Move overMario, it’s Wario time! This gassy, yellow anti-hero has had several games over the years, but none were as iconic asWarioWare. Your main objective is to complete microgames within a given time limit. As the games speed up, so does the countdown timer, leading to a hectic, tricky, and enjoyable adventure. But, did you know that the WarioWare series references several other Nintendo properties?
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The missions might move fast, but even the clumsiest among you can recognize some of these iconic titles. Whether these properties are here because the developers decided to recycle content or because Wario got lazy and stole them, here are the best references to other Nintendo games that are found in the WarioWare series.
10Nintendo Badge Arcade
The Nintendo Badge Arcade was a game featured on the 3DS. As the name might imply, your main objective was to collect badges via arcade claw. Every day, you were given a certain number of chances to succeed. If you exceeded those attempts, you could either wait for the next day or pay actual money to have another go.
If you were lucky enough to collect a badge, you could then decorate your 3DS home screen with it. Sadly, everyone forgot about this game after the console’s retirement. However, the WarioWare team seems to have remembered it.
9Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Animal Crossingis a fun and cheerful game that is best played when you want to relax and do menial tasks. However, the Animal Crossing microgame in WarioWare: Get It Together is anything but relaxing. For this mission, your character has to successfully deliver a balloon present to one of the animal villagers.
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Sounds easy, right? Well, it becomes trickier when you have to time your balloon pops. If your timing is off, then you’ll accidentally pop the present right into the ditch. When that happens, not only will you be disappointed, but so will the villagers.
8Super Metroid
In theMetroidseries you play as Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who takes on space aliens with her array of weapons. You wouldn’t expect her to waste her time on quick countdown microgames, but Samus has appeared in many WarioWare titles.
For example, in Get It Together, your task involves guiding this orange-suited hero to the goal. Depending on which character you pick, this will either be very simple or quite complicated. So, try your best and get that Morph Ball rolling.
7Pikmin 2
ThoughPikminmight look like a cute exploration game, do not be fooled. Every day is a battle for survival as you navigate your way through the giant, hostile planet that you crashed onto (or visited willingly depending on which game you’re playing).
Luckily, you have resourceful alien plants helping you. Unluckily, in WarioWare: Smooth Moves and WarioWare Gold, you play as the Empress Bulbax, who has to crush the Pikmin. And you do so by (painfully) rolling over them. It’s a horrifying and dark reference to an already scary series, and one that fortunately does not make a reappearance in Get It Together.
6Splatoon 2
On a lighter note, you won’t be squashing any Inklings or Octolings in this next one. In fact, all you have to do for this task is pick the side that won the Turf War. Found in Nintendo Classics in Get It Together, theSplatoon 2microgame lets you step into the shoes of everyone’s favorite cat referees, Judd and Li’l Judd.
What’s great about this reference is that ituses the map modelsand the victory music from Splatoon 2. Even though it’s a newer addition to the classics, it’s still nice to hear the winner’s tune play when you succeed in this mission.
5Fire Emblem: Three Houses
InFire Emblem: Three Housesyou play as the stoic professor Byleth who must guide their students through both the headaches of school and the horrors of war. Needless to say, tea parties were a calming activity that let you forget about skirmishes and instead focus on relaxation.
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But in WarioWare, this sacred tea time becomes a stressful event. One in which you have to give the correct complement to Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude. Pick the right answer and you’re rewarded with a Perfect Tea Time. Pick the wrong one and your students will be very disappointed in you.
4Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Sunshineis now over twenty years old. Shocking, right? What’s even more shocking is that Mario and F.L.U.D.D. have both made appearances in WarioWare. Nintendo fans not only got to see Professor E. Gadd’s chattiest invention, but were also reacquainted with Mario’s short-sleeved look.
In Smooth Moves, your mission with this duo was to put out fires that were occurring in several windows. In WarioWare Gold, the fires were replaced by Sunshine’s iconic sludgy graffiti and Mario had to once again wash it off the walls.Even in a different series, Mario still has to work his cap off.
3Ocarina Of Time
Originally released for the Nintendo 64,The Ocarina of Timeisone of the best and most memorable Zelda titles of all time. The game is filled with combat, puzzles, exciting environments, and a cast of fun characters. In WarioWare, you get to see none of this. Instead, you are tasked with pulling out the Master Sword from its pedestal.
Yup, that’s it. For this microgame, all you have to do is yank the sword out. And, though this might sound boring, Smooth Moves at least rewards you with a different Link at each difficulty spike. So, be prepared to see old Link, very old Link, and Cucco Link.
2Wind Waker
Not only did Ocarina of Time make a cameo in WarioWare, another classic Zelda title also made an appearance. That beingThe Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. For this microgame, you had to guide a Deku Leaf-equipped Link to a distant platform.
In Smooth Moves, this platform was set up farther and farther away at each difficulty increase while in WarioWare Gold, this platform shrank. It’s a fairly simple activity to do but, when mixed with several other games occurring at breakneck speed, this flying mission could definitely throw you off course.
1Nintendogs
Remember these puppies?Nintendogswas a game released all the way back in the original DS era. In Nintendogs, your main objective was totake care of your canines and keep them happy and healthy. You also had to ensure they knew how to run an obstacle course in under a minute.
It was quite a surprise seeing these excitable pups again in WarioWare: Smooth Moves and WarioWare Gold. Too bad we couldn’t spend more time with these fluffy pets. It would’ve been fun to at least take them on a walk!
