WarioWare: Twisted! is a video game for the Game Boy Advance, developed by Nintendo SPD with Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It was released on October 14, 2004 in Japan; May 19, 2005 in Australia; and May 23, 2005 in North America. The second game in the WarioWare series and the seventh in the Wario series overall, Twisted! was the last Wario game to be released on a Game Boy family system.
Wario and his friend Dr. Crygor invent Game Boy Advance games and units that only react when tilted around. The game follows the WarioWare formula with a variety of games that last for only a few seconds. The cartridge utilizes a gyro sensor and players must spin and twist in order to play the games.
Twisted! was critically acclaimed and has won numerous awards. Reviewers found the gyro sensor to be innovative and adding to the gameplay aspect.
It is one of only two Game Boy Advance games to include force feedback, the other being Drill Dozer.
Gameplay
Twisted follows a similar format to its predecessor, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!, in which players must play through a series of "microgames"; short minigames that require the player to understand and clear its objective within a few seconds. Twisted! features unique gameplay thanks to its built-in gyro sensor, which detects the rotation of the handheld system. As such, many of the microgames require the player to physically rotate the system in order to clear. For example, players may have to empty a bin's contents, steer a plane, or guide something through a maze. Microgames become more complex as the game progresses, with later microgames requiring more time to complete, sometimes requiring the player to fully rotate their system.
This game changes the scoring from the other WarioWare titles. Previously, the score was the number of games that were played, but Twisted only counts the number of games that the player won. Failing a microgame does not delay the boss stage. The game features items called "souvenirs", which are unlocked after boss stages in story mode. Records, musical instruments, figurines, games, and many quirky items are possible to unlock.
Gyro sensor
The Twisted cartridge has a built-in gyro sensor and rumble feature (for feedback during rotation). Most of the microgames are played by rotating the entire handheld device. The gyro sensor uses a piezoelectric gyroscope developed by NEC to detect angular movement.
Because the game automatically calibrates the gyro sensor when the game is turned on (and after every "micro-game"), it works with both top-loading slots (like the Game Boy Advance) and bottom-loading slots (like all other models after the original GBA: Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Micro and Nintendo DS Lite). The manual states that Twisted! is not compatible with the Game Boy Player; although the game loads as normal, players would have to carry and tilt the connected GameCube console and use its controller for button presses, thus it is simply not practical.
Plot
One day, while Wario is playing with one of his Game Boy Advance consoles, he becomes frustrated with a particularly hard game on it and throws the system at a wall, causing it to bounce back and hit him on the head. After his temporary rage, he notices his GBA is broken. He goes to Dr. Crygor's Lab and requests his help in mending it. Crygor, however, mistakes it for a test subject for his new invention, the Gravitator—a device that is shaped like a washing machine, which has the power to manipulate gravity, change gravity's direction, and cause gravity distortion. Crygor places the GBA in the Gravitator, causing it to spits out dozens of units similar in form factor to Game Boy Advance units and versions. He demonstrates that in order to play the GBA games with them, the device must be physically moved or/and by pressing the buttons. Mona and 9-Volt arrive and play with these new units, enjoying themselves. Wario, taking note of their reaction, decides to take advantage of these motion-sensing abilities as a selling point, and gets his friends to design GBA games based on this concept, and they make the game WarioWare: Twisted!.