Last year, Game Boy Advance owners were handed a strange little treat from the folks at Nintendo. The game was called Wario Ware Inc., a collection of strange but likable mini-games built upon a foundation of different ideas, from classic Nintendo games to strange reality tasks like picking your nose or cutting a steak. The game was a great title in my eyes, only because it offered the kind of insanity you just don't see in games anymore, and it played pretty nicely. It reminded me of the "twitch" era of games, where not much thought needed to be put into something to have fun with it.

Now we come across the GameCube edition, arriving only a few months later, and, well, the game isn't really the same as far as one player is concerned, but it has a multiplayer offering that can only be described as uber-insanely addictive.

In case you haven't played it yet, let me give you an overview. You've arrived at Wario's little headquarters, where he and a bunch of his strange allies throw mini games at you to complete in order to progress further into the building and earn some mega bucks, as well as other goodies to access in multiplayer. It basically hops from game to game, leaving you little time to really put two and two together as you progress. There's a number of categories here, including a classic category dedicated to the NES (it's fun to see mini games based on Hogan's Alley and Duck Hunt), a "reality" category that involves such activities as cutting a steak and dodging traffic, and sci-fi and sports categories true to their nature, as well as a few others. Wario Ware Inc. packs over 200 mini-games in all.

The game pretty much has a basic presentation, the same as the GBA edition. The graphics are minimal at best, with average (but strange) movies, and minimal animation put into the characters. They either cheer you for completing a game right or jeer you for doing it wrong. The mini games themselves are complete facsimiles of their Game Boy cousins, which means they don't look that complex either. Some of the weird touches are nice, but this doesn't really make use of the GameCube hardware. Too bad, an upgrade with more GameCube-exclusive mini games would have been nice.

The same goes for the sound as well. There's not much to the music at all, just little snippets here and there to keep the game going. The sound effects are odd, with little voice mixtures and other teensy effects not really making much use of your surround sound. This also could've used a boost, but not a big deal.

The game really doesn't hold too much long-term gameplay if you're the only one playing it. You can't really access multiplayer without a second controller, leaving you to only take on the single player mode. And while most of the mini-games remain fun, you run into the same ones quite often after completing them, and you only have so much to improve before you begin perfecting them.

However, if there's one place that Wario Ware Inc. manages to succeed, it's in multiplayer modes. And there's plenty here. The game supports four-player multiplayer with a number of games, including the entertaining Survival Fever, among others. I mention that one because it's one of my particular favorites, allowing you to get down in style. Wario Ware also has 16-player elimination tournaments, where you can alternate up to 16 people on the same controller to see who fares the best in a particular number of match-ups. Jumping rope has never really meant so much.

The game has a good amount of stuff to unlock, and there are enough party goods to keep your next outing going. So whether or not to purchase Wario Ware Inc. really depends on how many people you have over for your gaming sessions. If it's just you, you might just want to consider a weekend rental to enjoy all the mini game hubbub. However, if you constantly have people over to have a good time, this is definitely worth your consideration. Throw in a $30 price tag (instead of the usual $50) and the consideration becomes even greater. This beats Mario Party any day.