The fourth Wario Land is a personal classic, but even I must bow my head and acknowledge 3's superior dedication to unconventional platforming status. The experiment that began with Wario Land II reached its natural conclusion here, and the end result makes 4's health meter look bog standard in comparison. In this land, reward and punishment are one and the same- bizarre, often grotesque perversions of Wario's sprite and, by proxy, the way that he has to look at the world around him. Whether these transformations are powerups or power... downs depends entirely on the situation. Becoming a spring allows Wario to reach higher-up areas, just make sure to avoid it when trying to make your way downwards. Invisibility lets him bypass motion-detecting security doors, but incidentally turns rudimentary platforming into a challenge. Each of the dozen-or-so abilities can be described in a similar double-edged fashion, but their cleverness really has to be seen to be believed. Figuring out which transformation you need while figuring out which key you need while also figuring out how to get that transformation in the appropriate spot (and, if necessary, even how to get rid of it once you're done) as every bite-sized stage unravels and reveals its deliciously tricky nature. When state transitions, the very foundation of a platformer, are a puzzle in and of themselves, the level design comes naturally, and Wario Land 3 leaves no stone unturned while constructing its areas to enhance the game's supreme mechanical cohesion. Well, except...
Where it loses me: returning to previous stages after an unlock. These come in the form of Samus Aranesque moveset additions or more unique contextual changes to the world map, and are all almost unanimously disappointing. Instead of requiring the player to evaluate what's different when coming back to a familiar place, usually some obstacle near the entrance has been removed, which lets Wario access, in essence, an entirely new level. It's hard to fault the game for this decision, as forcing inter-playsession analysis is typically seen as a sin against the tenants of handheld gaming, but it still feels like the only blight on its otherwise hyper-focused design. In retrospect, 4's "hurry up" sections present a solution to this problem: portions of the game that reward observant players who are able to predict level mutations before they happen without breaking the pick-up-and-play mantra. Of course, including these means Wario has to be capable of getting the lead out, which, also in retrospect, creates another conundrum. 3's sluggish Wario is hardly bothered by traditional platforming punishments that serve to slow him down, as he can barely even move in the first place, but 4's agile Wario clashes with the inherently time-consuming nature of transformations. It's an issue that, I, in my infinite wisdom, don't have the solution to, but perhaps it's one that indicates how distinct the series is above all else- it's hard to imagine that guy in red running into anything similar.
Where it loses me: returning to previous stages after an unlock. These come in the form of Samus Aranesque moveset additions or more unique contextual changes to the world map, and are all almost unanimously disappointing. Instead of requiring the player to evaluate what's different when coming back to a familiar place, usually some obstacle near the entrance has been removed, which lets Wario access, in essence, an entirely new level. It's hard to fault the game for this decision, as forcing inter-playsession analysis is typically seen as a sin against the tenants of handheld gaming, but it still feels like the only blight on its otherwise hyper-focused design. In retrospect, 4's "hurry up" sections present a solution to this problem: portions of the game that reward observant players who are able to predict level mutations before they happen without breaking the pick-up-and-play mantra. Of course, including these means Wario has to be capable of getting the lead out, which, also in retrospect, creates another conundrum. 3's sluggish Wario is hardly bothered by traditional platforming punishments that serve to slow him down, as he can barely even move in the first place, but 4's agile Wario clashes with the inherently time-consuming nature of transformations. It's an issue that, I, in my infinite wisdom, don't have the solution to, but perhaps it's one that indicates how distinct the series is above all else- it's hard to imagine that guy in red running into anything similar.
garcaso
1 year ago