Wario World

"Everything you loved about Wario Land in 3D"

The yellow-overalled enemy of Mario has starred in 4 handheld games, so what are they going to do? Bring him to a console in full 3D. And it works astoundingly well.

Naturally, it is what you would expect from a Wario title (not the Warioware series) - running around, hunting treasure, jumping on platforms, solving puzzles and beating up enemies. And with the extra dimension of movement and more emphasis on the "beating up enemies" part, Wario World would technically be classed as a beat-em-up and not a platform game. Because that is what the majority of the game is; pounding the hell out of tens of monsters all wanting to kill you. The camera is on a 2-dimensional plane, so the game acts like a sidescroller - but since when was a side-scrolling a bad thing?

As with most beat-em-ups, the storyline is simplistic - an evil treasure has destroyed Wario's castle and turned all of his treasure into monsters. So that is the aim of the game - get as much cash as possible by beating up enemies and ultimately destroy the evil treasure. The graphics are beautifully crisp and each world is varied and full of colour and originality, from the green forests of Excitement central to the creepy circus of Spooktastic world to the... err... beanstalky-ness of Thrillsville. The music is original and catchy and the sound effects are pretty much what you would expect, which is awesome because every enemy makes a different sound when you punch it - not just the same squealing sound over and over.

The enemies are fun to look at and it is extremely satisfying letting Wario unload his fists on them. For enemies we have hordes of brainless dinosaurs, bipedal triceratops wielding rolling pins, evil clowns, skeleton pterodactyls, ant warriors, snowman anglerfish, vampires in straightjackets and all sorts of ridiculous monsters - with names like Fattington. The enemy designs vary from level to level but their behavior is somewhat all the same, making the game monotonous to some gamers. But when you unload some of Wario's special moves on them, you would want them to keep coming because it is so satisfying.

So, let's move onto controls. Wario himself is somewhat floaty and he jumps surprisingly high, but overall the controls are great. Compared to Super Mario Sunshine the controls are quite simple and basic, but once you see what you can do with your three action buttons you will love every second. Wario can punch with his fists, pound with a headbutt, dash into them with a shoulder tackle and slam them with a ground pound. The smaller enemies are annihilated with one hit, but the larger ones do not die after just being punched. After Wario unloads his fists onto an enemy, he will knock it unconscious. Then you have to pick it up to finish it off - now this is when the real fun begins. You can throw the monster into other monsters - simple and satifysing, but the bigger ones require a charged throw. If you jump in the air and hit R, Wario will use a piledriver technique which not only kills your foe dead, but also wipes out everyone else in the vicinity with a fiery explosion. Alternatively, rotate the control stick to have Wario spin like a psychotic hammer-thrower on steroids. Not only can this technique wipe out masses of enemies - both with the swinging and the throwing of the enemy at the end - it is also invaluable to solve rotation-based puzzles. Never before has beating things up with only three buttons felt so good.

It's not all just pounding things to a pulp, though - some sections require all of your Super Mario 64 platforming skills to get across whilst others require your Zelda brain to solve innovative puzzles. Scattered throughout each stage are trapdoors which Wario must enter -within the trapdoor is a unique special stage which gives you total camera control for good reason. These special stages hold incredible puzzles and platforming sections to get to a red diamond - collecting a set number of these unlocks the stage's boss battle. The bosses are just as ridiculous as the rest of the game - giant bikini-wearing dinosaurs, bomb-lobbing clowns, psychotic magicians, speedo-wearing bulls and all sorts of other freaks are a blast to beat up.

The only problem with Wario World is a huge one - it is only 8 levels long. There are four worlds, each consisting of three stages - one of which is a big boss battle - and there is a regular boss at the end of every stage. However, for those who want more, it does have something for you - alternate endings. Hidden throughout every single stage are red diamonds, statue pieces, coins, treasures and elves (yes, elves - they were imprisoned by the evil treasure and you must rescue them) to get. Of course, the more of these goodies you get before you beat the final boss, the better the ending is, adding quite a bit of replayability. Not to mention that getting these treasures unlocks secret Wario Ware demos to download onto your Game Boy Advance.

With hardcore fun for one crowd, puzzling for another, platforming for others and loads of items for perfectionists Wario World is a complete package. Whilst the basic story could last for little more than four hours for the experienced player the added bonuses adds longevity to a relatively short game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/08/08

Game Release: Wario World (EU, 06/20/03)