Many companies have used mini-games to create a satisfying party experience for gaming fans, but only one series invented an entirely different bite-sized bit of fun: WarioWare! The spin-off franchise has held strong for two decades on the back of what Nintendo calls a “microgame.” These eight-second activities within the WarioWare series make gamers think, react, create, time, count, and so much more, depending on the game and console (some boss-style microgames take longer, for example.) WarioWare often serves as a testing kitchen for Nintendo's new gimmicks, and the microgames' ingenuity and tightly confined timeframe means experimentation shines bright. Check out the best WarioWare microgames ever!
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1. Wario Dance Company – WarioWare: Smooth Moves
WarioWare: Smooth Moves is only as fun as you make it. With the Wii Remote in your dominant hand, Wario Dance Company insists players copy the dorky dance moves of the avatars on the screen to complete the best microgame in the entire series!
2. Super Mario Bros. – WarioWare: Twisted!
Some of the ultimate microgames in the series revolve around classic Nintendo titles but with a WarioWare spin. The WarioWare: Twisted! version of Super Mario Bros. employs the gyrosensor to control Mario through his original adventure.
3. Ocarina of Time – WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Any Nintendo nerd wishes he could pull the Master Sword out of its pedestal. The microgame Ocarina of Time attains those dreams with the Wii motion controls. Pull the blade and hear the steel's slick, sharp material out in the open!
4. Gold Digger – WarioWare: Get it Together!
The Switch version of the nose-picking microgame qualifies as the best one yet, with players lodging their character deep inside the nostril of the unsuspecting cartoon victim. The disgusting microgame Gold Digger frequents the series more than any other, appearing in nearly every edition of the franchise!
5. Being Nosy – WarioWare: Touched!
Take control of an explorer and tackle the unenviable environment of Wario's nostrils! The touch screen allows for various applications such as tapping hairs and rubbing on the insides of the nostril walls to cause a sneeze!
6. Stumblebot – WarioWare: Twisted!
Stumblebot stands apart from almost every other microgame in WarioWare: Twisted! because it utilizes the twisting gimmick ingeniously. Controlling gravity to help a man to the finish line of a walk makes too much sense.
7. Chance of Showers – WarioWare: Touched!
Chance of Showers uses the touch screen to control a man who puts out burning mountain fires with a stream of water. The location of the hose represents classic Wario humor!
8. Potty Pursuit – WarioWare: Get it Together!
Wario attempts to escape a volcanic toilet in a way only he can. The microgame Potty Pursuit essentially uses obstacle course content with a WarioWare coat of paint over it.
9. WarioWare: Twisted! – WarioWare: Smooth Moves!
Meet Wario-inception! The motion controls of the Wii Remote imitate the gyrosensor of the Game Boy Advance predecessor, allowing players to play a microgame from WarioWare: Twisted! during WarioWare: Smooth Moves! Crazy, right?
10. He Who Smelt It . . . – WarioWare: Smooth Moves!
Wario can pass gas with the best of them. He Who Smelt It . . . lets gamers wave a Wiimote until the cloud of nauseating stench has left.
11. Corrections Officer – WarioWare: Touched!
For teachers, correcting papers comes with the job. For those of us who have only spent our lives taking tests, Corrections Officer lets us put the red pen in our hands for the first time!
12. Mario Brothers – WarioWare: Twisted!
Mario Brothers puts players in the role of the Koopa for a change, trying to spin the console until the shell of the turtle lands upright.
13. Rock Climber – WarioWare: Get it Together!
The zany graphics play a huge part in the fun of WarioWare. Rock Climber presents colorful shades and goofy aesthetics while players guide a wonky-looking climber to the top of the wall.
14. Bedside Manners – WarioWare: Smooth Moves!
Wario probably doesn't go to the doctor very often. Examine his insides with the Wii Remote in Bedside Manners to find the culprit, besides his obvious lack of fitness levels!
15. Hot Flash – WarioWare: Touched!
When it gets hot outside, people want to shed as many layers as possible. Hot Flash asks players to aid a man who came to the beach with way too many clothes on. Pluck off all of them to win (and even more than the objective deems necessary for a fun reaction from the avatar!)
16. Catterwall – WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Reminiscent of Where's Waldo, Catterwall must find the correct cat from the collection of felines in the big city! It's one of the best IQ puzzles in the series.
17. Bare Necessities – WarioWare: Get it Together!
Bare Necessities asks players to cover up a man's private area with a leaf, a detour from the microgames that usually make unfortunate situations even worse. How nice of Wario to provide dignity and decency for this fine gentleman!
18. Winter Fresh – WarioWare: Touched!
Few microgames make more sense than Winter Fresh. Players blow into the system using the Nintendo DS's microphone and fog up the screen!
19. Write On, Dude – WarioWare: Touched!
Write On, Dude tasks the player with copying the kanji on the screen with the stylus. A microgame like this showed the potential of the Nintendo DS as a system with art and drawing at the forefront.
20. Community Service – WarioWare: Smooth Moves
WarioWare games love to use gross-out humor to rub in what an uncouth maverick Wario remains. Community Service asks the gamer to clean a cow's rear end with the motion controls of the Wii Remote. Yuck!
21. Wario's Adventure – WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
One of the longest microgames in the series develops slowly into a really fun platforming experience. Wario's Adventure sees players duck, jump, and ride their way to the end goal with a boss fight as the endcap.
22. Boot Camp – WarioWare: Smooth Moves
The boss microgame of Dribble & Spitz's collection, Boot Camp flexes the power of the Wii Remote's variety of motion control uses by forcing players to really contort and control their bodies through an obstacle course.
23. Boom Box – WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Using the Wii Remote and the Nunchuck, players box their way to victory against three differently skilled opponents. There are better boxing games on the console, but Boom Box gives a good sampling of one of the Wii's most obvious sports emulations.
24. Clog It – WarioWare: Touched!
Wario goes to the bathroom more than the normal man, but he doesn't always wipe as much as he needs for a clean rear end! Clog It encourages the slob to yank the entire roll off the tube with the stylus.
25. Button Masher – WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Button Masher requires fast reflexes and quick thinking as players press the button symbols on the screen in unison.
26. Metroid Morph-Ball – WarioWare: Twisted!
It certainly makes sense to move Samus in her morph ball mode with the turn of a console. Metroid Morph-Ball transports players straight to the retro proceedings of the sci-fi universe.
27. Junk and My Trunk – WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Who doesn't want to be an elephant? These gorgeous, intelligent animals use their compassion and their brains to solve problems and enjoy life, and Junk and My Trunk gives gamers an elephant's most impressive physical feature: their trunk.
28. Sew Easy – WarioWare: Twisted!
WarioWare: Twisted! turns the monotonous task of sewing simple threads into a fun time with Sew Easy. The gyrosensor possesses the uncanny ability to make players feel like they're sewing!
29. Oh, Snap – WarioWare: Touched
Oh, Snap! fulfills a fetish for those who like to tickle armpits (we don't judge here!) Simply rub the underarms of the middle-aged men with the stylus and win the microgame in no time flat.
30. Driver's Ed – WarioWare: Smooth Moves
The motion controls of the Wii allow gamers to feel like driving a car without the stress or danger of the real road. Driver's Ed extends this bit of fun for the Boss microgame of Kat & Ana's group of microgames.
