WarioWare

WarioWare (also Wario Ware), known in Japan as Made in Wario (Japanese: メイド イン ワリオ, Hepburn: Meido in Wario), is a series of games featuring the Nintendo character Wario. The franchise was established in 2003 with the release of Mega Microgame$! for the Game Boy Advance. While the first two games were developed by Nintendo R&D1, subsequent games have been co-developed by Intelligent Systems.

The distinctive feature of all WarioWare games is that they are collections of short, simple "microgames" presented in quick succession. Each of these microgames lasts about three to five seconds and must be completed, or else a life will be lost. For example, there is a microgame where the player must zap a spaceship; in another, Wario must collect coins in a Pac-Man-like maze. The numerous microgames are linked together randomly and steadily increase in speed and difficulty as the player progresses. On each level, losing four games results in a game over. After a certain amount of microgames have been played, the player faces a stage-specific boss microgame; the player must complete these to regain a lost life (with a maximum of four). Boss microgames are considerably longer and more complex than other microgames. For example, a boss microgame in Mega Microgames! instructs the player to hit a nail with a hammer multiple times in a row.

The idea of microgame or minigame was popularized generally during the Nintendo 64's fifth generation of video game consoles and some early minigames appear in the Nintendo 64DD's Mario Artist: Talent Studio in the style that would give rise to the WarioWare series. Certain minigames literally originated in Mario Artist: Polygon Studio, as explained by Goro Abe of Nintendo R&D1's so-called Wario Ware All-Star Team: "In Polygon Studio you could create 3D models and animate them in the game, but there was also a side game included inside. In this game you would have to play short games that came one after another. This is where the idea for Wario Ware came from." Teammate Yoshio Sakamoto continued, "To add on that, we got the idea of using Wario and the other characters because we couldn't think of anyone else who would be best for the role. Wario is always doing stupid things and is really idiotic, so we thought him and the rest of the characters would be best for the game."

Game & Wario, released in 2013, is a spinoff of the WarioWare series.

WarioWare Gold, was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on March 8, 2018, and released worldwide later that year.

The latest installment in the series, WarioWare: Get It Together!, was announced during a Nintendo Direct on June 15, 2021, and was released on September 10, 2021.

Games

 * WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (2003)
 * WarioWare: Twisted! (2004)
 * WarioWare: Touched! (2004)
 * WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2006)
 * WarioWare: Snapped! (2008)
 * WarioWare: D.I.Y. (2009)
 * Game & Wario (2013)
 * Rhythm Heaven Megamix (2015)
 * WarioWare Gold (2018)
 * WarioWare: Get It Together! (2021)