WarioWare

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! from 2003 arrived with a concept unlike anything before it: dozens, later hundreds, of microgames lasting just a few seconds each, every one with a single clear goal and an ever-accelerating pace. Developed by Nintendo together with Intelligent Systems, the series made Wario its face, turning the greedy antagonist from the Mario and Wario Land games into the head of his own game studio, sending players through a chaotic parade of microgames full of absurd humor and exaggerated visuals.

Each subsequent entry then built its core gameplay around whatever new Nintendo hardware feature was current. WarioWare: Twisted! on Game Boy Advance used a built-in gyroscopic sensor in the cartridge, controlled entirely by tilting the handheld; WarioWare: Touched! on Nintendo DS leaned on the touchscreen and microphone; WarioWare: Smooth Moves on Wii turned microgames into a set of inventive motion gestures with the remote; and WarioWare: Snapped! on Nintendo DSi used the console's built-in camera. A special place in the series belongs to WarioWare: D.I.Y., which flipped the concept around and let players design and share their own microgames using simple in-console tools. For years the series functioned as an offbeat showcase of what new hardware could do, without ever losing its core rhythm of quick, easily readable challenges.

Around Wario an entire ensemble of eccentric characters gradually formed, each with its own set of microgames and a distinct visual style, from DJ Mona to inventor Dr. Crygor to the hip-hop-loving Jimmy T. Later Switch entries, Get It Together! and Move It!, added playable characters with different abilities that changed how microgames were solved, or returned to motion controls in the spirit of Smooth Moves.

Thanks to its willingness to keep rebuilding its own rules around new controllers, and its sense for absurd humor, WarioWare kept its reputation as one of Nintendo's most inventive series. The anniversary compilation WarioWare Gold for Nintendo 3DS gathered dozens of microgames from earlier entries and was a reminder of how long the series had been building on its distinctive concept, one that has since inspired smaller independent games built purely around microgames.