(REALIZE!)
Fridge examples for WarioWare.
Fridge Brilliance
- For anyone who plays Mega Microgame$! for the first time, it may be confusing to see a boss game that looks like Punch-Out!! in the Sports (Jimmy T.'s) category rather than Nintendo Classics while a boss game that features a batting machine is in the Nintendo Classics (9-Volt's) category rather than Sports. However, upon doing some analysis and research, you can see that the Punch-Out!! game is In Name Only, as none of the opponents were ever in an actual Punch-Out!! game. Meanwhile, the boss game that features the batting machine is actually based off of the Ultra Machine, a toy released by Nintendo in the late 60's back when they were investing in toys. So it seems that these games' category placements are to intentionally confuse more newer-generation gamers and especially Western gamers (As the Ultra Machine is pretty much unknown outside of Japan).
- In WarioWare: Touched!, Wario is surprised when he gets a cold, saying that he never gets one. His solution is (of course) garlic. This is actually a good idea; garlic, in real life, is antiviral and antibacterial. Given how much garlic Wario consumes, there is no wonder he never got a cold until that time!
- In the opening sequence of WarioWare Gold, Wario surprisingly has an empty vault of cash. When you consider the last game, Game & Wario, didn't do so hot in the market, it makes sense he's pretty strapped for cash.
- This could also explain the long Sequel Gap between D.I.Y. and Gold. D.I.Y. didn't sell well either compared to the earlier games, and as a result WarioWare went under. It's as if the WarioWare series is a business on its own that shut down after losing too much customers, and Game & Wario was a last-ditch effort to get the "company" back on its feet.
- In-Universe, Wario likely blew all his profits from Game & Wario by buying a new house conveniently located at the top of Diamond Stadium. That or he used the money obtained from the Wario Bowl entry fees to do so, earning more as the tournament gained a nice streaming audience.
- Finally considering there hasn’t been a Wario Land game in ages, Wario hasn’t had a chance to get any big treasure hauls.
- This could also explain the long Sequel Gap between D.I.Y. and Gold. D.I.Y. didn't sell well either compared to the earlier games, and as a result WarioWare went under. It's as if the WarioWare series is a business on its own that shut down after losing too much customers, and Game & Wario was a last-ditch effort to get the "company" back on its feet.
- Gold also seems to answer why in the world would Crygor program Mike to be a karaoke robot, but force him to do cleaning duty. His actual attempt at creating a cleaning robot, Doris-1, was very defective and could go into murderous rampages, so much that he had to discard her away in a forest.
- How did Wario manage to make several best selling microgame collections when his staff are just random friends and acquaintances with no apparent background in game design? While it seems like typical Wario series wackiness, it's actually more plausible than you think:
- The Crygors are Omnidisciplinary Scientists and Orbulon is an technologically advanced alien, so it makes sense for them to be familiar with computers.
- As for the others, computers and coding are growing more and more accessible every year. With that in mind, the idea that anyone, from schoolchildren and part-timers, to disco-dancers and cab drivers, to ninjas and ascetic martial artists could make a video game (albeit a very simple game) isn't as far-fetched as it seems.
- Additionally, the Volts are all avid gamers (even 5-Volt!), and 9-Volt has an extensive knowledge of Nintendo paraphernalia. With that in mind, it's not a stretch to think that they studied game design techniques.
- What about Ashley? Magic.
- Also, Mona has gotten dozens of varying jobs over the course of the series to the point of absurdity. It's not a stretch to think she got a job involving computer science or game design before joining WarioWare.
- And as for Wario himself, it's highly implied that he's Brilliant, but Lazy, with the Brilliant part showing up when it comes to his own image. This is reflected on his microgames, which all feature him to some extent. Seeing how in Wario: Master of Disguise he managed to casually build a device to let him enter a TV show, he clearly has experience in technology as well.
- Gold confirms that 5-Volt's husband is a firefighter (also alluded in 9-Volt's diary entry for the first game), explaining the helmet 9-Volt wears all the time.
- Another one for Gold: remember that ridiculous sales pitch for the sparkly frying pan 5-Volt bought? It may have been typical Infomercial nonsense, but every single claim Mr. Sparkles made came true in its own way:
- "Eases back pain" — if 5-Volt didn't show any signs of back pain when lifting a cabinet full of dishes and casually holding it over her shoulder with one hand, she's probably immune to it.
- "Makes your kids super smart..." — in 9-Volt's story, he got over his difficulties with math class.
- An extra note on this one: 9-Volt was able to multiply two two-digit numbers (12 x 42) on the spot and get the right answer. Video game analogy notwithstanding, any fourth grader who can pull THAT off probably qualifies as super smart.
- "...and you, a millionaire!" — maybe not millions, but for once in the whole series, Wario's entourage, 5-Volt included, got paid their fair share for their hard work!
- In Gold and Get It Together!, why are the "That's Life" microgames represented with a toilet logo? Because life can be crappy.
- The soundtrack that plays during the Final Boss for Gold is called "Wario de Mucho". While it's a reference to Twisted's "Wario de Mambo", "Mucho" means "a lot" in Spanish. You have to use all previous inputs on this boss; so, that's a lot of inputs.
- The mini-game Sneaky Gamer has the game sounds played at a lower volume and 9-Volt doesn't make any vocal quips if you win or lose a microgame. Since 9-Volt is supposed to be sleeping and not staying up playing video games, he's doing all he can to minimize noise so his mother doesn't catch him in the act.
- Despite being an entirely different format, each minigame in Game & Wario still adheres to the general structure of a Warioware game:
- Arrow is your standard tutorial to the game mechanics and to the system itself, which also features Wario quite heavily.
- Jimmy's minigame (Ski) and Young Cricket's (Kung-Fu) are their usual sports themes for minigames.
- Shutter is a That's Life-style minigame since it follows the player observing perfectly ordinary scenes through town, and obviously has Mona in yet another odd job.
- Gamer is the throwback level hosted by 9 and 18-Volt, but instead of being a throwback to Nintendo games in general, it's a throwback to the previous Warioware format.
- Design is about building machines, as Dr. Crygor does in every installment.
- Ashley takes place in a land made of sweets, going along with the Food theming of her microgame sets.
- Taxi is a Sci-Fi minigame about blasting UFOs in-between shuttling customers, mimicking not only Dribble and Spitz' usual game themes, but the cutscene stories that accompany them.
- While Sketch is not part of the main minigame set, its Pictionary theme would fit as an IQ game.
- Pirates is a rhythm-based Final-Exam Boss, hosted by Wario in a new persona (Captain Wario).
- Bird, like the Pyoro minigames it was based on, is only unlocked after the final boss has been taken care of.
- Pyoro seems to have been inspired by the final boss of Wario Land 4, as both games involve things falling from the sky and breaking your platforms. Or would the inspiration go the other way?
- Lulu being the closest this series has ever gotten to a classic hero is rather obvious if you look at her physical appearance. The red color scheme, gloves, and overall dress pretty much make her a child-sized feminine Mario. Her hover ability in Get It Together! even resembles the functionality of the Propeller Mushroom.
- It's no wonder 5-Volt is so drowsy in Get It Together!; staying up so many nights to make sure her son is actually sleeping instead of secretly playing video games is tough work!
- Penny's Mix in Get It Together! has mostly microgames where you're problem-solving or helping someone; makes sense for her occupation and personality.
- In addition, a few of the games have to do with performing or playing music. Seeing that one of Penny's greatest aspirations is to be a singer, they serve as a proper tribute to her artistic side.
- Get It Together! has a lot of this regarding the Prezzies you can use to level up characters. You can usually form a good idea of their overall character and even learn some surprising details by piecing together their likes and dislikes:
- Wario generally loves money, junk food and smelly things, all universal traits of his character. However, he also likes computer tech and machinery parts (screws, magnets, faucet handles, etc.), referencing his lesser-known inventive side that is consistently shown in both the Land and Ware series.
- The magnet in particular is an object Wario has been all the more familiar with since his infant days.
- Mona likes anything that is Wario-branded or generally weird (hair strands, spider webs, toilets, etc.), fitting the usual theme of her microgames (Strange/That's Life). The one thing she regularly dislikes are motorized vehicles, having no need for them thanks to her trusty scooter.
- Dribble likes fast food (also all meat, since he's a dog), vehicles and machinery parts, all useful and fitting for his intergalactic cabbie job, as well as tough guy items like rugby balls and dumbbells. However, he also likes cloth (ribbons, socks, etc.) as a nod to his sewing hobby.
- Spitz mostly likes the same things as Dribble, plus milk and seafood. One of the things Spitz loves is a pair of socks. As a Barefoot Cartoon Animal, he likely gets cold down there frequently. Another gift Spitz really likes is a mustache grooming catalog, since he has a pair of whiskers.
- The Crygors are all into machinery and tech, with Dr. Crygor particularly favoring plumbing, which is a recurring theme in his scenarios. Penny also seems to love sweets, despite hating most food (maybe she's weight-watching for her idol future?).
- Dr. Crygor also has a liking for roses and wedding dresses, referring to his flamboyant personality.
- 9-Volt and 18-Volt, being the geeks they are, love tech, both old and new. Aside from that, they love stuff you'd expect boys their age to like, such as burgers, sweets, toys and bigass vehicles. 18-Volt in particular favors instruments, being a music aficionado.
- Cricket tends to like food such as dumplings and ramen, the former he was seen eating in his debut game. He also likes sporty items that would be useful to his training. He, however, dislikes technology due to his ascetic lifestyle (although he's not against vehicles).
- 5-Volt, being a housewife, favors things that can be useful for her everyday convenience, like food plates, sink plugs, light bulbs and plastic bags, as well as objects that could be used for interior decoration like appliances, dolls and certain plants. That said, she really seems to be oddly interested in sea cruising, likely as a dream vacation plan.
- Orbulon tends to like strange human artifacts, both contemporary (such as shower caps and floppy disks) and historical (such as haniwa statues and alpenhorns), which match the theme of his stage. He also enjoys hamburgers, as previously shown in Gold.
- Lulu likes the digital camera, since in her Gold trailer she's taking pictures of the others. She also likes toilets because the artifact Wario stole back then was her town's only potty.
- Ashley likes food beside pure sweets (which she canonically despises) and "creepy" items, or anything that could feasibly be used as a potion ingredient. She consistently dislikes vehicles and technology (which she presumably does not need or have any interest for, being a witch) and personal grooming items, alluding to both the line in her English theme song about not grooming her hair and her rather messy appearances in her gallery art. Her liking the electric guitar both calls back to her surprising fondness for peepy, high energy music as shown in her D.I.Y records selection, and foreshadow her guitar-playing Crazy Galaxy incarnation.
- Two people who love the Wedding Dress Prezzy are Mona and Lulu, who both canonically have crushes on other characters (Wario and Cricket respectively).
- In general, easygoing Ana is the character who has the most positive receptions to Prezzies. In contrast, her grumpier older sister Kat is the one who is most picky.
- Wario generally loves money, junk food and smelly things, all universal traits of his character. However, he also likes computer tech and machinery parts (screws, magnets, faucet handles, etc.), referencing his lesser-known inventive side that is consistently shown in both the Land and Ware series.
- This is not the first time that Wario hires an alien for his own business; remember his debut game, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins? He hired the alien Tatanga to handle Mario in Sarasaland while Wario was busy invading his Castle.
- Every game has a playable Pyoro minigame available after completing the main story, save Get It Together!. Why? Because Pyoro's already in a game: the one WarioWare Inc. has been playing the whole time!
- it seems weird to me how the gang is working for wario again after D.I.Y showed his usual employee's having went to diamond software, but then it hit me, just like how the game in real life had low sales, diamond software did as well, it's no wonder they worked for wario again, diamond software fell harder then wario did
- Why is the target score for Orbulon's stage in Gold 51? There's a certain famous area where some people believe the US government is hiding aliens.
