WarioWare: Twisted for the GBA
Portable games are made to give you something in the waiting room or on the bus. Simple games like Tetris are good for this. Plots and home console-style gameplay are good too, but before the whole "sleep mode" of the portable came around, you would have to search for a save point or finish a boss fight before you could get around to getting up for your proctology exam. they require you to usually stay at home to finish them which kinda ruins the whole aspect of gaming on the go when you think about it. If you're on the go, you want a game you can complete in one setting that has almost infinite replayability that you'll have no regrets to when you need to suddenly turn it off. WarioWare offered quick-fire gameplay and surreal wit that wasn't too Japanese. (for what constitutes as 'too Japanese', see BoBoBo.) The original WarioWare was addictive and engaging and I feel that no Gameboy Advance collection should be without it. The minigames that you unlocked from the completion of the core microgames kept you going far after the main story mode was over.
Then came WarioWare: Touched: which was more of the same with better graphics. But it was more of a marketing tool since it was released around the DS' launch. I didn't find it to be as fun or quirky as the former. Also, before buying this, I had already completed Twisted. However, the game included the idea of 'toys' that make use of the game's central gimmick. However, it also had fewer minigames that were not really fun. It doesn't help that my brother decided to finish the game for me when I wasn't around.
Now WarioWare: Twisted was a combination of the two former titles. It had the quirk of the original and the toy-gimmick concepts of Touched. It also had a larger library of minigames that were as fun as the ones from the original.
This is why WarioWare: Twisted is on my list. Alongside this next one.
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Mario Kart DS
I was... say... unfullfilled with Mario Kart: Double Dash; a game that I went all "I WANT IT I WANT IT MOMMY" for during the Christmas near its release. I finished it by New Years, but that didn't really make it 'bad': I finished Banjo-Tooie by New Years during the Christmas-New years period and enjoyed it enough to play it again. Mario Kart: Double Dash didn't have the same effect.
I grew up with Mario Kart 64. It holds a special place in my heart because it was a game that brought my family together, even after we had to buy a second copy. (the first one got stolen) Mario Kart: Double Dash's weakness was in its course designs; both in race and battle mode. They felt uninspired and some were too happy to be necessary. After growing tired of it, which was quickly, (despite trying to convince myself that I was having a good time) its purpose changed from "entertain the nostalgic Nintendo fan for eternity" to "use as leverage with 1080 Avalanche so I can get the Zelda Collector's Disk". By the way, I enjoyed 1080 more than I did Double Dash.
A few year later, I went hunting for a DS. Nintendo had sold me on the dual-screen gimmick and I was ready to be a consumer whore once again. ("And how!") The DS I got came with Mario Kart DS, which I soon fell in love with. The courses this time around were actually fun and the up dated flashback courses were a delight to play. (even the sometimes pain-in-the-ass SNES ones)
Like I said up in my WarioWare: Twisted love letter, simplicity is key to the whole "portable game" aspect. Being a racing game, it's a given that it works. For those who wanted to stay at home with their Castlevanias and whatever (mind you, the first DS Castlevania was a great game too) there was the online play, which is one of the few Nintendo ones that work and are fun.
Sadly, the adventure mode was tacked on. I also didn't like some of the kart designs. (they felt tacky) Online play also failed to include Battle mode in all of its "hey, we brought back Block Fort" epicness. But what makes me love this game is that, off all the DS games I own; I find my way back to this one. It did its job to convince me to forgive the Mario Kart franchise for Double Dash.
