If I weren't such a completist I'd probably have a lot more money in the bank. Even though I had little interest in the WarioWare spin-off Paper Airplane Chase on DSi I thought I would check it out since it promised a new mode (unlike the DSiware spin-off Bird & Beans, which as I mentioned in my look back at the WarioWare series just changes the size of the board). Plus, the game's only $2 and was good for a quickie to help me catch up on my regular blog posting schedule.
I hadn't really played the original version (called the "endless" mode in this version), which was one of the unlockable minigames in the original GBA WarioWare game, and apparently the multiplayer version was also previously seen in the GameCube follow-up WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!, but by all accounts those modes are pretty much identical to their previous release. I started off playing the new time trial mode, but since there are only 8 stages it didn't take long to get through them (although some trickier additions to the gameplay are introduced, namely in some stages parts of the stages move, you can only see the area around the plane, or the plane descends more quickly). I then went back to the endless mode. Usually I dislike auto-generated levels, but in this case the types of hazards are all uniform so the slight variation in their ordering didn't really make a significant difference other than ensuring you can't memorize their placement. I was skeptical at first, but this mode won me over with its quick high-score, arcade-style action. At regular intervals characters from the WarioWare series pop up to cheer you on (although in my case, they were invariably distractions that would cause me to immediately crash), which is a fun touch, and it's the only hint of character and that the game has anything to do with the WarioWare series at all. The DSi's dual screens make it easier to see ahead than the single screen of the GBA would, although the large gap between the screens of the DSi XL I was using was somewhat distracting.
Not much more to say. This was an entertaining enough little time-waster, about on par with the zillions of disposable mobile games readily available for free. It's nice to tick this box off in terms of Nintendo games I had yet to play, but otherwise I can't imagine anyone getting too excited about it.
Shred through these Paper Airplane Chase links:
- Info on the original with some of the music
- Video of a tool-assisted speedrun (TAS) of the original
- Review of the DSiware release at nintendolife.com
- Footage of the DSiware version
- Entry at mariowiki.com