WarioWare (series)

WarioWare is a series of comedy-based party games published by Nintendo, featuring Wario as the main character. A series within the Wario franchise, it was introduced in 2003 with the release of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! for the Game Boy Advance. While the first two games were developed by Nintendo R&D 1 (which became part of Nintendo SPD, which has now merged into Nintendo EPD), subsequent games have been co-developed by Intelligent Systems.

The games in the series are collections of very short and simple games, called "microgames" or "minigames", played in quick succession. They also feature a story that centers around Wario (who, in most of these games, wears a biker outfit rather than his usual attire) founding the video game studio WarioWare, Inc. in Diamond City and hiring numerous friends of his to develop the microgames for him. The WarioWare games often make heavy use of the technological innovations of the console for which they are released.

Wario's design from the WarioWare series is his default outfit in the Super Smash Bros. series, and the series is also the basis of the WarioWare, Inc. stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Overview
WarioWare is a collection of short, simple games, called "microgames," presented in quick succession. Each of the microgames lasts about three to five seconds and failing to complete it costs the player a life. The games may seem simple; for instance, a microgame may require the player to pop a balloon, pick a nose, zap a spaceship, or make Wario collect coins in a maze styled after those in . The numerous microgames are linked together randomly and steadily increase in speed and difficulty as the player progresses. On each level, players are allowed four losses only. Also frequently appearing are boss games, which are considerably longer and more complex than the other stages; upon completing these, the player can regain a lost life (with a maximum of four). In addition to the microgame stages, WarioWare games also feature unlockable extra modes and "full" minigames.

The plots of these games center on Wario, his company WarioWare, Inc., and his friends in Diamond City who develop microgames for his company. Because of his greed, Wario usually refuses to pay his friends, despite the high success of the games. Most games in the series include short stories in the form of cutscenes dedicated to each of the developers, telling about their adventures or everyday lives. These cutscenes are split into two parts, the first one shown before the developer's respective microgame stage, and the latter part appearing after the player beats the stage.

Development
The Nintendo 64DD title Mario Artist: Polygon Studio featured a side mode called "Sound Bomber" which challenged the player to survive a rapid succession of very short minigames that increased in speed and difficulty as the player progressed. According to Goro Abe of Nintendo R&D1's WarioWare All-Star Team, the first WarioWare came about when the team decided to make a full game around the concept.

"Sound Bomber" was created by Koichi Kawamoto as his first assignment at Nintendo, though Kawamoto himself was uninvolved in the WarioWare games proper beyond "Concept" and "Prototype" credits for his work on Polygon Studio. 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."

The original WarioWare was developed by a team of newer Nintendo staff members, some of whom had previously worked on Wario Land 4. Both games shared the same director: R&D1 veteran Hirofumi Matsuoka, who would leave Nintendo following the game's completion. Abe, who programmed and designed the original game, directed all later entries except for Snapped!. Sakamoto, a longtime member and manager on the R&D1 team, was involved in the development of all games in the series but the first installment and WarioWare Gold, and took on the role of producer starting with Twisted! Artist Ko Takeuchi designed Wario's biker outfit and created the original characters that appear in the series. Other major figures in the development of the series include Intelligent Systems employees Taku Sugioka and Naoko Mori, who acted as sub-directors and designers for most of the games.

Since the first WarioWare game launched on Game Boy Advance, every Nintendo system from the onwards has had at least one entry of the series released for it, with each installment often making heavy use of the technological innovations of the system.

Trivia

 * Wario in his WarioWare outfit is seen in Wario Factory Court in Mario Power Tennis.
 * All the European game covers of WarioWare are yellow, except for WarioWare, Inc.: Minigame Mania and WarioWare: Get It Together!. Other regions have a different cover color for each game.
 * From WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! to WarioWare: Touched!, Wario's voice clips were recycled from Wario Land 4 and Wario World. From WarioWare: Smooth Moves onward, Wario has a set of unique voice clips.