So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10^th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties.

Quick Facts:
Designed by Hiroji Kiyotake to symbolise Nintendo R&D1’s displeasure at being denied the chance to create original videogames, Mario’s dastardly doppelgänger first appeared in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (ibid, 1992). Wario then usurped Nintendo’s portly plumber as the face of Mario’s handheld sub-series, leading to three highly regarded portable adventures. Wario Land 4 restricted Wario to an ancient pyramid and incorporated “Metroidvania”-like exploration alongside more traditional platforming mechanics compared to its previous two games. A strong seller, Wario Land 4 was met with widespread acclaim as reviews praised the replay value, colourful and lively graphics, and balanced challenge, though the lack of true innovation was noted.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Like its predecessors, Wario Land 4 is a 2D, action-orientated platformer in which players take Mario’s despicable lookalike through an ancient pyramid, navigating a simplistic hub world to take one of four passages and explore four worlds in each, tackling a boss at the end to obtain treasure from the pyramid. Players get two save files and, for the first time in the Land series, a health bar, represented by hearts. Wario can partially or completely refill his health by defeating enemies and collecting Little Hearts to fill a meter, Hearts for a full heart, or smashing special treasure chests for a Full Health Item. Wario’s abilities are largely retained from the previous titles, with him jumping with A (jumping higher the longer you hold the button) and charging at enemies, destructible objects, and treasures chests with B or X. You can hold down the Left or Right trigger to charge ahead, ploughing through most enemies and blocks, perform a leaping charge, butt stomp by pressing down in mid-air, swim by tapping A, and roll into a ball to crash through small tunnels by holding down on slopes. Enemies can be stunned by bumping them, allowing Wario to automatically pick them up. If you hold down B, you can charge a throw, with Wario tossing whatever he’s holding higher and further the longer you hold it down, which is great for smashing blocks, hitting ! switches, or opening certain doors by tossing shapes. Players climb ladders, use warp pipes, and jump to small or moving platforms to progress, earning points for every enemy defeated and the gems they collect. Blue and Red Crystals are plentiful but you’ll want to explore and experiment to collect the Diamonds hidden in each world. Some blocks can only be destroyed with a fully charged dash or by performing a ground pound from way up high. Wario must frantically return to the entrance warp upon activating a Frog Switch, giving him up to ten minutes to do so before the bomb explodes, robs him of some treasure, and returns him to the hub world.

Although Wario can now take damage and fail his quest if he runs out of hearts, he can still be transformed by certain enemy attacks and environmental factors. When consuming food, Wario becomes fat and heavy, easily crashing through blocks and shrugging off attacks. When pricked by a Beezley, Wario inflates like a balloon and floats until he hits a ceiling, floating higher by tapping B, while bubbles force him through water and rapids if you’re not careful. Flames set Wario on fire, causing him to run around in a panic and eventually become consumed, destroying Bonfire Blocks in the process. Similarly, he becomes a snowball when hit with falling snow, rolling down hills and crashing through Snowman Blocks as he goes. When crushed, Wario flattens and awkwardly floats down shafts and through tiny gaps and, when hit by a Yeti’s sneeze, he freezes and flies back. If hit by a Menhanmā’s hammer, Wario becomes a spring, leaping high into the sky and through any blocks by pressing A, becomes a shambling, gloopy zombie when hit by a Skeleton Bird, falling through any platforms as he goes, and transforms into a bat upon touching a Minicula, allowing him to fly by tapping A. While some of these are temporary, others are cancelled out upon touching water or light sources, and they seem far more situational compared to the last two games. I was disappointed that no new transformations appeared and that the transformations aren’t as interesting as it’s usually pretty simple to figure out how to use them. Similarly, while players can uncover hidden doors by exploring and smashing blocks, most worlds are quite linear, with alternate paths generally being quite obvious and leading to the same collectibles. Wario must find four coloured Jewel Pieces in every world and escape with the ghost-like Keyzer to open doors in the hub world’s passages, meaning you either need to explore thoroughly the first time through or return the world to find what you missed. This can be a bit annoying and basically forces you to 100% every world, which can be a chore, especially when Jewel Pieces are only accessible after hitting the Frog Switch and opening new paths.

As you explore, you come across mini challenge rooms where you must toss archaeologist Arewo Shitain-hakase past obstacles or at switches to earn additional Diamonds, and you can play three mini games to earn Coins. These see you timing swings of a baseball bat, playing an endless runner, and matching Wario’s face. The Coins earned are used in the Item Shop prior to each boss fight, gifting you powerful, automatically triggered items that reduce or decimate the boss’s health. Otherwise, worlds offer some surprising variety as they’re themed around jungles, temples, factories, and deserts rather than sticking to the Egyptian pyramid aesthetic. Some worlds are notably maze-like, like the looping 40 Below Fridge, which has you rolling about as a snowball to access new passages, and Hotel Horror, which is a haunted hotel maze of doors and ladders. Wildflower Fields has you scaling giant beanstalks, Pinball Zone forces you to throw multiple Chomp Balls into Pinball Tulips to unlock doors, and Doodle Woods sees a floating Hoggus spawn enemies with its drawings. A pirate ghost kidnaps Keyzer in Crescent Moon Village, pistons and conveyor belts litter the steampunk-esque Curious Factory, and you’ll be swimming through underwater passages in Mystic Lake. Flying carpets carry you through the sky in Arabian Night, you must stop the chance wheels at the correct places in The Big Board to gain transformations and open paths, and you hop to swinging, vine-like platforms in the rainswept Monsoon Jungle. The challenge is relatively fair, with most enemies and hazards being more of an annoyance, but the difficulty comes in searching for the Jewel Pieces and Keyzer and racing back to the entrance warp before the timer runs out. Temporary platforms, tricky jumps, and alternate paths both help and hinder this task, but the gameplay loop gets a bit tedious very quickly since you must find all the Jewel Pieces and Keyzer to progress. This means there’s less emphasis on collecting loot and exploring for hidden treasure than in previous games, less focus on the transformations, and more focus on replaying worlds until you’ve found what you need to progress.

Presentation:
Without a doubt, Wario Land 4 is the best-looking game in the series so far. Wario is more animated and expressive than ever, spouting phrases as he succeeds or takes damage and performing various idle poses, such as pumping iron or skipping rope. He even flails about in water and has never looked better when transformed into a zombie or set on fire, which makes it all the more bizarre, disappointing, and frustrating that the game’s story is practically non-existent. Even the Game Boy Color games featured cutscenes and some dialogue, but all we get here is some shots of Wario blasting about in his muscle car, finding the pyramid, and opening its doors. The ending tries to compensate for this by offering large sprite art renditions of Wario’s victories over the bosses, but it’s too little too late and I was very disappointed to see that the story didn’t get more emphasis. Similarly, it’s quite unfortunate that Wario’s stuck inside a pyramid for the entire game, visiting worlds by leaping into warp portals rather than exploring an ever expanding and changing island or larger hub world, things that even the first game did much better. The music was equally forgettable, with none of the tunes really sticking in my head, an annoying jingle playing every time you transform, and the environment and soundtrack warping and distorting when you’re ordered to “Hurry up!” after activating the Frog Switch. It’s a shame as there are some fun, comical moments, like a cameo from Mr. Game & Watch and the various items being wheeled out to attack the bosses, who are all large and disturbing. It might’ve been nice to include some sections where you barrel along in Wario’s muscle car, or to bring back the hats from the first game, or to see Wario properly exploring the pyramid rather than just hobbling to each passage and walking through samey-looking hallways each time.

And yet, there’s a fair amount of variety in Wario Land 4, with each passage sporting various environments to explore, each one somewhat related to a specific theme. The Emerald Passage is themed around nature, for example, meaning you explore a palm tree seaside, a flower field, a sprawling lake, and a stormswept jungle. The Ruby Passage is themed around industry, placing you in an industrial factory, a toxic landfill akin to a sewer or junkyard, a freezing fridge with lots of slippery platforms and snow, and a pinball-themed maze. The Topaz Passage is themed around toys, with the first world literally being a toy chest, the second being a toy village, the third being a stationary-themed woods that would fit right in with a Yoshi title, and the final world seeing you knock over and outrace dominos before they block off paths and doors. The Sapphire Passage is themed around horror and ghosts, with you exploring a haunted village, a night-time Indian city, a fiery cavern full of lava and flaming geyser, and a labyrinthine hotel that’s so full of spookies and mysteries that Wario should’ve called Luigi for help! The final area, the Golden Passage, lands you right on the Frog Switch and gives you 9:30 to reach the ending, running a gauntlet of all the enemies, obstacles, and gimmicks you’ve encountered before and utilising each of Wario’s transformations to progress. This world is a golden-bricked environment with falling chandeliers that transitions to a stone temple and features drops to rushing water that loop you around if you’re not careful. None of Wario Land 4’s worlds are particularly innovative or original and they feature less alternative paths and rewards compared to the last three games, making them far more linear save for a few instances where you must search a little harder for missing Jewel Pieces. I liked that they remained visually distinct from other Super Mario games, featuring few gimmicks and aspects from those games, but it would’ve been nice to see them play more into Wario’s strengths and transformations, and maybe feature more collectibles to unearth by exploring.

Enemies and Bosses:
As far as I can remember (it has been a while and I don’t care to dig too deep into it), Wario Land 4 features an all-new line-up of baddies, though some fulfil similar functions, like Menhanmās squashing you with their hammers and Kaentsubos and Pig Head Statues setting you on fire. The most common enemies are the Goomba-like Marumen, who simply wander back and forth, while the Shy Guy-like Spear-Mask prod you with spears and the masked Totsumen charge you. Spikys need flipping over with a ground pound to attack their underbellies, Shieragutchi spring from the seabed, and Goggley-Blades cut through the water to try and skewer you. Bow Balloons and Beezley’s turn you into Puffy Wario, Ringosukī apes toss apples to help or hinder you as Fat Wario, and Skeelton Birds can send you plummeting through platforms if their spit turns you into a zombie. Men’onos and their mummified variants charge with axes, harmless caterpillars slither around the Wildflower Fields, mole-like creatures ram into you, and large sea monsters pop from holes in the background of Mystic Lake. Various robots patrol the Ruby Passage worlds, such as an armoured mech that tosses its head and a robotic bird that flies at you, while miniature toy Wario’s litter the Topaz Passage worlds. They’re joined by spear-wielding Dice, a strange hybrid of a pig and a snail, and ballerina pigs spawned by Hoggus. Bowlers toss boulders in the Fiery Cavern before being turned into Yetis when the world freezes, bats flitter about in Arabian Night, and a large pirate ghost lingers in the background of Crescent Moon Village, being harmless until they spot Keyzer, whom they abduct on sight. There are six bosses to contend with in Wario Land 4, with four being fought in whatever order you tackle the Passages in and the first fought to clear the Entry Passage, each being significantly damaged by the item your purchase, and each fought against a timer.

The first is a monstrous eggplant that wanders back and forth in an enclosed arena, assisted by smaller minions and eventually turning feral after enough hits. At first, you must ram its face but, when it goes mad, you must hop over it to finish it off from behind. After waking Cractus, you must climb the nearby ladders to avoid its chomping mouth and spiked leaves, butt stomp its head as it passes under you. After a few hits, it spews bile that transforms you into a zombie, adds homing jabs to its arsenal, and floats around more erratically. I fought Aerodent next, a giant inflatable bear controlled by a mouse ghost. You must avoid the pin enemies it drops and hit its glowing feet to expose the mouse, ramming it to deal damage, dodging the flames it drops and desperately trying to land multiple hits in a small window. Catbat was somewhat similar in that you must ram the cat on its head, avoiding its spiked furballs and using the waves it spews to get closer, eventually butt stomping its head to finish it. Finally, I fought Cuckoo Condor, potentially the toughest of the regular bosses. This giant cuckoo clock bird-thing grabs you in its talons and drives you into the spiked wheels on either side of the arena and tosses buzzsaws, which can also be electrified. You must quickly ram its claw to hit the boss, then frantically grab the eggs it drops before they spawn explosive chicks, and toss them at just the right angle to deal damage. The final boss is a multi-phase battle with the Golden Diva, which tosses you about with is Kabuki-like masks, shields itself with a fan, drops green enemies, spawns a rubber ball, conjures black eggs and explosive chicks, and drops a spiked hammer. You must ram, grab, or use each of these to deal damage, either by tossing them or springing into her face, eventually stunning her when she destroys the ground to reveal spikes and butt stomping her head.

Additional Features:
There are four Jewel Pieces in each world and each must be collected to unlock the boss doors. You must also find Keyzer or else you can’t access each subsequent world in the Passage. Every world also hides a CD, unlocking a music track for the Sound Room, and hides hidden challenge rooms where you toss about Arewo Shitain-hakase to snag extra loot. The game can be played on “Normal” or “Hard” from the start, which affects how much health you start with and even the placement of Jewel Pieces and treasure. Beating the game on “Hard” unlocks the extra challenging “S-Hard” mode, and all bosses are revived once you finish the game, allowing you to battle them again and best your time and replay previous worlds to find those missing CDs. You can waste a few hours grinding the mini games to earn extra Coins and try out the different items against the bosses, and you’ll get different endings depending on the difficulty you play and how fast you defeat the bosses, depicting Wario with more or less loot and driving different vehicles. This version of the game also allows you to rewind the action and create save states, significantly reducing the challenge and making it a bit easier to hunt for Jewel Pieces and Keyzer or undo any mistakes.

Final Thoughts:
I was really excited to get into Wario Land 4 since I’ve been a huge fan of the series since Wario’s debut. I was expecting it to be like the last two and feature multiple paths, lots of treasure, and tricky puzzles focusing on Wario’s bizarre transformations. Instead, I got a relatively simple platformer that significantly reduced the focus on these transformations, making Wario more vulnerable and not even offering any new power-ups for him. Sure, you still have to explore the worlds but nowhere near to the extent as before, with most alternative paths being fairly obvious and offering little reward since your treasure barely matters this time around. All that matters are those damn Jewel Pieces and Keyzer, crutches that force you to linger in worlds or replay them just to progress to the boss, which really soured the experience for me. I think it should’ve been mandatory to have one or the other, then have the other gimmick used to unlock bonus areas or challenges. Instead, you can just ignore everything and focus only on collecting those, eliminating much of the appeal in exploring and figuring out the game’s far simpler puzzles. While Wario Land 4 looks fantastic and is a visual treat, this gameplay loops really stifled my enjoyment. The race back to the beginning and to defeat bosses added some tension but also seemed like a forced gimmick to artificially up the challenge, and the minigames were uninspired and boring, which is a shame as the items you buy are quite fun. I was really disappointed by the lack of focus on the story, the linear nature of the narrative, and that Wario was stuck inside a pyramid, even if the worlds have some decent variety. Ultimately, as gorgeous as Wario Land 4 is, I feel it doesn’t live up to its deeper and more complex predecessors, offering far less replay value and being a disappointingly lacklustre title instead of the definitive Wario Land experience.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Ae you a fan of Wario Land 4? How did you think it compared to the other Wario Land videogames? Were you disappointed by the smaller scale of the game and the forced collection of Jewel Pieces? What did you think to the graphics and bizarre bosses? Were you also surprised to see there were no new transformations and less focus on treasure hunting? Did you ever beat the game on S-Hard mode? Would you like to see more of Wario or do you think he’s better suited as a side character? How are you celebrating the Super Mario franchise this month? Whatever your thoughts on Wario, feel free to drop a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other Wario reviews.