[Wario]'s adventures span 10 missions and nine locations, including a luxury liner, watery ruins and Egyptian pyramid. In each, he finds bags of money and treasure chests, which contain loot or new powers to aid his thieving ways. To gain the power, Wario must first complete a mini-challenge such as connecting numbers, colouring a picture or tracing an object.

Most gems go to the magical talking wand, which eats them to gain enough strength to produce new disguises. There are eight in all: artist, thief, captain, dragon, cosmic, genius, sparky, and wicked Wario. Each has its own abilities, such as Cosmic Wario's laser blasts and anti-gravity float, and Arty Wario's talent for drawing blocks that can be pushed around or drawing doors that will warp him back to his previous disguise.