over does the game explain that the sunglasses hint meant that the player should change disguises.
Despite the solid reputation of the Wario franchise, this particular rendition is so flawed that parents are better off with the excellent Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: The March of the Minis or New Super Mario Bros.
Reviewed: 03/19/2007
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Social BehaviorCrude bathroom humor. |
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CommercialismPart of the Wario franchise of games. |
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