
With the latest in Nintendo’s utterly bonkers WarioWare series – WarioWare: Get It Together! — recently hitting shelves, we thought it seemed like a ripe old time to have a look back across the entire series and pick out the 25 very best Microgames of the whole thousand-odd we’ve seen so far.
Naturally, we haven’t included any of our own games from WarioWare: D.I.Y, as that would be cheating – obviously our own efforts are far superior to those of Nintendo’s team. There’s nothing from WarioWare Snapped!, either, because it’s a bit rubbish by comparison. Every other entry, though, is accounted for. No, not the Nintendo 64DD Mario Artist: Polygon Studio “Sound Bomber” prototype, clever clogs.
Anyway, without further ado, grab your garlic and tuck into the cream of the Microgame crop. Waaaaahhh!!!
25. Cut To The Chase

Command: Trim
Source: WarioWare Smooth Moves (Wii)
A hilarious game that sees you using your Wii Remote as nail clippers only to reveal the hand whose fingernails you are trimming is part of an enormously long arm. Chuckle-worthy visual ingenuity from one of Nintendo's most creative and aesthetically diverse series. Level 3 is cutting toenails, natch.
24. The Wave

Command: Wave!
Source: WarioWare Twisted! (GBA)
For a game focused on, well, twisting your GBA, it's somewhat surprising how compelling the Kat & Ana-hosted single-button stage actually is. Among many Microgames that require nothing more than taps of the 'A' button, this pink bear's attempt to join a Mexican wave is the funniest and silliest. Huh! Huh! Huh! Hroo?
23. Sleep Clinic

Command: Hypnotize!
Source: WarioWare: Get It Together! (Switch)
Taking control of your chosen character, you've got to manipulate a hanging pocket watch to put an enormous background Wario to sleep. Iconography everyone recognises, a sensible input and arresting visuals make this one of the best Microgames in the fairly homogenous (by necessity) Get It Together.
22. Nintendo Badge Arcade

Command: Don't get caught!
Source: WarioWare: Get It Together! (Switch)
We picked this one simply because it reminded us of Nintendo Badge Arcade, specifically the absolutely ludicrous number of "goes" we found ourselves buying on it. Those badges were just cool as the dickens, and we can only hope that it'll come back in some form.
Oh, right, the Microgame. Er, just avoid the claw? It's pretty simple.
21. Wario Land 3

Command: Reach coin!
Source: WarioWare Gold (3DS)
Wario once again eats himself as you're thrusted into a take on divisive Game Boy Color explore-'em-up Wario Land 3, seeing you take control of Wario himself as he float upwards in a bubble in order to grab one of the game's elusive Music Coins. A smart use of WarioWare Gold's tilt mechanics and a fun blast from the past.
20. You Can Pick Your Friends...

Command: Pick!
Source: WarioWare Smooth Moves (Wii)
The series has an overt fascination with nose picking, but never has it been more tactile than here — brandishing the Wii Remote as though it were your own digit, you must powerfully thrust it into the giant on-screen nose via a nostril. Schnozz-tastic, and almost as satisfying as picking your own nose.
Wait, that's disgusting. Can we remove this bit? [Nope - Ed]
19. Jumpin' Rope

Command: Jump!
Source: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (GBA)
Possibly the purest of all WarioWare Microgames, simply seeing you tap 'A' rhythmically to hop over the skipping rope as it swings. Higher difficulties see you take on the form of a bizarre platypus-like creature that jumps much lower, followed by a Moai statue head (think Gradius) that jumps about as well as you'd expect one to.
18. No Solicitors

Command: Keep out!
Source: WarioWare Gold (3DS)
In which Wario commits tax evasion by forcing the door shut when the little man from the Inland Revenue comes 'round to visit. All you do is mash 'A', of course, but this one does a lot with a little. Namely, making you think about Wario's tax record. Which one can only assume is quite bad.
17. Fragile!

Command: Don't move!
Source: WarioWare Twisted! (GBA)
You've been energetically flinging yourself around the room trying to conquer the mighty WarioWare Twisted only to reveal a single fragile egg and the command "Don't move!". Indeed, a single motion will result in the egg falling over and cracking, failing the game. And it's in this subversion that WarioWare once again reveals its genius.
Comments (50)
I love the one where you pull the Master Sword out in Smooth Moves. My favourite is maybe the one where you avoid the arrows as a ninja though.
I found Twisted Mario Bros to be one of the most memorable, and often wondered what it would be like to play the entire game like that!
I hate them all 😒
Does anyone else not enjoy this series? I find it the video game equivalent of bubble gum. Quick blast of sugar rush flavor that rapidly fades away and grows stale.
I love all warioware games… how can I pick a favorite minigame?
Rainbow Juice is absolutely worthy of the #2 spot for the music alone - Drawbridge Dilemma comes very close too, as much as I love GIT Drawbridge Dilemma was the only part of the game that gave me that same sense of wonder the more atmospheric parts of the early WarioWares gave me as a kid.
Good picks. Many great games in the WarioWare séries, but Twisted is still the best.
I’m not seeing any of my DIY microgames on this list. 🧐
WW Twisted is indeed the best game, too bad my cartridge is unreliable now…
@Paulo I love how fancy it sounds when you put an accent in séries. What, perchance, is one’s favourite microgame in the WarioWare revue?
I'm still extremely partial to Over the Hump's concept from Gold, but gameplay-wise, I really like both Labyrinth and Pushmo from that game. Also found it to be a shame that both The Maze That Pays and Diamond Dig didn't make it into Gold
I also think Wario Mambo is one of the best microgames in the series. Might even be one of the hardest in the series, too.
I love this series (obviously) and rank Twisted, which I had to import from the States, as the best. Controversial perhaps, but Get It Together left me a bit cold. There's a large focus on multiplayer but nobody else amongst my family and friends likes Warioware so I'm stuck with single. This left the Switch game feeling a bit bare bones to me, unless I'm missing something. Most of the unlockable, er, macro... games (?) are multiplayer focused and there was a lack of things like the daft toys from the capsule machines and stuff like that that kept me playing with the other entries. Still fun, but it didn't hold my attention like previous entries.
Spotted a typo for #10 - There shouldn't be a 0 after the 1
Nice, but definitely not worth 50 bucks. Maybe not even half.
Nothing from Party Games, DIY, or Game & Wario?
I counted three games from the Switch. That's 12% of the games that made the list, were from the Switch. So 88% of the best 25 games are from other consoles.
Oh dear.
"Namely, making you think about Wario's tax record. Which one can only assume is quite bad."
Still better than Yoshi's.
I like the one with the giant woman with the runny nose from the gamecube game. Her snot falls to the ground while you rund around and try to avoid it. When it misses it destroys the ground so you have less and less chance of avoiding it after a while. Get very hectoc with four players.
@nessisonett too many excellent microgames. I honestly prefer Twisted due to its wackyness, fun factor and body of work, surpassing the original. Even Nintendo of America knew Twisted was better than Touched (which is still amazing) because they held on to it to release after the DS entry, since the DS was new to the market.
Wario Mambo frustrated me to no end.
Grow Wario Grow, from the first game, where you have to get the mushroom before Mario in Mario Land setting, has to be my favorite for visuals alone.
the best one ever was in Smooth Moves when you got to play STAR FOX with MOTION CONTROLS and it's the best feeling you will ever have playing a video game in your life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEwJHpEprIw
Pretty much everything 9Volt does is my favourite, although the recreation of level 1 from Starfox on the Wii is my definite favourite. I still think the GBA original is my favourite from the series.
God I hate the egg minigame in Twisted. It's consistently a run killer in super hard, especially if you're using an SP.
@zool You compare 1 single entry over 5. Obviously it's skewed. By your logic, WarioWare Touched is the best entry in the entire series since 6 microgames are represented here and Smooth Moves is one of the worst with also just 3!
@Deusfaux party games is just mega microgames on gamecube, and if we're being real, I doubt any of the microgames from "Gamer" on game and wario are winning any awards
the lack of DIY is a bit odd, mind
In Smooth Moves, I love the one where you simply...push someone over. They're facing you and coaxing you to do it. There are three different people, and three different 'winning' animations. All of them are HILARIOUS!!! I recall kitty cats all appearing...and Mt. Fuji going off XD
@Deusfaux Party Games reuses the same microgames from the first game.
Of all the hilariously brilliant micro-games that this series has produced, I am puzzled by many of the bland and forgettable choices on this list.
The 360 degree Super Mario boss stage from Twisted is absolutely brilliant, and Mambo was traumatic enough that I'd almost forgotten all about it. It's far too unreasonable in its difficulty, I feel. There was also a boss stage (probably in Touched) where you have to avoid being shot at, but there are so many waves, with an ever increasing number of projectiles that are almost impossible to avoid that it quickly descends into a miserable experience. I also love the dance stage in Smooth Moves, but the controls can be unreliable, and sadly ruin the experience a bit.
A few motion-related hiccups aside, Smooth Moves is sheer brilliance on a disc and is byfar the best in show in the WarioWare series. The addition of very inclusive multiplayer modes (accommodating up to 12 players in one, and the 5-player rope-cutting mini-game which allows everyone a shot at winning, no matter how badly you performed in the actual micro-games) was the icing on a cake and is probably the funniest local multiplayer game I've ever had the joy to play (and watch). Twisted is an easy second.
As much as I have been enjoying Get It Together, after 60 hours, I'm a little bored with it now, and I wish that it had included at least 300 micro-games as it's become just a touch too repetitive too quickly (even with its cast of characters). My main disappointment with it though is that it wasn't a follow-up to Smooth Moves.
Fronks was probably my family’s favorite but I don’t think that counts as a mini game.
I think it’s impossible to narrow it down to a top 25… honestly you’d be better off trying to figure out what the worst ones are
Honestly my list would nearly entirely be 9-volt’s microgames. I guess I just like the nostalgia?
There are a bewildering number of ones I like. Pound for pound I'd say Warioware touched is my favourite set of microgames
@JoeyTS I didn't pick the list of 25.
@zool Obviously not, but when you say 88% of the microgames are on other consoles, those 88% of microgames are spread across 5 different games in the series. So don't go "Oh dear" when you're putting the percentage of a single game up against 5 other games in the series.
@sketchturner hmmm, but that is exactly what it sets out to be! I must admit that the fun fades one you've memorized all the minigames.
If someone feels this way as well, check out warioware gold. It has way more microgames than other titles. But most importantly: the constant mix up of control schemes keeps that one fresh even after hours of playing!
there are certain games that you will 100% always beat even on the highest speed/difficulty, my favorite microgames are the ones that always keep you on your toes. GiT really helps with that since characters are constantly shuffled
@JoeyTS 25 games on the list across 5 separate consoles averages out at 20% per console. But the Switch is below average at only 12%.
So to put it another way, most of the top 25 best Wario games on the list are not on the Switch.
And that is from NL, not me. Your list will obviously differ. But this list does nothing to sell the game to anyone thinking of buying it.
😱
@Deusfaux : The GameCube game was more or less identical to the GBA debut, but for the so-called "big screen" (they didn't even bother to remake the micro-games for TV; they're merely rendered at the same resolution as the GBA version but upscaled).
Game & Wario didn't have any microgames apart from what was included in the Gamer mode, and those micro-games were mostly derivative of past games and were intended to be simple enough to play while also focusing on 5-Volt (and managing 9-Volt's fatigue).
And kind of like Gamer in Game & Wario, many of DIY's micro-games were intended to be a simple showcase of the sorts of games that could be created using the included tools. None of them were particularly remarkable, though some did inspire micro-games in Gold and Get It Together.
@zool But count out the actual scores. Smooth Moves is also 12%. Twisted and Gold are at 16%, Mega Microgames is at 20%, and Touched is at 24%. And I'd make Twisted 12% because one of the microgames is literally doing absolutely nothing. Same for Touched which has a game where you do nothing so I'd make that 20%. Only two of the games actually hit 20% so in all actuality, it's a very slight difference.
Here's your logic, WarioWare Smooth Moves is also 12%. That means 25 games across the other 5 in the series averages to around 20% per game while the Wii version is only 12%. So therefore, the Wii is below average. But using this logic, now Get it Together is among the list of games that average the percentage to 20%!
See you still are skewing the results. You actually count out Get it Together's percentage of games on this list but for the other five? You just average them out or combine them together to make the numbers seem higher than they really are. Why not give every game the same treatment instead of pretending like Get it Together is so much worse than the other games?
@JoeyTS I didn't give every game the same treatment because the Switch game is the new Kid on the block, so it should be bigger and better, but it doesn't seem that way. According to NL's list anyway.
@zool That's just unfair then because even the "best" WarioWare game according to this list only has 24% of the best games. The other 76% are on other consoles. Frankly, you just have a very pessimistic outlook when you purposefully skew results in the way that you do because when you have a list of 25 with 6 all fantastic games being represented, then even the best ones are going to pale in comparison when compared to the other 5!
@nessisonett That Master Sword one is really funny when you play it at a higher level and Link turns into an old man.
Interesting opinion about the first Rhythm Tengoku being the best in the series. Even though it is an undeniable masterpiece, I felt that it was a series were each new game was even better than the previous one.
From the WarioWare series, the first one is actually the best in my opinion, but almost all are great.
Justice for unrolling the toilet roll from WarioWare Touched
@sketchturner Yeah, really time sensitive puzzles or min games aren't really my thing. That's pretty much sums up all Wario Ware games.
@sketchturner Wario shall remember that.... but do you at least like Wario land or Wario World?
@WarioOfTheYear I love the Wario Land games a LOT! Especially the first one. That's what makes it extra painful that he has been pulled away from that and forced into these meme games.
@sketchturner alright fair take
@sketchturner The point of this series is Wario making big money from bad and stupid game. It's very meta.
So it seems warioware diy is the least memorable, I’d have to agree. I also think twisted is my favorite as well. The warioware games tend to be better suited to some sort of gimmick like motion controls or touch.
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