WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release Date(s)
Game Boy Advance	NA: May 21, 2003 JP: March 21, 2003 EU: May 23, 2003 AU: June 6, 2003 CH: July 4, 2005
Game Boy Advance	NA: May 21, 2003 JP: March 21, 2003 EU: May 23, 2003 AU: June 6, 2003 CH: July 4, 2005
Virtual Console (3DS)	AU: December 15, 2011 WW: December 16, 2011
Virtual Console (3DS)	AU: December 15, 2011 WW: December 16, 2011
Virtual Console (Wii U)	JP: April 3, 2014 WW: April 10, 2014
Virtual Console (Wii U)	JP: April 3, 2014 WW: April 10, 2014
Nintendo Switch Online	WW: February 8, 2023
Nintendo Switch Online	WW: February 8, 2023
Platform(s)
Classification(s)	This game is part of Nintendo Switch Online subscription service
Sales	1.10 million
Genre(s)	Party
Rating(s)
ESRB	03
PEGI	02
CERO	01
ACB	01
USK	02

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! <sup>(JPJapanese: メイド イン ワリオ

Romaji: Meido in Wario

Meaning: Made in Wario)</sup> is minigame compilation for the Game Boy Advance and the first title in the critically acclaimed WarioWare series of games. It was released on March 21, 2003 in Japan, later that year in Europe, North America, Australia, and on July 4, 2005 in China. The game has the player play through themed gauntlets of microgames, very short minigames which only last for a few seconds each and whom the player must figure out how to complete through short written instructions and contextual clues. The game's plot centers around Wario who founds a game company and creates a video game along with his friends, an entirely new cast of characters introduced in Mega Microgame$! The music and sound effects were taken from Wario Land 4.

Based on the "Sound Bomber" mode of Mario Artist: Polygon Studio, Mega Microgame$! was a passion project for its development team, who developed it in secret before showing it to their producers. The game was praised by critics for its innovative concept and addictive nature and would become a commercial success despite low internal expectation, selling over one million units worldwide.

It was re-released as a free downloadable title for the 3DS in December 2011, only available to people who have purchased a 3DS prior to the August 12, 2011 price drop. The game was also released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in April 2014.

Gameplay

The game revolves around a collection of more than 200 microgames created in Wario's fictional game company. The so-called microgames are actually simplistic, little challenges that last very few seconds. The only instruction you get to play each one is a single word or phrase that appears right as the microgame shows up and the A button and the + control pad are the only required buttons to complete the games.

Each microgame has three levels of difficulty. A particular microgame can be made more difficult by ether being more complex, needing to do more than in a previous game, having a shorter range for success or using a handicap against the player.

The Main area of the game is made up of stages hosted by a different "developer". The stage sets a number of microgames for the player to complete, with a "final boss" at the end of the stage (which is just another microgame, but untimed). There are a wide variety of unique microgames in each stage and the microgames can appear in any order. As an added challenge, microgames must be completed at higher rates of speeds as the stages near completion.

While the characters are called developers, they hardly ever appear to develop games like Wario does. Every character (sometimes characters, as there can be two of them) has a story: whether it's getting to work on time, driving a cab passenger to a destination, or being saved from a spaceship.

After completing the given number of microgames and beating the boss, the player is able to find out what happened to the character(s) at the end of their story. The player can then return to the stage with the chance to play games at faster speeds and higher difficulty levels. The only objective now will be to beat your own personal high score.

There is a separate mode of play that gives the player the choice to play any microgame they’ve played before. In the “Grid” area, players can select the specific character and then play the games from that stage. The microgames are set up to be played over and over once selected and each successive win makes the next game either harder or faster. After completing a microgame the recommended number of times, the objective again is to beat your own high score.

Plot

The game starts with Wario flipping through the TV where upon stopping on a news channel he finds that video games sales have skyrocketed. Wanting to cash in he comes to the conclusion that he can become a successful video game developer, and goes out to buy a computer to develop his games. After working for quite a while, he comes to the conclusion that it's just too hard to make games, and hires his friends to make more for him, thus opening up WarioWare, Inc.

Characters

• Wario - President of WarioWare, Inc. His first set of games is part of the introduction genre, his second set of games are in a genre called "Anything Goes" and, vain man that he is, feature him.
• Jimmy T. - A not so young disco dancer who wears enormous, brightly-colored wigs. Regular customer of Club Sugar. His genre of microgames is sports. He also makes two "remix" stages during the course of the game; one featuring a selection of games from himself, Mona, 9-Volt, and Dribble and Spitz, and a second with games from Kat and Ana, Dr. Crygor, Orbulon, and his boss game.
• Mona - A young woman who works at a gelato shop. Her microgames are in the 'strange' genre, and in her story, she drives her scooter with the help of her pet pig, elephant, and monkey to elude the police.
• Dribble & Spitz - Bulldog and cat, respectively. Drivers at Diamond Taxi. Their genre of microgames are everything with ninjas or Science Fiction. They also have a few of Wario's games in their lineup.
• 9-Volt - Grade school student and Nintendo collector. His microgames are based on Nintendo's first works.
• Dr. Crygor - Mad scientist. Half his face is a cybernetic implant. Wears a cryogenic suit. Genre of microgames: Reality (i.e. featuring photorealistic graphics)
• Kat & Ana - Kindergarten ninja twins. Genre of microgames: Nature (Kat prefers animals, Ana flowers). They also include a few of Wario's games in their lineup.
• Orbulon - Super intelligent (Has an I.Q. of 300) short alien who wears black glasses and a cape. He planned to take over the Earth, but his spaceship crashed and he was stranded. Genre of microgames: I.Q. Since his microgames involve more thinking than the others, the time limits are up to five seconds longer than the rest.

Microgames

Introduction (Intro)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)
Crazy Cars	20 points	Don't get smashed by the crazy cars!
Wario Whirled	15 points	Stop my spinning face in the right place, will ya?
Saving Face	15 points	Don't let the stick slip through your mitts, butterfingers!
Diamond Dig	20 points	Here's a news flash: I'm greedy! Guide me to the diamonds! Now!
Dodge Balls	15 points	You'd better not let your tiny car get crushed by the huge boulders!
Repellion	15 points	Destroy the UFOs! You've only got one shot per UFO, so don't miss!
Wario Wear	15 points	It's chilly! Hurry up and get some clothes on me, will ya?
Hectic Highway	15 points	Don't smash into any other vehicles, you road hog!
The Maze That Pays	20 points	Don't miss any of the coins in the maze! Get them all, or I'll never forgive you!
Super Wario Bros.	20 points	Flatten the Goombas! They're so ANNOYING! GAH!
I Spy	20 points	Guess what: I'm sneaky! Don't let me outta your sights!
Mug Shot	20 points	Don't let my mug slide off the counter, ham hands!
Sparring Wario	5 points	Knock the punching bag off it schain! C'mon, ya wimp!

Jimmy T. (Sports)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)
Log Chop	20 points	Karate's like my cologne: overpowerin'! Gather enough strength to split the log!
Fruit Shoot	30 points	Keep it on the straight 'n' narrow! Target the apple and keep shootin' 'til you hit it!
Heads Up	15 points	Time to play catch! Ain't no thing but a chicken wing, baby!

Dribble & Spitz (Sci-Fi)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)

• Alien Ambush - Trap the alien in the cage.
• Scooter Commuter - Land the scooter appropriately on the terrain.
• Space Fighter - Shoot down the space ships as they fly past you.
• Stick & Move - Leap across the roof while avoiding Samurai below.
• Classic Clash I - Jump over the rock or duck under the fireballs from the villain.
• Bubble Trouble - Collect the incoming objects before they pass you by.
• Super Fly - Make sure the superhero avoids the buildings as he flies through the city.
• Arrow Space - Find the opening in a shower of arrows from the sky.
• Manic Mechanic - Fit the pieces of the robot on top of each other as they fall down.
• UFO Assist - Avoid getting shot down by the projectiles
• Classic Clash II - Push the villain back until the hero is able to throw him down.
• Mars Ball Destroy - Find Mars, then disintegrate it.
• Hover for Cover - Propel the spaceship in order to avoid the floating rocks.
• Scoot or Die - Move the scooter forward and backward so that it's not hit by the bombs.
• Word Up - Shoot the question mark to spell the word or name.
• Ninja Pipe Cleaner - Dispatch foes by moving the ninja in front and then through them.
• Classic Clash III - Input the commands to defeat the villain.
• Zero to Hero - Turn the civilian into a superhero when the gauge reaches red.
• Tidal Cave - Move the ship up or down to avoid the waves in the cave.
• Mars Jars - Run away from the jar so that it doesn't trap you or anyone else.
• Space Escape - Move the ship and avoid the projectiles from the ground and the ceiling.
• Ninja Vision - Count the number of ninjas that appear.
• Slick Wheelie - Make the person on the scooter do a wheelie so as not to hit any rocks.
• Bam-Fu - Slice the bamboo when the gauge reaches red.
• BOSS: Galaxy 2003 - In this shooter, you start with a triangle that acts as a spacehip to blast away oncoming objects. Some of these objects leave items that gives the ship upgrades, like shields or shooting upgrades. The game ends with a ball that acts as a boss and forms an attack pattern depending on what color it is.

Mona (Strange)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)

• Paper Plane - Fly the plane around the obstacles as it sails downward.
• Dry Eye - Stop the moving bottle and lubricate the eye.
• Parking Prowess - Drive the car into the parking space without hit the sides or any of the other cars.
• Butterfingers - Catch the bread once it pops out of the toaster.
• Gold Digger - Stop the finger that's moving back and forth and make sure it ends up in a nostril.
• Terminal Velocity - Pull the brakes on the train at the right time to let in the waiting passengers.
• Chicken Pinch - Catch the chicken-like creature between the two sticks.
• Boombox - Detonate the box when the light passes through it.
• Sloppy Salon - Cut off all the hair before time runs out.
• Page Panic - Shoot the bookmark into the assigned page number as the pages flip in the book.
• Noodle-Rama - Twist the pasta until all of it is on the utensil and off the plate.
• Right in the Eye - Carefully move the sewing thread unto the eye of the needle.
• I Came, I Saw - Move the saw back and forth until the log is completely chopped.
• Douse the House - Spray water from the hose and put out the fire.
• Soleman - Avoid being crushed by the shoe!
• Nighttime Allergies - Sniff the mucus completely into the nose.
• Air Supplies - Drop the package on the passing flat-bed truck.
• Toast the Ghosts - Shine a light on the ghosts.
• Tilt-n-Tumble - Adjust the obstacle course back and forth until the ball rolls into the pit.
• Pompeii Back - Don't get hit by the bouncing rock shot from the volcano.
• Crash Test, Dummy! - Deploy the airbag at the appropriate time to protect the dummy.
• Sunny-Side Up - Crack the egg and have it fall into the moving pan.
• Fries with That? - Aim and shoot ketchup at the flying fast food.
• The Brush Off - Brush the teeth until they are completely white.
• BOSS: Nail Call - Pound the nail until it completely into the ground. The hammer moves left and right so precision is key. Mistakes can bend the nail, break the nail, or injure fingers (the latter two outcomes will end the game).

9-Volt (Nintendo)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)
Balloon Fight	20 points	Fly through the air, but don't run into the little sparkling fires! Simple! But challenging! 1986: NES
Duck Hunt	25 points	Want 8 bits of history?! Shoot the duck when it comes into your sights! 1985: NES/The Zapper
Game Boy	20 points	Check it out! The original Game Boy! Remember how ti insert the Game Paks? 1989: Portable game system with liquid crystal display
Donkey Kong	25 points	You know this one! Donkey Kong is heaving barrels at you, and you'd better avoid them! 1981: Arcade Game
F-Zero	20 points	It's fast! It's wicked! It's your hyper-speed driving machine! Speed past the other racers! Vroom! 1991: Super NES
Family BASIC	15 points	Locate and press the correct key! All this fun in 8 teeny, tiny bits! 1984: NES/Keyboard allowing players to program in Basic (Japan only)
Super Mario Bros.	15 points	The Goombas need a good ol' squashing! You know the drill: land on their heads, not their sides! 1985: NES
Ultra Hand	15 points	Grab the ping pong ball with the Ultra Hand! How cool is this?! 1966: Revolutionary magic hand also used for playing games (Japan only)
Chiritorie	10 points	If only cleaning were this fun! Clean up your place with this remote control vacuum! 1979: Vacuum cleaner with remote control rotation (Japan only)
Laser Outlaw	15 points	2-D quick draw! Shoot the blinking target on the outlaw! 1976: Hit the target to take him down (Japan only)
Hogan's Alley	15 points	Ah, such a classic! Shoot before you get shot, but only shoot the bad guys! 1985: NES/The Zapper
Mario Paint: Fly Swatter	25 points	Swat the irritating flies buzzing around you! Truly magic gaming! 1992: Super NES/Super NES Mouse
Ice Climber	10 points	Grab hold of the big bird cruising through the sky! This was once the pinnacle of gaming! 1985: NES
The Legend of Zelda	20 points	It's... it's Link! Hurry up and move him into the cave! Talk about a great game! 1987: NES
Sheriff	15 points	Take out the bad guys and avoid their cross fire. How's this for memory lane? 1979: Arcade Game
Dr. Mario	25 points	Make a line of four identical capsules! That's an 8-bit prescription I'll take anytime! 1990: NES
Racing 112	10 points	Pass as many race cars as you can without crashing into them! This game is awesome! 1978: Television video game with built-in software for home use (Japan only)
Mario Clash	20 points	Throw the shell and knock the target off the ledge! This rules! 1995: Virtual Boy (Game console with viewer that had 3-D effects)
Helmet	15 points	Make it through this 8-bit masterpiece without getting hit by the tools! 1981: Game & Watch
Urban Champion	15 points	Guard yourself while waiting for your chance to KO your opponent. Another golden 8-bit moment! 1986: NES
Stack-Up	15 points	Time it so that R.O.B. grabs the stack of disks! Does this take you back...WAY back? 1985: NES/R.O.B. with blocks
Metroid	30 points	Destroy Mother Brain! Ah, "Metroid"... Now that's one good game! 1986: NES
Wild Gunman	15 points	I love this game! Prove who's the fastest draw in the West! 1985: NES/The Zapper
LazerBlazer	15 points	Take out the enemy missiles! What a classic! 1992: Super NES/Super NES Super Scope
Ultra Machine	5 points	Batter up! Can you connect with the pitches? Watch for the change-up! 1968: Batting machine for home use that electronically fired ping-pong balls (Japan only)

Orbulon (IQ)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)

• Praise or Haze II - Choose from a list words when given the instruction to either "Praise" or "Haze".
• Code Buster - Follow the directions carefully as it bluntly tells you which buttons to push and how many times to do so.
• Noodle Cup - Figure out which pipe to pour the hot water into in order to cook the noodles.
• Petri Panic - Use the magnifying glass to find the specimins. An arrow will help you as you get closer.
• Maze Daze - Get the ballerina to the exit that is nested in the labrynth.
• What's the Toadal? - Count the number of Frogs leaping across the lily pad.
• Find My Behind - Choose the right person that identical to the subject, despite the fact that the choices are turned around.
• Cavity Calamity - Find a safe spot before the descending ceiling crushes the odd-looking figure.
• Sphinx Hijinks - Choose the right piece to fit into the pyramid.
• Gear Head Fred - Move the gears left or right, depending on how many gears are attached to each other, in order to save the person hanging on.
• Getcha Groove On - After given directions, make the dancer move in the exact fashion.
• Odd Man Out - Between four cards, choose the one that is different.
• The Great Cover-Cup - Find the object that hidden in a cup as it is rearranged among other cups.
• Four Leaf Hover - Land the butterfly on the four-leaf clover amidst the three-leaf clovers.
• Tip the Scale - Pick the scale that has the heavier amount of turtles.
• The Real McCoy - After looking at a Game Boy Advanace, choose the right one among choices that are similar but not identical.
• Identity Crisis - Pick the right choice after it briefly flashes across the screen.
• Electric Groove Fish - Take the spark from the electrical creature, through the wires, and to the city.
• Strength in Numbers - Choose which of the two lifeform there is more of onscreen.
• Button Masher - Crush the buttons that have come to life onscreen by pressing the actual button they represent.
• Catterwall - Select the correct cat in the dark alleyway that matches the given target.
• Focus-Pocus - Choose the option that most resembles the vague clue.
• Matchboxes - Match the shape(s) to the ones mixed in with similar shapes.
• Garage Rock - Pick the musicians in the order that they played.
• BOSS: Dungeon Dilemma - This games sets you up against an enemy, and in order to defeat it you must pick the right words appropriate to the requested action. Finally, you must pick "success" as the cursor switches between "success" and "failure" in order to finish the fight.

Dr. Crygor (Reality)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)

• Banana Munch - Eat the entire banana (sans peel) by repeatedly pressing the A button.
• Mirror Mirror - Point the mirror so that the laser hits the target. More difficult variation require you to hit the mirror with the laser first.
• Wrong Way Highway - Move the car out of the way of incoming traffic.
• Bad Man Bash - Push the direction pad towards any of the assailants that are trying to attack the ninja-looking guy.
• Berry Berry Good - Drop the fruit on the piece of food sliding by.
• Cat Nap - Hit the A button right when it looks like the cat is asleep.
• Make My Clay - Build up the clay into a being before the rock crushes it.
• Rough Puff - Blow up the puffer fish before it get bitten by the blue fish.
• Hard Core - Eat the apple to it's core by repeatedly pressing the A button.
• Cymbalism - Smash the notes with cymbals as float by.
• Mashin' Martians - Whack the number of aliens requested onscreen.
• Body Block - Move the human figure back and forth to keep the ball from dropping off the screen.
• Funky Fountain - Spray the inanimate flower with the fountain that moves left and right.
• Assembly Line - Lay the rest of the car precisely on the wheels.
• What's Your Beef? - Slice the beef with the knife.
• Spoon Spectacular - Bend the spoon by pushing up and down repeatedly.
• Whoop-De-Doodle - Make the crayon draw until it reaches the star on the paper.
• Raging Rhino - Sidestep the rhino right as it charges towards the matador.
• Veg Out - Connect the given vegetable by stopping the sliding panel that has an assortment of vegetable halves.
• Quickie Quiz - Follow the directions when choosing between the objects displayed.
• Cheeky Monkey - Catch the fruit as the monkey tosses them out of the tree.
• Pod Pinch - Pinch the pods at the right time so that the seeds fly out.
• Shake! - Stop the dog's paw(s) so that it grabs the human hand.
• Kettle Mettle - Turn of the fire off by stopping the moving square in the target area.
• BOSS: Alien Laser Hero - There is a laser coming out of an eye inside of a giant head floating in space. Use the laser to blow up the all the objects onscreen before they completely fall downwards and destroy earth.

Kat & Ana (Nature)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)

• Hare Scare - Pound the rabbits that pop out of the corresponding holes of the onscreen Game Boy Advance.
• Munch a Bunch - Make the creature eat all the objects in the spiral.
• Lickety-Split - Have the lizard lick the hearts when they get into position.
• Flower Shower - Water the flower(s) to make them grow.
• Go Fer the Tater - Dig through the ground to reach the potato. Hitting rocks will end the game.
• Picture Perfect - Snap the picture at the right time to capture the animal or object within the frame.
• Leafy Greens - Get the snail over the pit in time to eat the leaf.
• Crane Game - Grab the swimming fish in the crane's beak.
• Veggie Might - Pick the vegetable(s) once you any sprouts.
• Mouse Trap - Catch the mouse in the clear bowl.
• Coconut Catapult - Have the bird drop the rock on one end of the catapult to send the animal on the other end flying towards the coconut.
• Bug Bite - Send the mosquito to bite the baby without it choking on the moving fumes.
• Disc O'Dog - Make the dog catch the Frisbee.
• Fruit Fall - Catch the fruit and not the diamond(s) as they all fall down.
• Penguin Shuffle - The baby penguin must march with the bigger penguins without bumping into any of them.
• Two Birds, Big Rocks - Have the bird charge through the wood in the wall to get to the other side.
• Hoppin' Mad - Aim the frog and swim towards the object.
• Worm Squirm - Identify the worm and make it go into the puddle of water.
• Kitty Cover - Cover the kitten with the umbrella and make sure it doesn't get drenched by the rainwater.
• The Claw - Grab the toy when the crane arrives above it.
• Spunky Monkey - Get the monkey to leap towards the banana bunch.
• Crack Down - Make the bird with the egg leap when the hammer strikes down or risk having the egg topple over and crack.
• Raaaarrrrggghh - Chase the tiny people away until they are all off the screen.
• Blow Hole Bridge - Run across the whales and get to the island, all the while avoiding the sprays of water.
• BOSS: The Frog Flap - Get the leaping frog to jump from cloud to cloud in order to reach the hot tub. The clouds disappear once the frog leaps off it and higher difficulty levels include platforms that slow down or speed up gameplay once touched.

Wario (Anything Goes)

Title	Points needed to clear	Description (in-game)

• Wario Bros. - Have Wario collect the Coin. In harder versions, Mario appears.
• Hot Dog Hog - Wario eats a hot dog. The hot dog gets longer in harder versions.
• Shingle Smasher - Break the tile when the gauge reaches red.
• Produce Pandemonium - Avoid the falling vegetables as Wario drives on the road.
• Laser Vision - Make Wario blast the eye drop medicine hovering above his face.
• Wario Windsock - Raise the windsock by turning the handle.
• High Treeson - Shake the tree until all the fruit falls off so Wario can take it all.
• Rock Paper Scissors - Beat Mario in Rock-Paper-Scissors.
• Wario Pinball - Use the flippers to keep the ball from falling out.
• Mix & Match - Place parts together until you've made Wario's face.
• Down & Outie - Cover Wario's belly, but don't go too far over his belly; that will cause the shirt to rip.
• Thumb Wrestling - Make your move when the opponent's thumb goes down.
• Float Your Boat - Drop Wario on the float before he flies off screen.
• Vermin - Position Wario so that he is able to knock out the mole(s).
• Apple Shrapnel - Crush the apple(s) in your grip.
• Unexcite Bike - Avoid the holes and the other motorcyclists that are in Wario's way.
• Hasty Pastry - Don't let Wario get picked off the dessert by the roving hand.
• Wario Facial - Place the right hat, set of eyes, and nose on Wario if required.
• Grow Wario Grow - Hit the block and get Wario to the Mushroom before it touches Mario.
• Loot Scoot - Blast the Wall so that Wario isn't smashed by the other wall trailing him.
• Airpain - Blow the incoming planes out of the sky.
• Wario Kendo - Grab the sword before it smacks Wario in the face.
• Bug Birdie - Make Wario the cockroach push the golf ball into the hole.
• Sinking Feeling - Get Wario to grab the umbrella before it's too late.
• BOSS: Wario's Adventure - The final boss of the game is divided into many sections and has many elements from past microgames and boss levels. First, Wario must jump and duck through an obstacle course on a skateboard, not unlike City Surfer. Next, Wario has to avoid falling objects from the sky while being able to ride the skateboard back and forth. After that Wario has to traverse an obstacle course again while avoiding falling objects at the same time. When that is over, Wario must grab onto a jet pack floating in the air. Wario will slide left and right while he has the jet pack on and he must launch himself into any object ahead of him before it explodes. When the object's are destroyed he will immediately need to grab every green fuel case coming towards him so that he has enough speed to blast through the oncoming red bar. At this point, Wario will get to a treasure chest, but before he can open it he must defeat a foe with boomerang. When the foe is defeated Wario will get the treasure, but in true Indiana Jones style a boulder-like-object will come out of nowhere and start rolling after him. He has to run faster and faster away from the object until he's able to slide under a wall and leave the boulder behind. After all of that, the boss battle will finally be complete.

Extra Games

There are few games outside of the character-centered microgames that you can play once certain requirements are met. These requirements usually just mean to beat a certain number of microgames from a particular character's set of games. These extra games are divided between one player and two player modes. One player mode allows you play a game until you get a game over. Two player mode can be played with only one game and one Nintendo DS, the players use the Top L and R buttons to compete with each other.

One Player Mode

Jump Forever: Get Wario to jump for as long as he can. The rope swings at different speeds to add some challenge to this game. This game is based off of Jimmy's "Jumpin' Rope" microgame.

Skatingboard: Let 9-Volt stay on the skateboard as long as he can by jumping over and ducking under the obstacle when it arrives. This game is based off of Jimmy's "City Surfer" microgame.

Paper Plane: Manuever the paper plane down the bottomless pit in an endless tower. This game is based off of Mona's similarly titled "Paper Plane" microgame.

Dr. Wario: Play Dr. Mario, but with Wario in Mario's place. This game is based off of 9-Volt's "Dr. Mario" microgame.

Fly Swatter: Swat as many flies and other creatures as possible in each level. There are a hundred creatures for every level, though many of them fight back and there are a greater quantity of the fighters in advanced levels. While this game is based off of 9-Volt's "Mario Paint: Fly Swatter" microgame, it has much more to do with the original Fly Swatter from the actual Mario Paint game for the SNES.

Sheriff: Shoot the bad guys that are walking around in the square formation, occasionally watching out for those who intrude in your area. This game is based off of 9-Volt's similarly titled "Sheriff" microgame (Participate in 25 microgames from "Jimmy Remix No.2" to unlock).

Pyoro: Get Pyoro to eat the veggies floating from the sky by extending it's diagonal tongue. Any veggie that falls on it's head will end the game. Veggies will also destroy the ground around Pyoro, though eating certain veggies can restore any ground that has been lost. (Open every microgame to unlock).

Pyoro 2: Pyoro must spit seeds in a diagonal fashion to destroy the veggies falling to the ground. Basically the same as the first "Pyoro" (Beat the given high score of every microgame to unlock).

Two Player Mode

Chiritorie: Use the spinning vacuums to suck up all the trash before your competitor gets to it. The first to reach 100 points wins. Jimmy is featured in this game, if a vacuum hits him when he appears, the vacuum will lose points and will spit back out trash it had sucked in. This microgame is based off of 9-Volt's similarly titled "Chiritorie" microgame.

Chicken Race: Pull the feet back and then release to send the two opponents on wheels (one of them is 9-Volt, the other is an oddly shaped figure that appears commonly throughout WarioWare) racing on the ground. The propulsion has to be enough for the character to make significant distance, but not too much that they ride off the cliff.

Dong Dong: Mona and Dribble are opponents trying to push a heavy block onto each other. There are platforms above the characters that move up and down, though they can move sideways if activated. You must activate the platforms at the right time to push over blocks nested within the wall between Mona and Dribble.

Hurdle: Dr. Crygor and Orbulon race against each other over hurdles and through mud to get to the finish line. The buttons are used to jump and to speed up your character when the mud slows them down.

Easy, Thrilling, Hard, and Staff

After beating the required number of microgames and the boss from Wario's "Anything Goes" stage, a few modes will open. Except for Staff, all modes are structured to play like a typical stage with a set a microgames, except that now any previously played microgame can appear at any time. These modes are organized based on challenge and speed factors.

Easy: Play microgames at their easiest level and their slowest speed. Opens after beating "Anything Goes".

Thrilling: Play microgames at their hardest level, with only one life to keep from having a game over. Opens after participating in fifteen microgmaes in "Easy".

Hard: Play microgames at their easiest level, but at a highly increased speed. Opens after participating in fifteen microgmaes in "Thrilling".

Total Boss: Play all the boss levels in the game. Opens after beating "Anything Goes".

Staff: Not a game, just plays the credits. Opens after beating "Anything Goes".

Other Translations

Language / Region:	Translated to:
Europe/Australia	WarioWare, Inc.: Minigame Mania

Development

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and first announced in late 2002. It was directed by Hirofumi Matsuoka and produced by Takehiro Izushi. Other key developers include Goro Abe, Ko Takeuchi and Kazuyoshi Osawa.

The WarioWare concept with very short minigames coming one after another was first used in Mario Artist: Polygon Studio, a game released for the Nintendo 64DD in 2000 only in Japan. The game's so-called Sound Bomber mode includes eight microgames, six of the microgames in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! are based on those.

Made in Wario, as the game is known in Japan, was originally made secretly by a number of developers on the development team Nintendo R&D1 without telling their manager at the time. The people came up with the idea of using Wario for the game since they couldn't think of anyone else who would be best for the game. According to them, Wario is "always doing stupid things" and is "really idotic", so they used him and the other newly created characters, who have become a recurring cast in the series.

Being convinced by their work, the makers presented their idea to their manager at a certain point. He didn't seem to be surprised and just gave his okay, so the people continued the development.

For the creation of the microgames, each person on the team came up with their own ideas, which were wrote down on notes and attached to the director's table. After this, the people went through the ideas to decide which ones could be included in the final product. Since the game became well-known around the department, even people who weren't on the project started to submit their own ideas. Because each of the programmers created their own graphics during the development of the games, the art style is very different with each microgame.

Shigeru Miyamoto put a lot of thought into how best to market the game. He wanted to show how its unusual playing style made it distinct from other games, in the way it could be simply picked up and enjoyed. Miyamoto gave the staff the approval to use the slogan "More! Shorter! Faster!" (最多 最短 最速), which prominently appeared on the Japanese box art, surpassing the actual game logo in terms of size. It wasn't used for the later Western packages which depicted Wario and his friends rather than just a portion of Wario's face as seen on the Japanese counterpart.

Made in Wario or WarioWare, as the franchise is called in the West, was first announced by Nintendo in late December 2002 and originally released in March 2003 in Japan. Nintendo didn't have hugely high commercial hopes for the game. However, the game's sales figures were growing and growing and it gained a very good reputation.

Since WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! was commercially successful, Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, requested a remake of the original WarioWare, Inc. for the Nintendo GameCube that had to be finished "as soon as possible." The development resulted in the first sequel, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!, which focuses on multiplayer and came out in Japan only a half a year later after the first game. It is also the first WarioWare game that was co-developed by Intelligent Systems. More WarioWare sequels have followed since, which mostly make use of a new piece of Nintendo's hardware, and so WarioWare has become one of Nintendo's headliner titles whenever they bring out new hardware.

Critical Reception

Overall, the critic's reviews were positive. GameRankings' overall score for the game is 89%. WarioWare, Inc. also won numerous awards.

The Japanese magazine Famitsu rated the game 35/40. Shane Bettenhausen from 1UP rated the game 9.5/10 and stated he enjoyed how fast-paced and frantic the game was. He also said his friends enjoyed the game after playing it. Bettenhausen praised the game's weirdness. Jeff Gerstmannf of GameSpot said the combination of minigames and pacing of puzzle games such as Tetris came together wonderfully, rating the game 9.1/10. Craig Harris of IGN loved WarioWare and awarded it a score of 9/10. He wrote that the main quest's short runtime did not matter as the game's replay value made up for it. He also cited the game's "pick up and play" qualities as reasons for the high score.

Awards

The game was awarded the Editor's Choice Award from both3 GameSpot and IGN. WarioWare won the Edge Award at the Edinburgh International Games Festival in 2004 and was named the most innovative game of the year. In addition, WarioWare, Inc. earned one of the three Innovation awards at the 4th annual Game Developers Choice Awards in 2004. In 2008, Game Informer named the game one of the top ten weirdest of all time.

Gallery

Main article: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!/gallery

External links

• WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! at GameFAQs
• Official European Website
• Official Japanese Website
• Official Chinese Website