a very special little GBA game that i dont think enough people talk about. wario land 4 is an INCREDIBLY solid 2d platformer that is INCREDIBLY strange and very japanese. wario land has always tried its hardest to differentiate itself from 2d mario, and each iteration does that in a particularly interesting way. this time around its levels are solved by finding the necessary treasures then setting off that level's self destruct sequence. the tension that comes with having to bolt back to the start of the level while the screen shakes and the timer goes down really can't be understated. it doesn't feel like backtracking, it feels like a perfect race against time. wario's new charging ability when you hold down R is perfect for this, it allows you to barrel along at crazy dangerous speeds, but also stopping means you grind your feet and takes a hot minute, sometimes missing your mark. and every single level is unique in every way,from music, SFX, backgrounds, hell, there are some normal enemies that only appear in one level each! it's just great. not to mention the sprite work is just amazing here, everything looks and sounds amazing, and the gameplay to boot rocks my socks. minus half a star because, honestly, it's too short! and maybe the minigames could've done with some work too idk