This is 2d gaming at its finest. Wario’s sprite in this game looks as though he is barely human anymore, transformed into a beast driven by greed. Wario’s beast-like demeanor is reflected in his controls. Wario Land 4 is faster, more aggressive, and overall more bizarre than any of the previous entries in the series. Along with his staple attacks of slamming into, throwing, and ground pounding enemies, Wario was given the ability to charge headfirst by holding R while running, destroying everything in his path. Every attack in this game just feels so satisfying.
Where Wario Land 4 truly shines is in its level design. Each of the worlds, based around a specific theme, are so colorful and distinct. Their over saturated bright colors probably wouldn’t fit into any other franchise, but here they feel right at home. Levels are built around collecting 4 parts of a gem in order to progress to each world’s boss. While some of these gem pieces are pretty straightforward, you will have to go out of your way and explore the levels to find others. Treasure can be hidden, forcing you to use all of your moves at some point, along with special abilities from enemies. These abilities can get absolutely bonkers, ranging from bat Wario to body horror swollen head bee sting Wario. Some of these treasures can genuinely be a challenge to find, but the satisfaction of finding some deep hidden gem pieces is unmatched. Perhaps one of the most exciting features of every level is its ending. At the end of every level, you encounter a frog switch. Upon jumping on this switch, the music switches to an anxiety-inducing techno beat as a timer pops up on the top of the screen. From then on you need you book it back to the beginning of the level before this timer runs out or else you die in an explosion. This forced speed run approach is genius level design. A level that you spent 10 to 15 minutes fully exploring and collecting all of its treasure now must be escaped in only a minute or two at the risk of losing everything.
Wario Land 4 is an amalgamation of pieces that makes it sound like an unfocused mess in concept, but every element of the game comes together so perfectly. It’s a unique power fantasy game combined with puzzles that reward exploring every pixel of each map. Nintendo should be ashamed of themselves for not porting this game to the switch.
Where Wario Land 4 truly shines is in its level design. Each of the worlds, based around a specific theme, are so colorful and distinct. Their over saturated bright colors probably wouldn’t fit into any other franchise, but here they feel right at home. Levels are built around collecting 4 parts of a gem in order to progress to each world’s boss. While some of these gem pieces are pretty straightforward, you will have to go out of your way and explore the levels to find others. Treasure can be hidden, forcing you to use all of your moves at some point, along with special abilities from enemies. These abilities can get absolutely bonkers, ranging from bat Wario to body horror swollen head bee sting Wario. Some of these treasures can genuinely be a challenge to find, but the satisfaction of finding some deep hidden gem pieces is unmatched. Perhaps one of the most exciting features of every level is its ending. At the end of every level, you encounter a frog switch. Upon jumping on this switch, the music switches to an anxiety-inducing techno beat as a timer pops up on the top of the screen. From then on you need you book it back to the beginning of the level before this timer runs out or else you die in an explosion. This forced speed run approach is genius level design. A level that you spent 10 to 15 minutes fully exploring and collecting all of its treasure now must be escaped in only a minute or two at the risk of losing everything.
Wario Land 4 is an amalgamation of pieces that makes it sound like an unfocused mess in concept, but every element of the game comes together so perfectly. It’s a unique power fantasy game combined with puzzles that reward exploring every pixel of each map. Nintendo should be ashamed of themselves for not porting this game to the switch.