Its gameplay consists of platforming through levels, tossing enemies, breaking blocks and using other abilities.

The distinctive feature of all WarioWare games is that they are collections of short, simple "microgames" presented in quick succession.

For example, there is a microgame where the player must zap a spaceship; in another, Wario must collect coins in a Pac-Man-like maze.

The numerous microgames are linked together randomly and steadily increase in speed and difficulty as the player progresses.

instructs the player to hit a nail with a hammer multiple times in a row.

The idea of microgames or minigames was popularized generally during the Nintendo 64's fifth generation of video game consoles and some early minigames appear in the Nintendo 64DD's Mario Artist: Talent Studio in the style that would give rise to the WarioWare series.

Certain minigames originated in Mario Artist: Polygon Studio, as explained by Goro Abe of Nintendo R&D1's so-called Wario Ware All-Star Team: "In Polygon Studio you could create 3D models and animate them in the game, but there was also a side game included inside.

Teammate Yoshio Sakamoto continued, "To add on that, we got the idea of using Wario and the other characters because we couldn't think of anyone else who would be best for the role.

Wario is always doing stupid things and is really idiotic, so we thought him and the rest of the characters would be best for the game.

Microgames are even simpler and shorter than the minigames found in other games such as the Mario Party series.

The extremely stripped-down gameplay has intrigued some game researchers, who have used WarioWare both as a case study in understanding the relationship between rules and play in videogames,[3] and as a target domain for investigating automated game design.

The player must use the directional buttons to move Link to a cave entrance before the time runs out.

They are usually more challenging than regular microgames, have no time limit (as described below), and give lives back upon completion.

The sound effect will usually play after the task is fulfilled, and then the score screen will return.

To retain pace, the microgames will automatically end if cleared before a four-beat measure is met.

To show the time left to complete a microgame, a small "bomb" appears at the bottom of the screen.

The fuse and a countdown timer show the amount of time left to complete the microgame.

The second group of characters often show up within the introduction cutscenes — the most notable being Fronk, who hosts "Pop-Up" microgames in Twisted!

with several different microgames that run in the background, one of which features Jimmy T. Completing the tasks set by the games awards power-ups like invincibility or growth.

Wario is once again playable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, however he now appears as unlockable, instead of being available from the start as in the previous game.

A later sequel, Rhythm Heaven Megamix features two unlockable challenges called "Wario...Where?"