7. You Scratch Mine

07 You Scratch Mine
Image: Nintendo Life / Nintendo

Command: Scratch!

Source: WarioWare Touched! (DS)

Simplicity itself; Wario's back itches. Use the stylus to scratch it. The minimal visuals are greatly appealing and the appearance on higher levels of not just Mario himself, but also Toad, lends it a nice appeal. Something about the banality of Mario having a back itch is irresistably funny, too.

6. Crowded Desktop

06 Crowded Desktop
Image: Nintendo Life / Nintendo

Command: Clean up!

Source: WarioWare Gold (3DS)

A fiercely relatable Microgame in which you have to use the stylus to close STUPID pop-up browser windows that are obscuring your view of an obese bunny rabbit surrounded by vegetables. As you do. The unexpected nod towards computing convention tickled us quite warmly and makes for one of the best new Microgames from WarioWare Gold.

5. Rhythm Tweezers

05 Rhythm Tweezers
Image: Nintendo Life / Nintendo

Command: Pluck!

Source: WarioWare Gold (3DS)

Get in! It's a reference to the WarioWare team's other masterpiece series, Rhythm Heaven. This hair-plucking game originated in the Japan-only first title in the series, Rhythm Tengoku, and it has cropped up fairly frequently since then. Incidentally, we heartily recommend importing Rhythm Tengoku as it remains possibly the best in the franchise. Still, you can get a quick taste of it here.

4. Tread Carefully

04 Tread Carefully
Image: Nintendo Life / Nintendo

Command: Shhhhhhh!

Source: WarioWare Touched! (DS)

Smack in the middle of Mike's microphone-based stage comes this little blinder. As per the egg game from Twisted that we mentioned earlier. this one simply requires you not to make any sound whatsoever lest you blow these little Fronks away to their ultimate doom. What makes it so funny, besides the unexpected nature of it, is the Fronk bringing up the rear and holding the instructional sign. He's terrified.

3. Mars Jars

03 Mars Jars
Image: Nintendo Life / Nintendo

Command: Escape!

Source: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (GBA)

You're a stickman trapped in a world where an unseen entity is trying to capture you (and your trailing family, on higher levels) inside a huge glass jar. At least, we assume it's huge; maybe you're just small. It's very unclear, but the Microgame presents you with a completely bizarre world and makes me wonder what the rules are.

2. Rainbow Juice

02 Rainbow Juice
Image: Nintendo Life / Nintendo

Command: Fill it!

Source: WarioWare Touched! (DS)

Using your stylus to scrape the colour from a rainbow so it floats, dust-like, into a little anthropomorphic bin as it toddles along the bottom of the screen? Absolutely priceless and, quite frankly, magical. It's the sort of thing that screams "you'll never do anything like this in any other video game".

1. Wario Mambo

01 Wario Mambo
Image: Nintendo Life / Nintendo

Command: Memorize!

Source: WarioWare Twisted! (GBA)

The epic conclusion to (in our opinion) the best WarioWare game of the lot, WarioWare Twisted, this Wario Mambo may be effectively about memorisation, but it's all about that music. A building, banging tune that grows and grows in intensity until that final salvo of dance moves is capped off with a beautiful flourish, we rate this climax as the apex of not just Twisted, but the series itself. All together now — WARIO DE MAMBOOOO!


Any controversial (nose) picks there? Wahhh! Let us know your personal favourites below and which you'd personally elevate into our Top 25 list...