"Great, innovative, and almost flawless. Yikes."

First we had Super Mario Land, a somewhat short game that now has primitive graphics but is still enjoyable for a play once every couple months. Then we had Mario Land 2, a somewhat old and easy Mario adventure that still packed a new, unique punch that would bring forth Wario Land, a game starring Mario's cousin and boss of SML 2 that was rather unusual but fun nonetheless. Mario got his gameboy sequel, and now it's time for Wario's. Is it worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the classic Mario Land games?


Gameplay - 9/10


You bet it is. In Wario Land 2, Wario cannot die, meaning that there is no game over. However, Wario can be turned into different forms by enemy attacks (like how Mario collected carrots to become Bunny Mario and Wario used to collect Garlic to become Big Wario). For example, a hammer-wielding bear can make Wario jump higher and become a slinky, a bat that drops a heavy weight can make Wario flat as a pancake and able to squeak through tiny holes, and a penguin that throws an awkward ball makes Wario crazyyy; he begins stumbling in different directions and spits out fire, until he comes to a pit of water where he can be cured back to normal upon falling into it, as water cures most of Wario's forms. There are two minigames in Wario Land 2; one where you must match pictures to receive a treasure, and another where you have to guess a number to obtain a panel of a picture.


Treasure rooms are hidden within each level, through normal passages that have no distinction from others. From here, a card on the screen will flip over for a few seconds depending on the difficulty level you select and the other side will show the picture you must find to match it and win a treasure. Hard mode costs 50 coins, Normal costs 100, and Easy costs 200. If you fail the first time around, you can re-enter the passage and try again.


The panel puzzle appears at the end of each level. Winning the puzzle gives you one peice of a gigantic picture. A random number from 0-9 is selected, and you can turn peices of it over for 50 coins a panel. If you hurry up and guess the wrong number, you'll be able to try again if you beat the level again.

All in all, Wario Land II is extremely difficult, but probably not to the point that you'll shut it off and never play it again (of course, you could always get an FAQ from this site). No other complaints, here.


Graphics - 10/10


Great use and shading of colors; I simply can't find anything to complain about. The graphics are kinda silly like the first Wario Land, but they're great nonetheless. Wario's humorous looks during different forms is reason enough to shell out a couple bucks toward the game, and enemies look strangely humorous and unusual enough to belong in the game. If you hated the first Wario Land's graphics, though, chances are that you won't like 'em this time around, either.


Sound - 8/10


There's a lot of remixes of the first Rice Beach music from the first Wario Land to find here. If you didn't like that track, you'll despise this game's music. There's a lot of wacky and silly tracks to match each form of Wario. However, since there's a lot of them, you won't get bored of the music if you liked the original track.


Replay - 10/10


Plenty of levels (known as stories; 52 in all, i believe), 12 worlds (chapters), and a whole lotta picture peices and treasures... plus, when you do all there is, there's a secret level. ... If i'm correct, I've beaten this game thoroughly at least twice. Hey, What can I say? This is one of the best GBC games out there.


How many $$$, sir?


If you like gameboy platformers, spend the maximum you'd go for one, here. This just might be the best one of 'em out there for a portable system. Since this game's getting a little older, you probably should be able to find it for 30 bucks. Definitely a good deal.


Overall - 37/40; 9.25/10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/12/00, Updated 03/12/00