Out of all the weird and outlandish, yet still lovable elements to have been introduced in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, the biggest and undeniably the best addition would be with the introduction of Wario. He may not have had that much of a role in the game, simply being put as the final boss, who just so happened to be a fatter and goofier Mario, but you could tell from the beginning not only from his design, but also from the commercial for the game, that he was sinister, greedy, and undeniably lovable. So, much like when Nintendo made Yoshi the star with his own game just two years prior, they were also ready to make Wario the star of his own games as well, so that they could expand the Mario universe and create many more memorable products as a result… while also raking in all that cash (they are allowed to, it’s Wario Time). So, they did this by making a direct follow-up to Mario Land 2 where the big man in yellow would steal the spotlight, and the game would ultimately be called Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.
It was somewhat of a risky move to be sure, making the villain of your previous game the main character of this all new game, especially since it hadn’t been too long since Wario was even a character to begin with. However, thankfully, it worked out in its favor, since not only did it appropriately make BANK for a Game Boy title, but it would also lead to Wario’s own series of games that would continue onto this day… or at least, we would like to think that (just bring back Wario Land already, Nintendo. Pizza Tower was fun for a bit, but I need my garlic eater back in his proper place!). As for my personal experience with the Wario Land series, I myself hadn’t played too much of it back when I was a kid, with the exception of Wario Land: The Shake Dimension (I refuse to call it “Shake It!”), so it was only until a good couple of years ago that I decided to give the series a shot.
Thankfully, I was able to get into it pretty quickly, not just because I prefer villains over heroes, so I was able to relate to Wario much more than I ever could with Mario, but also because the series is genuinely fantastic, with each entry getting better and better as they keep releasing, and as for the game that started it all, it still manages to be a pretty great time upon revisiting it after quite a while. Yeah, it doesn’t come close to the quality of future titles, and for Wario’s first outing, it can feel a bit… lacking, but it still manages to be fun and satisfying, as well as simple enough for anyone to be able to pick up and enjoy.
The story is exactly what you would expect from a character like Wario, where after his defeat in the previous game, Wario sets off to Kitchen Island to steal the treasure from the Brown Sugar Pirates, along with a giant, golden statue to Peach, all to trade off for money so that he can buy a bigger and better castle to beat out Mario, which is the perfect premise for a game like this, and it gets you wanting to get into the game immediately. The graphics are Game Boy graphics, with the overall aesthetic looking pretty similar to Mario, but with a unique group of baddies, locations, and powerups to give the game its own identity, and it all looks really fun and inventive all the way through, the music is an interesting change from what you typically hear in a Mario title, but it manages to fit a Wario game pretty well, with there being quite a lot of banger tracks out of the bunch, ones that you will most likely bob your head to as you play, the control is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a game like this, so there isn’t much else to say on that, and the gameplay is also very similar to that of the previous entry, but with a few new additions to make the game stand out.
The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of Wario, go through plenty of different lands and levels all throughout Kitchen Island, defeat many different innocent, yet damaging enough enemies while on your quest for the ultimate goal, gather plenty of different power-ups and hearts to help you out on your journey, take on easy, yet enjoyable boss fights against plenty of colorful characters, unlock secret levels along the way to find more stuff, and of course, gather EVERY SINGLE COIN IN SIGHT. For the most part, it is pretty standard stuff, especially for those who are familiar with Mario games, as this is more or less just a Mario game that Wario took over for himself. However, not only does the game still remain fun, but it also adds plenty of elements that would make it stand out on its own.
If you yourself have yet to play any Wario Land game yourself, when you go into this game, you may think you know what it will be all about, and when looking at it from a surface level, you would be somewhat correct. However, then you will soon learn really quickly that this is NOT a Mario game, but it is instead Wario’s game, BITCH, and as such, it plays much more in the style of Wario. Sure, he can jump on enemies and break blocks with his head, but he can also dash into enemies to completely knock them down and out, grab enemies to throw them all over the place, and he has his own assortment of power-ups, such as a helmet that makes him stronger and allows him to do a ground pound, a dragon hat that allows him to breathe fire onto enemies, even when he is underwater, and a jet hat, which he can use to fly all over the place for a limited amount of time. The fundamentals of a regular Mario game are all there, clear as day, but they have all been Wario-fied, to the point where it is now his game, but not too much so to the point where you can’t tell that it wasn’t a Mario game before. Oddly fitting, wouldn’t you say?
Not only that, but there are also plenty of new features that make the game what it truly is. Since Wario is the physical embodiment of greed, coins make the world go round for him, so naturally, the game makes you want to grab as many as possible, and unlike with regular Mario games, the coins actually serve a purpose here!... to an extent. For every level of the game, you will need to collect coins in order to activate these checkpoints that you can find, as well as with the end goal of the level, which makes it so that you NEED to spend your hard-earned money so that you can complete the stages. In addition, you also get the chance to play several minigames at the end of every level, ones that will allow you to get more lives, or even ones that will allow you to double the amount of coins you have, while also fueling your ever growing gambling addiction.
But that isn’t the extent to what Wario can obtain in this game, as you can also find plenty of treasures scattered throughout plenty of the levels, each one granting you more coins as well, and these treasures, while not necessarily too well-hidden, can be pretty tricky to get at times, which makes getting them all the more fun and satisfying. So, with all that being said, with so many different ways of getting coins and treasures in this game, what exactly do they do? Well… they determine the ending that you get when you beat the game. That’s it. That’s all coins do. Well, that kinda sucks, but hey, it does allow for quite a lot of replayability to the game, and the endings you get are somewhat funny, so that is neat enough. It also helps that, alongside the game itself being pretty fun, with plenty of different levels, challenges, and enemies to overcome, the secrets themselves can also be pretty satisfying to get once you figure things out.
So yeah, for the most part, the game is a great time, but once again, I wouldn’t consider it anything too great. You can really tell this is essentially a Mario game with Wario slapped onto it, which is fitting for his character, but not only does it come nowhere near the same quality as the later games in the series, but it could also be seen as pretty bland as a result. It is your typical Mario-esque platforming adventure, with nothing to really separate it from the rest other than a few collectibles and mini games to spice things up. None of it is bad, don’t get me wrong, but if you are going into this game hoping to get something at least a little bit different from your typical Mario game, then you will probably be disappointed by what you get. Then again, the game is called “Super Mario Land 3”, so you shouldn’t expect too much going into it, but still. Also, one last little complaint here: the final boss kinda sucks. Sure, it is creative, but constantly having to throw this genie’s lamp to create a cloud to stand on so that you can get a chance at hitting the genie himself… yeah, can we, like, not do that ever again? Cool, thanks.
Overall, despite not too much difference from this game compared to past Mario games, as well as the coins in the game not doing too much for you as a whole, for being the first game in what would become one of the best sub-series in the Mario franchise, the original Wario Land is still a great game to go back to to this day, one that offers plenty for you to have fun with and enjoy, but not too much to the point where you will feel like you wasted your time on it by the end of the day. I would recommend it for those who are fans of the Wario Land series, or for those who are fans of Mario in general, because this game will give you plenty of what you want from both categories, and will serve as a nice appetizer for what comes next. And what an appetizer it was, but you know what, I think I’m ready to see what the next game in this series is. So, what is it?.............. oh. sigh, alright, I’ll go get my sunglasses…
Game #488
It was somewhat of a risky move to be sure, making the villain of your previous game the main character of this all new game, especially since it hadn’t been too long since Wario was even a character to begin with. However, thankfully, it worked out in its favor, since not only did it appropriately make BANK for a Game Boy title, but it would also lead to Wario’s own series of games that would continue onto this day… or at least, we would like to think that (just bring back Wario Land already, Nintendo. Pizza Tower was fun for a bit, but I need my garlic eater back in his proper place!). As for my personal experience with the Wario Land series, I myself hadn’t played too much of it back when I was a kid, with the exception of Wario Land: The Shake Dimension (I refuse to call it “Shake It!”), so it was only until a good couple of years ago that I decided to give the series a shot.
Thankfully, I was able to get into it pretty quickly, not just because I prefer villains over heroes, so I was able to relate to Wario much more than I ever could with Mario, but also because the series is genuinely fantastic, with each entry getting better and better as they keep releasing, and as for the game that started it all, it still manages to be a pretty great time upon revisiting it after quite a while. Yeah, it doesn’t come close to the quality of future titles, and for Wario’s first outing, it can feel a bit… lacking, but it still manages to be fun and satisfying, as well as simple enough for anyone to be able to pick up and enjoy.
The story is exactly what you would expect from a character like Wario, where after his defeat in the previous game, Wario sets off to Kitchen Island to steal the treasure from the Brown Sugar Pirates, along with a giant, golden statue to Peach, all to trade off for money so that he can buy a bigger and better castle to beat out Mario, which is the perfect premise for a game like this, and it gets you wanting to get into the game immediately. The graphics are Game Boy graphics, with the overall aesthetic looking pretty similar to Mario, but with a unique group of baddies, locations, and powerups to give the game its own identity, and it all looks really fun and inventive all the way through, the music is an interesting change from what you typically hear in a Mario title, but it manages to fit a Wario game pretty well, with there being quite a lot of banger tracks out of the bunch, ones that you will most likely bob your head to as you play, the control is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a game like this, so there isn’t much else to say on that, and the gameplay is also very similar to that of the previous entry, but with a few new additions to make the game stand out.
The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of Wario, go through plenty of different lands and levels all throughout Kitchen Island, defeat many different innocent, yet damaging enough enemies while on your quest for the ultimate goal, gather plenty of different power-ups and hearts to help you out on your journey, take on easy, yet enjoyable boss fights against plenty of colorful characters, unlock secret levels along the way to find more stuff, and of course, gather EVERY SINGLE COIN IN SIGHT. For the most part, it is pretty standard stuff, especially for those who are familiar with Mario games, as this is more or less just a Mario game that Wario took over for himself. However, not only does the game still remain fun, but it also adds plenty of elements that would make it stand out on its own.
If you yourself have yet to play any Wario Land game yourself, when you go into this game, you may think you know what it will be all about, and when looking at it from a surface level, you would be somewhat correct. However, then you will soon learn really quickly that this is NOT a Mario game, but it is instead Wario’s game, BITCH, and as such, it plays much more in the style of Wario. Sure, he can jump on enemies and break blocks with his head, but he can also dash into enemies to completely knock them down and out, grab enemies to throw them all over the place, and he has his own assortment of power-ups, such as a helmet that makes him stronger and allows him to do a ground pound, a dragon hat that allows him to breathe fire onto enemies, even when he is underwater, and a jet hat, which he can use to fly all over the place for a limited amount of time. The fundamentals of a regular Mario game are all there, clear as day, but they have all been Wario-fied, to the point where it is now his game, but not too much so to the point where you can’t tell that it wasn’t a Mario game before. Oddly fitting, wouldn’t you say?
Not only that, but there are also plenty of new features that make the game what it truly is. Since Wario is the physical embodiment of greed, coins make the world go round for him, so naturally, the game makes you want to grab as many as possible, and unlike with regular Mario games, the coins actually serve a purpose here!... to an extent. For every level of the game, you will need to collect coins in order to activate these checkpoints that you can find, as well as with the end goal of the level, which makes it so that you NEED to spend your hard-earned money so that you can complete the stages. In addition, you also get the chance to play several minigames at the end of every level, ones that will allow you to get more lives, or even ones that will allow you to double the amount of coins you have, while also fueling your ever growing gambling addiction.
But that isn’t the extent to what Wario can obtain in this game, as you can also find plenty of treasures scattered throughout plenty of the levels, each one granting you more coins as well, and these treasures, while not necessarily too well-hidden, can be pretty tricky to get at times, which makes getting them all the more fun and satisfying. So, with all that being said, with so many different ways of getting coins and treasures in this game, what exactly do they do? Well… they determine the ending that you get when you beat the game. That’s it. That’s all coins do. Well, that kinda sucks, but hey, it does allow for quite a lot of replayability to the game, and the endings you get are somewhat funny, so that is neat enough. It also helps that, alongside the game itself being pretty fun, with plenty of different levels, challenges, and enemies to overcome, the secrets themselves can also be pretty satisfying to get once you figure things out.
So yeah, for the most part, the game is a great time, but once again, I wouldn’t consider it anything too great. You can really tell this is essentially a Mario game with Wario slapped onto it, which is fitting for his character, but not only does it come nowhere near the same quality as the later games in the series, but it could also be seen as pretty bland as a result. It is your typical Mario-esque platforming adventure, with nothing to really separate it from the rest other than a few collectibles and mini games to spice things up. None of it is bad, don’t get me wrong, but if you are going into this game hoping to get something at least a little bit different from your typical Mario game, then you will probably be disappointed by what you get. Then again, the game is called “Super Mario Land 3”, so you shouldn’t expect too much going into it, but still. Also, one last little complaint here: the final boss kinda sucks. Sure, it is creative, but constantly having to throw this genie’s lamp to create a cloud to stand on so that you can get a chance at hitting the genie himself… yeah, can we, like, not do that ever again? Cool, thanks.
Overall, despite not too much difference from this game compared to past Mario games, as well as the coins in the game not doing too much for you as a whole, for being the first game in what would become one of the best sub-series in the Mario franchise, the original Wario Land is still a great game to go back to to this day, one that offers plenty for you to have fun with and enjoy, but not too much to the point where you will feel like you wasted your time on it by the end of the day. I would recommend it for those who are fans of the Wario Land series, or for those who are fans of Mario in general, because this game will give you plenty of what you want from both categories, and will serve as a nice appetizer for what comes next. And what an appetizer it was, but you know what, I think I’m ready to see what the next game in this series is. So, what is it?.............. oh. sigh, alright, I’ll go get my sunglasses…
Game #488