Nintendo just released WarioWare Twisted! their latest sequel to WarioWare for Gameboy Advance. This is a totally slick collection of more insane and surreal mini-games but with a unique human-game interface. There was the original WarioWare game on Gameboy Advance then WarioWare Mega Party Games for Gamecube, next was WarioWare Touched! On Nintendo DS and now back to good old Gameboy Advance.

Now the thing that really sets this game apart is the unique cartridge and ginormous box that it ships in. The cartridge is more than twice the size of a normal Gameboy Advance game and looks like smaller a rumble pack for N-64 with smooth edges. That is not far from the truth since this game has a built-in rumble motor and a built-in gyro sensor. This is a small one axis gyroscope that can tell what direction the player is physically rotating the GameBoy Advance. You rotate the game in front of you instead of turning around at the waist or dipping it towards and away from you. This game will work in a original Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP, Nintendo DS and a Gameboy Advance Micro but it can’t work in a Gameboy Player for Gamecube since you would have to pick up and rotate the GameCube. You can’t really do that when some of the games have you physically rotating the game.

The graphics still have a unique abstract style to them and the WarioWare games are really evolving into their own kind of genre. The over 200 mini games are based on the characters that were introduced in previous WarioWare games and there are over a 130 unlockable souvenirs. This is going to add replay value after you beat it a couple times.  The games are thrust on the player with only a few seconds to figure out how to perform the task. The whole gyro sensor concept can be picked up quickly and it helps build a new analog dialog of interactivity that is not just pressing buttons.

Kids would love this game and jaded bitter Generation X gamers like myself would like to because it is a nice slice of some new interactivity possibilities. It is 2005 and most console games interact with the player with a button and pad that have not changed in decades.

Nintendo has been repeating the mantra that innovative software is the future of video games and there is new possibilities on game play beyond joysticks and buttons. Nintendo is trying to position themselves as more creative and fun than Microsoft and Sony and when they keep creating gems like this we know that they can deliver on the weird fun that they hyping.

- Jacob Metcalf