I’ve played other WarioWares before, but going back to the original showed me how solid the formula was right from the outset, and how subsequent games have only iterated on it or layered extra input gimmicks on top.

WarioWare takes the concept of minigames and reduces them further; giving you a frantic scattershot gauntlet of microgames, each only lasting a few seconds. The esoteric objectives and the absurd and varied art direction gives a great sense of variety and bizarre novelty. Now that I have more experience with Rhythm Heaven I can see the links, due to both series sharing many development team members. This overlap can also be seen in the character designs of the WarioWare cast, and the wacky interstitial scenes that supposedly give some context to the game but really just add to the silly tone.

I played half of this in pass-and-play co-op with my brother, an excellent option thanks to the Wii U’s TV display. In this way it made for an enjoyable party game experience, which is ironic because this game was ported to GameCube and tweaked with just that objective in mind. I finished the rest on my own and found it had just the right level of challenge to be exciting and gripping. Except for the baseball boss game, that can jump off a pier. But yes, very well crafted, novel, and so much heart.