Games Like WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!

Rare's brilliantly odd N64 debut — pilot demolition vehicles to clear a path for a runaway nuclear missile carrier, destroying everything in its route across 57 stages using bulldozers, mechs, a dump truck, and a rocket cycle.

Hudson Soft's bold translation of Bomberman into 3D on the Nintendo 64. Bomberman 64 reinvented the series with a 3D platformer adventure mode featuring five worlds and memorable boss fights, alongside the traditional multiplayer battle mode. The pump mechanic — inflating bombs to increase blast radius — added a new strategic layer that made both modes feel distinct from every other Bomberman entry.

Data East's 1982 arcade classic where Chef Peter Pepper must assemble giant hamburgers by walking across ingredients to make them fall while being chased by murderous foods. BurgerTime combines chase game tension with environmental puzzle elements in one of the golden age's most original and charming concepts.

Namco's 1982 arcade classic where a gardener digs through underground tunnels, inflates enemy Pookas and Fygar dragons with an air pump until they pop, or crushes them with falling rocks. One of the most charming and cleverly designed arcade games of the golden age.

Capcom's 1993 SNES top-down action-adventure based on the Disney animated series — Goof Troop follows Goofy and Max rescuing Pete's family from pirates across five island stages. Two-player co-op, hook-based combat and puzzle solving, and a Capcom polish level that exceeded the Disney license. An early Shinji Mikami production.

Oddworld Inhabitants' 1998 PS1 sequel to Abe's Oddysee — Abe's Exoddus expands the Mudokon rescue formula with more GameSpeak commands, possession of new creature types, a "quick save" system replacing the limited lives of the original, and 300 Mudokons to rescue across more stages than the first game.

Abe is a Mudokon slave working at RuptureFarms who discovers that his kind are the next product on the menu. His attempt to escape and liberate his enslaved people turns a dark industrial satire into one of the most original platformers of the PS1 era — with GameSpeak letting Abe possess enemies and command fellow Mudokons.

Q*bert is Gottlieb's 1982 isometric arcade classic where an orange creature with a long snout must change the color of all tiles on a pyramid by hopping on them while avoiding enemies. One of the most inventive arcade designs of the golden age, famous for its pseudo-3D perspective and Q*bert's exclamatory speech bubble upon death.

The finest handheld Castlevania and a landmark Metroidvania that introduced the Soul system — absorbing enemy abilities — creating one of the deepest ability collections in the genre. Set in the future year 2035, Aria of Sorrow reinvented the series with a bold narrative twist and exceptional mechanical depth.

The GBA launch Castlevania that brought the Symphony of the Night formula to handheld — Circle of the Moon introduced the DSS card combo system and proved the Metroidvania formula translated perfectly to portable play.

The second GBA Castlevania — Harmony of Dissonance follows Juste Belmont through two parallel castle sub-dimensions simultaneously, with a furniture decoration system, boss rush mode, and spell book combinations adding depth.

HAL Laboratory's 2004 GBA Kirby game with a unique open-world Metroidvania structure — instead of linear stages, the Amazing Mirror world is a single interconnected map of ten areas accessible in non-linear order, requiring Kirby to backtrack with new abilities to reach previously inaccessible sections. Features four-player simultaneous multiplayer via Game Boy Advance link cable with four Kirbys of different colors.