Wario (franchise)

The Wario Series is a spin-off of the Mario series that features Wario as the main character. His motives are usually self driven and often involve riches and treasures. It is the first series that Nintendo created to feature villain as the main protagonist.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
The Wario series started following Wario's first appearance in the Game Boy video game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as his role was the main villain.

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
The sequel to Super Mario Land 2 was called Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 where Wario was this time the anti hero when he found himself on Kitchen Island to find a statue of Princess Peach. He finally realizes that it was Captain Syrup and her Brown Sugar Pirates that stole the statue. After defeating Syrup, Wario got the statue of Princess Peach only to get it stolen by Mario at the end of the game. Wario also attained his castle in this game.

Virtual Boy Wario Land
Another Wario Land game was released called Virtual Boy Wario Land for the obscure Virtual Boy system.

Wario Land II
Next, Wario Land II was released for the Game Boy and continued the battle between Wario and Captain Syrup. Syrup and her newly formed Black Sugar Gang flooded Wario's castle and stole his treasure, but Wario chased them and defeated the pirates to get his treasure back.

Wario Land 3
In Wario Land 3, Wario went to a cave when he found a music box and upon winding it, gets teleported to a different world. There, he met a oracle who told him to save the world from hoards of monsters. After defeating all the monsters, the oracle revealed himself to Wario as the evil Rudy the Clown. Wario defeated Rudy, and all the "monsters" turned back into the citizens of the Music Box World, who thanked Wario for saviing them and teleported him back to his own world.

Wario Land 4
In Wario Land 4, Wario was driving his car in the dessert looking for a treasure he read about in a newspaper. He finds this black cat that leads him to this pyramid only to encounter new enemies until he met the owner of the pyramid, the Golden Diva, who was the main boss. After defeating the Golden Diva, Wario learned that the cat which lead him to the pyramid was Princess Shokora, who was cursed by the Golden Diva, and thus, rescued by Wario.

Wario Land 4 was the last Wario Land title for many years, until Wario Land: Shake It! was released in 2008.

Wario World
Wario World was released for the Nintendo Gamecube and was Wario's first 3D adventure. The game started when Wario stole a Black Jewel, which later turned Wario's treasures into monsters. Wario fights the monsters and turns them back to treasures after they are defeated. Wario later fought and defeated the Black Jewel and got his castle back from it.

WaioWare, Inc. series
Nintendo then took a break from Wario's adventures and began the WarioWare series. Unlike the Wario Land games, WarioWare is just about Wario making microgames and opening up a game store. WarioWare released six games: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!, WarioWare: Twisted!, WarioWare: Touched!, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and WarioWare: Snapped!. WarioWare: D.I.Y. is an upcoming title in the series.

Wario: Master of Disguise
The Wario adventures returned with Wario: Master of Disguise. It features Wario switching through channels when he found a TV show called The Silver Zephyr. Angry that he couldn't be the real good thief, Wario was brought to the TV show. He stole the thief's wand, Goodstyle, and got a lot of costumes until he encountered Count Cannoli the former theif. Cannoli wanted Goodstyle and the wishstone back from Wario, but Wario defeated him. Another thief named Carpaccio met the same fate. Later, Wario encountered Tiaramisu who helped Wario through many enemies until she revealed her real name was Terromisu, and she was a demon in pursuit of the wishstone. Wario defeated her and Goodstyle took Wario home.

Wario Land: Shake It!
The latest game released is Wario Land: Shake It!, for the Nintendo Wii. It is a 2D scroller, and its lavish sprites and backgrounds have received much praise, as have the game mechanics, which involve using the Wii Remote to perform a variety of actions. The game also sees the return of Captain Syrup, who tricks Wario into saving the Shake Dimention from the sinister Shake King, and retrieving the Bottomless Coin Sack, which Syrup desires for herself.