Nintendo has quite a hot new franchise on their hands, and its name is Wario Ware (or Made in Wario! if you live in Japan). The series made its Japanese debut in late 2002 on the Game Boy Advance and later expanded into America. A multiplayer bonanza on the GameCube was released about a year after the original game. There’s even a Wario Ware game in development for the Nintendo DS. Nintendo just recently released MaWaRu Made in Wario! in Japan, and the game includes a very unique feature. MaWaRu requires players to spin their Game Boys to control the game.

MaWaRu has a rotational sensor built into its cartridge. Unlike previous games like Kirby’s Tilt n’Tumble, MaWaRu does not detect tilting. Instead, it detects movement on a horizontal plane. Players need to move their Game Boy to either the left or right to control most of the microgames. For a highly detailed explanation of the game’s control mechanism, be sure to check out PGC’s impressions of the title.

The concept of Wario Ware is absolutely perfect for handheld gaming. The game is nothing more than a large collection of very short “microgames" that take approximately five seconds each to complete. Each of the games isn’t hard on its own, but the fact that they are presented randomly and at an increasing speed is where the challenge comes from. Each microgame also has three difficulty levels to mix things up a little more.

Games are grouped into categories based on control mechanism or theme, and each category is controlled by one of Wario’s friends. For example, one character’s games (9-Volt) are all based around old Nintendo games. Some characters follow themes like this, and others have games that only require movement of the GBA, the pressing of the control pad and A button, or a mix of the two.

The overall game can be beaten in a very short amount of time. Yet, this does not hurt the replay value of the game. After playing any microgame, it becomes available to play in a gallery and also has a challenge associated with it. Beating each and every game’s challenge will unlock more games to play. In addition to the microgames, there are also a couple bonus mini-games to play. These games are purely for fun.

In addition to everything mentioned so far, which has all been available in the original Wario Ware, there is even more to unlock in this new version. There are tons of capsule toys that can be collected. The toys aren’t very engaging though, and are included in the game to basically give players something to collect. Examples include records that can be played and scratched like a DJ, kaleidoscopes, snow globes, and little dolls that fall apart at the press of a button. All of these unlocks take advantage of MaWaRu’s unique control mechanism. All of these factors extend the game’s replay value to practically infinite levels.

MaWaRu’s original control mechanics take a while to get used to, and players will find themselves failing out of games pretty frequently at first. After a little bit of practice, however, things start to fall into place and the game becomes extremely fun and engrossing. It’s not uncommon to pass an hour or two with this game and not even realize it. Small bursts of time can also be consumed with this game, making it perfect for every situation.

However, there are some problems with the game’s controls. The rotational sensor can be very finicky, and the game absolutely must be booted up on a flat surface. This isn’t hard if you have a table around, but it could cause some problems when trying to play the game in a moving vehicle like a car or train. Also, the sensor isn’t perfect all of the time. Rotating the GBA too quickly can offset the game’s center point. Thankfully, this doesn’t often pose a problem as the sensor re-centers itself in between each microgame, so this annoyance doesn’t rear its ugly head except during a couple of the boss games.

With or without these minor blemishes, the game is still excellent. The ideas behind some of the microgames are excellent. A couple of the really good ones include a boss game designed around the nose-picking microgame from the original Wario Ware, one based on Samus’ morph-ball ability, and a game in which you must guide a piece of food through a man’s digestive tract. The icing on the cake comes in the form of 9-Volt’s boss game, which is a circular version of Super Mario Bros complete with rotational control.

Simply put, MaWaRu Made in Wario is fun… very fun. It’s the type of game that can be given to somebody, immediately entertain them, and put a huge smile on their face. It’s almost unbelievable that completely original games like this can still be invented. This game’s highly unique control system will give gamers something new to experience while at the same timing delivering an absolute ton of fun.

From the looks of it, Nintendo is taking Wario Ware into lots of directions, and very quickly at that. The franchise will already have four games in it by the end of the year, each of which has its own unique twist that makes it different from the rest. It would be absolutely fantastic if Nintendo stuck to this mantra and gave each Wario Ware its own special control mechanism. This kind of innovation is what makes Wario Ware such a captivating franchise, and MaWaRu in particular is a fantastic game. It sticks to its roots while at the same timing bringing something entirely new to the table. It follows in the footsteps of its predecessor and remains one of the best games ever made available on a hand-held system, with an experience that’s also only available on a hand-held system. MaWaRu Made in Wario! is currently available from PGC’s import partners, Lik-Sang and stands an excellent chance of being released in America.