WarioWare (series)

WarioWare (メイド イン ワリオ) is a series of party games featuring Wario and his friends. The games in the series are collections of very short and simple games, called "microgames" or "minigames", played in quick succession.

Both the WarioWare Series and the Rhythm Heaven Series, having been made by the same developers, share fairly similar structures, being minigame collections with rankings, stages, remixes/harder versions of past minigames, and unlockable extras. They also share the same whimsical, comedic tone. The two series often reference each other, with the Wario...Where? and Wario...Where? 2: The Sequel Challenge Train courses in Rhythm Heaven Megamix being the most prominent example of this.

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Jimmy T, Dribble & Spitz, Mona, 9-Volt, Orbulon, Dr. Crygor, Kat & Ana, Dribble Taxi, Mona's scooter, the Oinker, SK8, and the image of an alien as the icon for the Staff Credits all first appeared here.

The prologue to the Sci-Fi folder (Dribble & Spitz's stage) shows the underside of a bridge in a city at night, which is reused in Quiz Show's Try Again epilogue in Rhythm Tengoku, though the scene now also features the contestant watching the cityscape over a guardrail. In Rhythm Heaven Megamix, the scene is redrawn, with the bridge missing entirely, weakening the reference. The sprites for the rock and tree in the background, along with the general aesthetics of the microgames Stick & Move, Arrow Space and Ninja Vision, are reused directly in Samurai Slice in Rhythm Heaven. A sprite of Tiny Ninja, the character from these microgames, can also be found unused in the Endless Game. The Space-Rabbits, known as Space Hares in this game and Alien Bunnies in all other games, made their first appearance in Orbulon's stage. Their appearance in Rhythm Tengoku gives them a slight redesign, particularly the shape of their eyes.

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!
Bossa Nova's background appears to be based on one of the intro movies for this game.

WarioWare: Twisted!
Sal Out and 18-Volt made their first appearance in this game. Wario-Man, Wario's alter-ego, also first appers in this game, though he never appears in the Rhythm Heaven Series directly. Rather, Wrestler wears a similar outfit to Wario-Man's in Wario...Where? 2: The Sequel.

On a technical level, the font from this game is reused directly in Rhythm Tengoku, down to leftover icons related to twisting the Game Boy Advance.

Wario-Man's Epilogue Movie has him floating in space. The particular background used here, which also appears briefly in the prologue to Mona's stage in WarioWare: Touched!, is reused in the epilogue to Shoot-'em-up 2 in Rhythm Heaven Megamix.

WarioWare: Touched!
Ashley, Red and Mike first appeared in this game.

Aside from her playable appearance in Wario...Where?, a doll of Ashley sits on the Museum Curator's desk in Rhythm Heaven Megamix.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Young Cricket, Master Mantis, Penny and Tiny Wario first appeared in this game. Two Monkeys (refered to in this game as Dancing Monkeys) make a cameo appearance in the prologue to Enter Young Cricket (Young Cricket's stage), standing next Mona and her friends at their dumpling stand. Their appearance matches that of Remix 7 and Remix 8 in Rhythm Tengoku, though one is recolored brown like the regular monkeys.

Toy versions of the monkeys, alongside another kind of monkey, can be seen in the prologue to The Multiplayer Test (9-Volt's stage), sitting on the shelf at Toy Express.

Game & Wario
In general, this game went through a shift in artstyle, with all cameos in Wario...Where? and Wario...Where? 2: The Sequel matching their appearances in this game, being the latest game at the time.

Mona's photographer design from this game in particular is used for her and her scooter's appearances throughout Wario...Where? and Wario...Where? 2: The Sequel. In the latter, Reporter can also be seen wearing Mona's outfit. Penny and Dr. Crygor's artwork from this game is used directly in Fillbots 2, and in Freeze Frame, Dr. Crygor's outfit matches his appearance in this game, minus the lab coat.

Jimmy T does not use his design from this game however, as his minigame requires him to wear a ski outfit, and he instead wears his classic outfit in The Clappy Trio 2. 9-Volt, 18-Volt and Sal Out are also drawn as pixel art, matching the aesthetic of Super Samurai Slice. In the GAME & WARIO Prologue, the Chorus Kids make an appearance singing alongside Sal Out on Wario's TV while he is flipping channels. As he does so, he happens upon a news report for a new game, where a Monkey can be seen among the crowd.

One of the microgames in the Gamer minigame is based on Samurai Slice. In the prologue to the Ashley minigame, an onion, identified in this game as Harry Onion, sits on a pile of books to Ashley's left.

In the prologue to the Pirates minigame, Reporter and Wrestler make an appearance, posing in the street. In the epilogue to the same minigame, a trio of Alien Bunnies flies through the sky, their appearance matching that of Rhythm Heaven Fever. This redesign is used in all future games.

Ashley's Halloween Night
Ashley and Red star in a special comic known as Ashley's Halloween Night (アシュリーのハロウィンナイト), where Tibby makes a cameo as he joins them among others on Halloween.

Barbara & Ashley
Ashley and Red also make a cameo in a Daigasso! Band Brothers P comic known as Barbara & Ashley (バーバラ＆アシュリー), where Red, alongside Martian and Tibby, are attending Ashley's live performance.

WarioWare Gold
Superficially, this game's premise is similar to that of Rhythm Heaven Megamix, as both are a collection of remakes of past minigames alongside new ones. Many references can be spotted in the Character Trailers for this game.

Jimmy T's Character Trailer reuses the background from Love Rap 2. Mona's Character Trailer features a city background that's very similar to one from Police Call in Rhythm Heaven Fever. The montage of Mona's various jobs in the same trailer shows the Café as seen in Rhythm Heaven Fever, while Mona is depicted in a waitress outfit, implying she once worked there. In the prologue to her stage "Search for Style", she describes her idea of the perfect dress as "cute as a plushie", with a plushie of Tibby being used to visualize it.

5-Volt, 9-Volt & 18-Volt's Character Trailer reuses background elements from Cheer Readers in Remix 9 and has a cameo from DJ Yellow and Student. Rhythm Tweezers from Rhythm Tengoku appears as a microgame. Ashley and Red's Character Trailer includes a cameo from the Sneaky Spirits.

Kat & Ana's Character Trailer includes a cameo from The Wandering Samurai.

In the intro to 9-Volt's stage "Math Quest", some Huebirds of Happiness appear in his math book. Young Cricket and Master Mantis's Character Trailer features Young Cricket training alongside Cicada under Master Mantis, with the kappa and ball from Kung Fu Ball making an appearance. In one shot where Young Cricket stands on a tall rock, Karate Joe is visible to the side.

Wrestler is referenced in Mr. Sparkles's Rank A character card.

If the player inputs Phone Code 22 into the Phone souvenir, the code being CAFE, the Barista responds. He talks with the player over the phone, and mentions a story about the Ashley doll placed on the Museum Curator's desk, which caused an increase in customers.

WarioWare: Get It Together!
Ground Control makes an appearance in the opening cutsene to Intro Games in WarioWare: Get It Together!, where they are startled after a giant Wario nose passes by one of their sattelites. A glitchier version of this cutscene is used for Anything Goes, which includes the Traveller from an unrelated cutscene among the crew. In the movie Roll Credits, the researchers are given names: Doc, Kevin, Richard, Adam, Zach, Thomas, Furukawa, and Chuck. The mug in Chuck's hand in both cutscenes also has the Barista's face on it.

In the introduction to Mona's level That's Life, one can see that Mona owns plushies of Tibby, Harry Onion and Barista. In the microgame Get Swole, the first difficulty level has the player help Wrestler lift a dumbwell. Doing so causes Reporter to appear. The wrestling ring behind them is also the same one from Figure Fighter.

Some artworks in the Break Room, specifically one in Dribble, Spitz and Jimmy's Galleries each, shows them being served by the Barista. One of Master Mantis's artworks also features Cicada alongside Young Cricket.

WarioWare: Move It!
An Alien Bunny is seen on a TV with a background similar to the one featured on the boxart for Rhythm Heaven Megamix in the intro sequence to this game. The Chorus Kids appear later in the same cutscene on the same TV, similar to their cameo in Game & Wario.

This game contains a similar museum where the player can find microgames, Forms and other things they've seen in Story Mode. While these features have always been present in the WarioWare Series, this game's implementation is very similar to the Museum in Rhythm Heaven Megamix.

Although most games have contained stages that mix up previous microgames, the ones in this game follow the same naming convention as the Remixes in the Rhythm Heaven Series (for example, the first one is named "Remix 1").

In Cricket & Mantis's stage, Cicada makes an appearance. This game gives her a name, 12 years after her debut in Rhythm Heaven Fever.