WarioWare: Snapped! Review - Screenshot 1 of 2

So far, every WarioWare game has focused on a certain gimmick: the original game simply had button controls, Mega Party Game$ was multiplayer-based, Touched! used the DS touch screen and mic, Twisted! had players tilting their machine, and Smooth Moves used the Wii remote and nunchuk's motion controls. In this newest instalment the gimmick of choice is the DSi camera – all of the microgames are played by moving your face and hands around.

There are only four categories of games in Snapped!, each hosted by regular characters from the WarioWare series: Mona, Jimmy, Kat and Ana, and Wario himself. Once you've chosen one from the selection, the game will ask you to put your face and one hand in the correct position so that the camera can recognize them. You must be a sufficient distance away from the DSi when doing this – you don't hold it while playing, you're supposed to put it on a flat surface and take a few steps back.

While it all sounds rather neat, getting the camera to recognise you proves to be the hardest task in the game: it can't be too dark around you, it can't be too bright, and the background colour has to be in heavy contrast to the colour of your skin, or else the game will tell you to find a new spot. If you are of caucasian descent and happen to enjoy white/beige wallpaper and furniture, well, just hope you have some sort of dark tarp or cloth you can hang up behind you, or you'll have to leave your house to find a good spot! Kat & Ana's microgames also require a second player, which means two people have to try and thwart the camera before being able to play!

WarioWare: Snapped! Review - Screenshot 2 of 2

Once you finally get the game to approve of your choice of furnishing it's time to play. You will play five microgames (different ones for each category, naturally) after which the game will be over. These microgames aren't anything like those in previous games in the series – you get about 15 seconds to clear them instead of 3 to 5, and even if you fail them it won't matter! To further frustrate you, before each microgame you have to line up your face and/or hand(s) with silhouettes on the screen again, which creates more struggle with the camera; if you are unable to get the DSi to recognise you, you will have 'failed' and will promptly be booted back to the main menu – you better hope the camera's in a good mood!

Providing you were able to make it through all five microgames, you are rewarded with what is without a doubt the most amusing part of WarioWare Snapped! – a short replay of how you looked whilst playing each game, which can lead to some pretty hilarious results!

Once you've played all four microgame categories you're basically done with the game for good. Unlike any of the other titles in the series, there are no high-scores at all whatsoever. In the main game modes you are restricted to playing the five microgames in their set structure – there is no option to keep playing until you fail, and there isn't even the option to high-scores on individual microgames! Asides from the set microgame format, the only other thing you can do is watch the credits and play the special game contained within them. Unlike the rest of the game, which is way too easy, this credit-based is absurdly hard – you have to react to stuff so fast it's just not humanly possible.

Conclusion

All previous WarioWare games are pretty "short" – you can plough through the main story in under an hour – but there is a ton of replay value in setting new high-scores and playing unlockable "full" games. WarioWare Snapped!, however, lets the series down; it feels more like a tech demo than anything else – there's no replay value because high-scores and full games have been removed, and then you have to be content with the fact that there are only 20 microgames to play (instead of the hundreds available in every other WarioWare!). Unless you really enjoy seeing replays of yourself looking like a fool, we recommend you avoid purchasing this game. Buy any of the previous WarioWare titles instead.