WarioWare

WarioWare
Logo since 2004
GenresAction
Party
Puzzle
Rhythm
Sports
Developers
PublisherNintendo
ArtistKo Takeuchi
Composers
  • Ryoji Yoshitomi
  • Kyoko Miyamoto
Platforms
First releaseWarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!
March 21, 2003
Latest releaseWarioWare: Move It!
November 3, 2023
Parent seriesWario

WarioWare (also known as WarioWare, Inc.), 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 series was established in 2003 with the release of Mega Microgames! 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. The player is given four lives at the beginning of these microgames. 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 lives at any given time). 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.