Game & Wario - Part 8 - Gamer (9-Volt's Stage)

I'll bet some of you have been waiting for this one, as is standard with anything WarioWare. 9-Volt's just as big a Nintendo fan as some of you, and he makes the sort of things with Nintendo fans in mind. This time, he has a horror game--but not in any traditional way, thanks to his classic Nintendo spin on things.

The premise is that 9-Volt and his friend form school 18-Volt are really into a new game called Balloon Fighter. They like it so much that they neglect their homework. 9-Volt's mom 5-Volt forces them to finish their homework before they can continue, but by the time they've finished, 5-Volt has creamed their top scores, so 9-Volt devotes his time to beating his mom's high score.

Hence, you will be controlling 9-Volt in this stage as he plays Balloon Fighter. It's a WarioWare microgame collection, and the only one in this game. (Remember "Loose Tooth" and "Spotlight"? Those are microgames played here.) You may have noticed that Balloon Fighter, in the intro, is played on a partable system resembling the Wii U GamePad, and indeed, the you play the microgames through that. True to the original microgame set, this uses only the D-Pad and the A Button.

There's one teensy-tiny thing extra though: 9-Volt is playing Balloon Fighter after his bedtime, and a suspicious 5-Volt frequently checks on him to make sure he's sleeping. You hold down ZL and ZR at once to have 9-Volt pull the covers over his head to fake sleeping. Hence, you'll have to play Balloon Fighter's microgames while keeping a watch on 9-Volt's room. (A rule of thumb is that 5-Volt will catch 9-Volt any time her eyes are glowing. If they aren't glowing, you are free to play.)

In addition, 9-Volt is getting sleepy, and any time the blanket is over his head and his mom is not watching, a meter will deplete. It starts at 100, and if it ever hits 0, 9-Volt will fall asleep and be unable to play.

Hence, you have three lose conditions: Run out of lives at Balloon Fighter, get caught by 5-Volt, or let 9-Volt fall asleep. To win, 9-Volt only needs to beat the boss stage, which, at Level 1, is the 10th microgame. (You do not need to reach 100 points. Ever.) If you screw up on the boss stage, the game will have you try it again until you clear it or you lose, whichever comes first.

Getting good at this stage requires you know 5-Volt's tricks. She can watch 9-Volt through three means: The door, the window, or the TV.

If the door opens, it will either by 5-Volt or a cat. If you hear footsteps right before the doorknob turns, it's 5-Volt. If the door just opens by itself with no sound beforehand, it's a cat. The door will eventually close on its own if it's a cat (and 5-Volt pulls the door shut again). Only one of them can occupy the doorway at a time--that is, any time you see the cat there, it means 5-Volt can't be there too.

5-Volt will sometimes slowly walk across outside from either direction. She will cross one pane and be halfway towards crossing another before she opens the window and checks on 9-Volt. If you can afford to observe her, pull the covers right after she stops walking.

And like something out of The Ring, 5-Volt will sometimes emerge from 9-Volt's TV. Sometimes, the TV will turn on and display static. The TV will sometimes turn off before anything appears. If a figure appears on the static, however, it can either be a hand puppet or 5-Volt. You need to wait until the figure clears up from the static before you can accurately determine which.

In addition, strings denoting tension and suspense will sometimes play. This has no effect on the gameplay at all.

The door, the window, and the TV all have at least two variations--some are more fake-outs, and some are 5-Volt trying to be clever. They will appear in later levels, and I'll explain them as I get there.

Unfortunately, because Balloon Fighter is entirely contained within the GamePad, you'll only get to see 9-Volt's room. You do, however, get a heads-up on 9-Volt's score and number of lives left in Balloon Fighter, as well as animations for when he wins a microgame and when he loses one. In a way, this may be scarier, as there is no GamePad displaying loud silly microgames acting as a Nightmare Retardant.


By the way, if you want to see the microgames played in succssion on the TV screen,
you'll see them later in 18-Volt's part of this stage, which I'll reach in Part 50.

Next up is the microgame I just unlocked, "Mole." This one is tough.