WarioWare: Get It Together’s characters are one of the game’s greatest charms, but not all of them are created equally. If you’re aiming to set sky-high scores in each level, you need to be armed with the best team for the job. This in-depth tier list should put you on the right track.
It’s important to note that this tier list is focused solely on getting high scores in Story Mode. It was made by considering how often a character is an optimal crew member for a microgame playlist. With that said, here is the complete list:
Are you surprised? Probably not. There aren’t too many characters with hidden usefulness in this title, and my list is likely to mirror your expectations. My explanations for each character are below, so dive in and check them out!
New York Mets Tier – 9-Volt
9-Volt is somehow worse in practice than he is in theory, and he is easily the worst character in the game. 9-Volt’s movement restrictions are the most punishing of all the characters who can’t be freely controlled; he is constantly moving left and right, and he cannot move vertically without timing a yo-yo throw and hooking onto a ring. Those restrictions make him terrible at games that require vertical movement, hitting objects more than once, and pushing things through the air. He also requires too much thinking at high speeds to be viable. You have to identify what microgame you’re playing, pick out the location of key objects in the game, and keep track of where 9-Volt is, all within the span of a second. Then, you actually have to time your yo-yo throws with no room for error, since the throw has a long cooldown that eliminates all chance of recovering before the timer goes off. 9-Volt is so bad, he has his own tier. The only reason to pick him is for challenge runs.
Feeble Tier – Pyoro, Kat & Ana
Pyoro is similar to 9-Volt in that he’s stuck on the ground and requires precision aiming to accomplish most objectives. He is significantly more usable because he can be controlled on the ground, but this character has a really hard time keeping up with high speeds in addition to struggling at far too many games. He interacts with microgames by spitting out his tongue on a 45-degree angle, which is too limiting to be a viable way to rack up wins. Games that are easy for the rest of the cast, like “Light Up” in Wario’s Intro Games, are a challenge for Pyoro. His slow movement speed is a hindrance as well, as is the long cooldown on his tongue attack.
Kat & Ana are similar to 9-Volt as well. They’re constantly jumping, which makes precise vertical movement difficult, but at least they can move left and right freely. Games with uneven ceilings are brutally difficult for these two ninja, as even the slightest imprecise movement can send them jumping to a height that you don’t want. Simple games like Jimmy T’s “Count” become almost guaranteed losses because of Kat and Ana’s jump speed. Still, I rank them ahead of 9-Volt (by a significant amount) and Pyoro because of their speed and horizontal control. Their ninja star projectile is solid for hitting objects to the right (for Kat) and left (for Ana.)
Low Tier – Penny, 18-Volt, Jimmy T
18-Volt seems to have learned too much from his buddy 9-Volt’s struggles. Instead of constantly moving, he doesn’t move at all. 18-Volt shoots CDs to interact with each game, using them to latch onto hooks scattered throughout each microgame that requires movement. 18-Volt’s playstyle doesn’t lend itself to consistent success. Aiming gets to be unnecessarily difficult at high speeds, and it becomes too unwieldy with one or two seconds to clear most games. His inability to move makes a few games in each set frustrating even at lower speeds, and his constant yelling is a pretty annoying sound effect. That last part isn’t relevant to the tier list, but I had to mention it.
No disrespect to Penny here – she is undoubtedly the most fun character in WarioWare: Get it Together. Zipping across the screen with her water gun/jetpack and freezing in place to shoot targets is a super fun time. Unfortunately, the inherent imprecision of inverted controls hurts her. Her water gun always fires hitboxes, and that causes her to unintentionally move things around when she’s just trying to get somewhere. This is manageable at lower speeds, but we’re looking at a High Score tier list. Once things start getting fast, Penny requires too much precision and brainpower to thrive. It doesn’t help that her strengths, free movement, and rapid striking, are shared by top-tier characters who don’t have her drawbacks. Why use Penny when you could use Mona or Ashley?
It’s hard to be bad at microgames when you have a full range of motion, but Jimmy T finds a way. In addition to having no projectile, he can only move by quickly dashing a set distance in the direction he aims. His burst movement makes games that require precision unnecessarily challenging. Jimmy T can be boiled down to “Worse Wario,” and he isn’t strong enough at any set of games to crack an optimal crew.
Mid Tier: Dr. Crygor, Master Mantis, Cricket, Lulu, and 5-Volt
5-Volt has garnered a bit of a reputation for being “overpowered,” but in reality she’s a fringe mid-tier because of her unique, but limiting, ability. Instead of moving 5-Volt herself, you can move her spirit anywhere, summoning 5-Volt to its location at will. When she springs to a spot, she emits a powerful shock blast that’s powerful and pretty good at pushing stuff in a single direction. She can also automatically win games that require moving from point A to point B. Even with those strengths, she falls well short in too many games to be good. She can’t really rotate things well and struggles in games that require moving back and forth quickly. The cooldown on her teleport is significant and punishing. If you make a mistake at high speeds, you’re not going to be able to recover. 5-Volt is overrated, and I won’t rest until everyone knows it.
Lulu floats through the air using unlimited small jumps, and her great horizontal speed makes her very strong at games that require left-to-right movement. Unfortunately, bad vertical speed and movement keep Lulu from making the high tier. Her jumps are VERY short, and that makes it difficult for her to reach high places quickly. Her other ability, a ground-pound, is one of the most niche abilities in the game. It also makes her generally awkward movement more herky-jerky. Between her horizontal air, vertical air, ground, and ground-pound speeds, she has four different gears to shift between. The characters above her all have easier to control movement with reliably high speeds.
Young Cricket and Master Mantis sit firmly in the center of the tier list. While neither of these characters excel enough to crack any optimal crews, they’re both perfectly serviceable in almost any situation. Their jump is fast and easy to control, and their horizontal airspeed isn’t too bad. Still, at high speeds, games that require precision or hitting horizontal targets can be a challenge for Cricket and Mantis. Characters who can fly and shoot projectiles can nullify those weaknesses, and therefore outclass the monks. As for who’s better between the two, Mantis gets the nod. His ability to stick to ceilings can occasionally be more trouble than it’s worth, but it does give him more versatility when used properly. It also makes him way better at Jimmy T’s boss stage, which is a terrible weakness for Cricket and an easy victory for Mantis.
I nearly put Dr. Crygor in high-tier because he’s VERY close to being an optimal crew member in a few different microgame sets. His slow movement speed and somewhat awkward headbutt do hinder his overall effectiveness, but Crygor makes up for it by being easy to control and rarely a terrible choice for any single game. Even his bad matchups are doable with enough practice. Still, the characters above him are all faster and even easier to control. Most have a projectile to make their lives easier. Those drawbacks barely keep Crygor in mid-tier, but I won’t really argue with you if you think he should be bumped into high-tier.
High Tier: Wario and Mona
Mona is a tricky character to place. On 90 percent of the microgame sets, she’s a clear mid tier: solid, but outclassed by characters with better control. What separates her is her utility on Ashley’s Food Games. That stage allows you to bring a crew of four, and Mona is an optimal team member. Food Games favor characters who can deal out rapid vertical hits (games like Kneed and Peel It,) and characters with a useful horizontal projectile. Mona’s boomerang fits both of those criteria, and she outclasses Mike, Dribble and Spitz, and Red because of it. Food Games is also Orbulon’s worst set, leaving space for Mona to slide in along with Ashley, Wario, and any other two top tiers. On most other stages, Mona’s constant movement and occasionally awkward boomerang prevent her from surpassing the more consistent high and top tiers. Still, she’s never a terrible choice and is a blast to use.
Wario is a fringe top tier. There’s not a giant drop off between he and Red, but Red’s bomb is a significant enough advantage to make up for Wario’s superior pushing ability. Wario’s shoulder bash puts him in the line of danger in a few microgames, but it’s fast and easy to control. His jetpack lets him fly anywhere, and ideally will give him one more great recovery option in the next Smash Bros. game. Wario is the first character you should use as a substitute for a game set that one of the top tiers struggles with, and you’ll be using him often on great runs.
Top Tier: Orbulon, Mike, Dribble and Spitz, Red
The top tier is filled with five characters who have the same ability but different orientation, and one Orbulon. The “flying projectile” characters are ordered within the tier based on how useful the direction they face is. Red is the weakest of the bunch. His projectile is a slow, but powerful bomb that he drops downward. Generally, hitting things beneath you is a weaker ability than hitting things horizontally or above you. Red is still a top tier though. His bomb is strong, and there aren’t too many games he struggles at.
Dribble and Spitz come next. They’ve got good movement speed, and their horizontal guns are fantastic projectiles. Not being able to aim left (for Dribble) or right (for Spitz) does occasionally lead to some frustrating losses, but these characters won’t lose enough games to stop you from regaining a lost life on a boss stage.
Finally, Mike rocks his way to into the Top 3 because his vertical projectile is the second best in the game. So many microgames start you at the bottom of the screen and require you to move or shoot up, and Mike is perfect for them. He’s optimal on just about every set of games and great for remixes and the monkey elevators.
Orbulon is the second best character in the game. His tractor beam trivializes almost 50 percent of the microgames, although he does really stink at a few more games than his top-tier peers. Still, at top speeds Orbulon is the hardest character to make a mistake with. His movement is predictable, and holding A will lead to victory more often than not. He can make up for weak games by winning boss battles, all of which he dominates. He also has the best statistical matchup spread of any character in the game according to Reddit user HotelTrivago52. He has a five-star matchup in 71 games, which is 33% of the total. Orbulon stinks at Ashley’s Food Games, but in every other pack, he’s gotta be on your team.
Best in the Game: Ashley
Ashley managed to escape the “popular character curse” that seems to plague most fan favorites in Get It Together, and she is easily the best character in the game. She has no “least recommended” matchups and only a handful of games she’s purportedly weak at. With a great projectile that she can aim in any direction, fast movement speed, and the ability to fly, the only thing stopping you from hitting the 999 score cap with Ashley is your own skill. She’s optimal in every set, and therefore should always be in your crew. As the song goes, everyone knows she’s the greatest.
There you have it! Our complete WarioWare: Get It Together tier list. If you think I’ve made mistakes, let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear your arguments.
