Microneedle array patches (MAPs) have revolutionized the transdermal drug delivery research field in the last decades due to their enormous potential to boost dermal and transdermal drug absorption and produce local and/or systemic effects. They are well known for being minimally invasive systems since they can overcome the stratum corneum barrier without causing pain, delivering drug molecules and even nanoparticles to the deeper skin layers. In addition, their high acceptance by patients when compared to the common aversion to injections, their low cost and high efficiency when compared to iontophoretic and sonophoretic devices, and the lack of significant skin reactions such as erythema, irritation and inflammation usually produced by chemical enhancers are other strong points in favour of MAPs. As a growing field in biomedical research, their applications are constantly evolving, and new types of MAPs are continuously appearing, although their design is common to all. Herein, we offer an overview of the current state-of-the-art on MAPs fabrication, characterization and translational opportunities of MAPs, linked with the different prototypes of MAPs.