WarioWare: Twisted!

WarioWare: Twisted! is a sequel to the original WarioWare, Inc. and at the same time one of the most technically unusual games on the Game Boy Advance – the cartridge itself contains a built-in gyroscopic sensor, thanks to which the player controls the vast majority of the lightning-fast minigames by tilting and rotating the whole handheld in every direction, practically without using the regular buttons. The series' principle stays the same as in previous entries: within just a few seconds you must understand and complete an absurd, often funny and unexpected task, while the pace keeps accelerating relentlessly as the game progresses. The collections of microgames are also thematically tied to specific characters from Wario's crew, each bringing its own style of humor and type of challenge.

The gyroscopic controls give an already familiar set of minigame types – tilting objects, spinning characters, precise aiming – an entirely new physical feel, which combined with the characteristic crazy humor of Wario's world and his odd crew of characters creates an intense and highly energetic experience. Distinctive chiptune music and deliberately over-the-top, garish graphics complement well the overall controlled chaos of play typical of the whole WarioWare series since its inception. The sheer feeling of physically rotating the console in your hands was completely unique at the time of release and for many players remains one of the most distinctive experiences on the entire GBA platform to this day.

Because of its dependence on the built-in sensor, WarioWare: Twisted! remains to this day one of the few Nintendo games never re-released on another platform or as a digital remaster – it works exclusively on the original GBA cartridge with its special chip. That makes it a sought-after and prized item among collectors, and also a pleasant reminder of an era when Nintendo would routinely put extra hardware right into the cartridges themselves, just to test entirely new ways of controlling games, long before motion controls became a mainstream feature on consoles like the Wii.