WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!

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WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance
Release date	JP March 21, 2003 NA May 21, 2003 EU May 23, 2003
Genre(s)	Action, Variety
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	CERO: A ESRB: E PEGI: 3+ OFLC: G
Media	64-megabit cartridge

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, known as Made in Wario (メイド イン ワリオ, Meido in Wario^?) in Japan and WarioWare, Inc.: Minigame Mania in PAL territories, is a video game for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2003 and in North America on May 26, 2003. In this game, Wario creates a game software company and asks some of his friends to help him make video games. The player must test the games they create by playing them.

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Characters 3 Reception 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Gameplay

Gameplay consists entirely of microgames. The player clears stages of microgames of a certain category, programmed by one of Wario's friends. Each microgame lasts only a few seconds. During this short time limit, the player must both work out what he is supposed to do and do it, aided by a word or short sentence that appears on top of the game as the time begins. Control is very simple - the only buttons used are the directional pad and A button. Failing to complete the microgame means the loss of a life, and losing four lives requires the player to start the level over.

After clearing a set number of microgames (10, 15, 20 or 25 depending on the category) the player must win an untimed "boss" game, which is generally more challenging, in order to clear the category. On the first play of the levels, beating the boss immediately clears the category and shows the epilogue (which then becomes viewable in the options menu). The category can then be played again for a high score (i.e. how many games the player can get through before running out of lives).

Upon defeating a boss stage on repeat plays, the player gains an extra life if he/she has less than four. For a few seconds, a screen that the player can interact with using the A button is displayed (this is not part of the gameplay itself). Play of the microgames then continues, at an increased level of difficulty. After the third difficulty level is reached, only the speed progressively increases.

On the first play, upon losing a boss game, the player must replay the boss game until he/she defeats it or runs out of lives. On repeat plays, gameplay continues, but the player misses the opportunity to earn an extra life.

After attaining certain scores in certain categories, bonus games such as rope-jumping or Dr. Wario (a remake of Dr. Mario) become available to the player. Some of these games are two-player and require the use of the "L" and "R" buttons. Individual microgames can also be accessed for the player to practice, provided that they have been played at least once in the normal mode. After all the microgame categories are cleared, different modes of play are available, like Thrilling, in which the player only has one life, or Easy, where the game speed increases very slowly.

Many of the sound effects in the game originated from Wario Land 4.

[edit] Characters

• Wario: President of WarioWare, Inc. His first set of games is part of the introduction genre, his second set of games involved an ‘anything goes’ genre and, vain man that he is, feature him.
• Jimmy T.: A not so young disco dancer who wears enormous, brightly-coloured afros. Regular customer of Club Sugar. His genre of microgames is sports. He also makes two "remix" stages during the course of the game; one featuring a selection of games from himself, Mona, 9-Volt, and Dribble and Spitz, and a second with games from Kat and Ana, Dr. Crygor, Orbulon, and his boss game.
• Mona: A young woman who works at a gelato shop. Her microgames are in the 'strange' genre, and in her story, she drives her scooter with the help of her pet pig, elephant, and monkey to elude the police.
• 9-Volt: Grade school student and Nintendo collector. His microgames are based on Nintendo's first works.
• Dribble and Spitz: Bulldog and cat, respectively. Drivers at Diamond Taxi. Their genre of microgames are everything with ninjas or Science Fiction. They also have a few of Wario's games in their lineup.
• Kat and Ana: Kindergarten ninja twins. Genre of microgames: Nature (Kat prefers animals, Ana flowers). They also include a few of Wario's games in their lineup.
• Dr. Crygor: Mad scientist. Half his face is a cybernetic implant. Wears a cryogenic suit. Genre of microgames: Reality (i.e. featuring photorealistic graphics)
• Orbulon: Superintelligent (Has an I.Q. of 300) short alien who wears black glasses and a cape. He planned to take over the Earth, but his spaceship crashed and he was stranded. Genre of microgames: I.Q. Since his microgames involve more thinking than the others, the time limits are up to five seconds longer than the rest.
• List of minor WarioWare characters

[edit] Reception

Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ has won numerous awards. It was voted the winner of the Edge Award at the Edinburgh International Games Festival in 2004 by a panel of videogames industry members, academics, and journalists.^[1]

At GameSpot, it was awarded the Editor's Choice Award^[2] and was nominated for its "Best and Worst" of 2003 in the "Most Innovative Game" category.^[3]

Mega Microgame$ currently has an aggregate score of 89% at Game Rankings.^[4] Reviewers wrote enthusiastically about the game. Jeff Gerstmann from GameSpot gave it a 9.1 and praised the game for its portability, being able to play it in "short bursts" and being able to return to it again and again.^[5] Craig Harris from IGN said that the sheer number of minigames, its simplicity, and replay value made the game original and great, and gave it a 9.0.^[6]

In 2008, Game Informer named the game one of the top ten weirdest of all time.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Wario Ware Inc series official site
• WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgame$! at MobyGames
• Mushroom Kingdom WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ section

v • d • e Wario games List of all games  • Character list Platform games Wario Land  • Virtual Boy Wario Land  • Wario Land II  • Wario Land 3  • Wario Land 4  • Wario World  • Wario: Master of Disguise  • Wario Land: The Shake Dimension WarioWare games Mega Microgame$!  • Mega Party Game$!  • WarioWare: Twisted!  • WarioWare: Touched!  • WarioWare: Smooth Moves Other games Mario & Wario  • Wario's Woods  • Wario Blast