Video Game Master Series #6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wario

"WarioWare" first started showing up on Nintendo systems as far back as 2003, but the first console title showed up on the Wii as "WarioWare: Smooth Moves". All of the games have the same idea: you complete microgames-- games that take next to no time to complete-- in an effort to overcome an objective or beat friends.

In the case of "Smooth Moves", you use the Wii Remote's motion-sensitive capabilities to complete games in five seconds. All of the styles of play are outlined in the game and are indicated by unique 'Forms'.

Answer: Train Valley

"Train Valley" is one of those four-player titles that leads to frustration if you let it. The goal is simple: take a train, build a track, and lead it from station to station wile avoiding (or tearing down or building over) obstacles and avoiding saboteurs.

As you progress you can level up your train, the tracks, your abilities, or your environment, but you also need to collect resources to allow your train to manufacture track pieces. Only with coordination and attentiveness can you make it to your final destination.

Answer: The Stanley Parable

"The Stanley Parable" was a critically-acclaimed PC title when it released in 2011 and with years of modding and support, it grew to become a more elaborate narrative fuelled by players' decisions. While most games are built to react to user input, the narrative of "Stanley Parable" was developed to react to dissent; if the player goes against the narration, then the story diverges and the narrator tries to pull Stanley back on track.

There are many different possibilities, but the one that the player takes probably isn't the right one.

There was an achievement in the game for players who didn't pick up the game for five years which, naturally, was a point that many brought up. Some people cheated their way to this victory, rolling their clocks ahead to make it seem like they did it.

Answer: Boomerang

A lot of games contain fetch quests, and this means going from one place to another shuttling items or information to get an end result (reward, usually). In "Link's Awakening", this starts with a Yoshi Doll that you can collect after you get your sword.

The trading game will continue throughout Koholint Island and involve a Ribbon, a can of Dog Food, a Honeycomb, a Pineapple, a Mermaid Scale, and so on and so-forth until you can trade for a Boomerang, a useful ranged weapon.

Answer: Sonic Unleashed

"Sonic" fans have a love-hate relationship with their own series and "Sonic Unleashed" is one of the games that brought them there. Showing up during a rough decade for the Sega mascot, the game combined the normal (updated) high-speed platforming levels with more aggressive battle sequences as Sonic transformed into a Werehog due to the influences of Dark Gaia, an overly-complex story element. All this said, the game was still much better received than the 2006 "Sonic the Hedgehog" release, commonly regarded as one of the worst main-series titles.

Answer: Banjo

Banjo and his Breegull friend, Kazooie, are the co-leads in the originally-N64 platformer title "Banjo-Kazooie", created by "Donkey Kong" developers Rare. The series continued on to Xbox when the console acquired Rare as one of their leading devs for the Xbox 360. Nonetheless, Banjo and Kazooie are beloved by fans and their popularity allowed them to be picked back up by Nintendo for inclusion as DLC fighters in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" for the Nintendo Switch.

Answer: By eating

"Snake" is a simple game in concept and it's been replicated over years of re-use. Playing as the snake, you lead the head to eat food (usually dots) on the screen. Maneuvering, the goal is to continue eating and eating, increasing your points and extending your tail at the same time. If you hit any part of your snake body, the game is over, so the trick quickly becomes the ability to maximize your tail while collecting more food. Unsurprisingly, it's a highly-played mobile game as well; it's hard to mess with a classic.

Answer: Nintendo

Yeah, while Nintendo became a video game console juggernaut from the 1980s onwards, they actually started as a playing card company in Japan in the 1880s, eventually switching their materials when the Yakuza demanded more output. Nintendo was almost exclusively in the card industry for eighty years of their life. One could say they've been in the entertainment industry for more than a century.

In 2018, Nintendo released a Switch set called Nintendo Labo. It was made of cardboard. From whence you came, Nintendo?

Answer: Marowak

Marowak is the evolved form of Cubone and both are seen as early as the first games in the series ("Pokemon Red" and "Pokemon Blue"). Ground-type Pokemon, they utilize a small amount of earthy attacks but otherwise don't branch too far out from their physical natures. Both wield bones in their concept art and both wear skulls on their heads. Similarly, in the original games, Farfetch'd attacks foes with a leek. Oshawott, who shows up much later on (in "Pokemon Black" and "Pokemon White") evolves into Dewott and Samurott eventually and wears shell armour. Smeargle uses his tail as a paintbrush.

Answer: Limbo

"Limbo" was commonly regarded as essential PC gaming in 2010 due to its simple, yet haunting art-style and its back-to-basics side-scrolling adventure in which you played a boy who, likely dead, needed to progress through the darkness of limbo to reach...whatever comes next. Playdead's follow-up, "Inside", kept much of the simple styling of their breakthrough debut while spicing up the mechanics; "Limbo" was a straight-forward game in terms of platforming while "Inside" allowed the player to control other elements by inhabiting them.