"By your powers combined I become.... CAPTAIN WARIO!"

Wario is back after a break with the Wario Ware games and has come with a new platforming hand-held game! In Wario: Master of Disguise, Wario invents a machine that allows him to go inside TV so that he can become rich. As soon as enters, he encounters the Silver Zephyr, and proceeds to take his magic wand Goodstyle. Soon after you learn of the Wish Stone, a powerful stone that is said to grant any wish that the owner desires. The problem is, it's broken, so Wario must use Goodstyle and find the pieces to gain fulfill his wish of becoming filthy stinking rich! The script is funny and well written, if a bit absurd. I highly enjoyed the story however.

The graphics are in 2D and I must admit that I love the style. The graphics are fluid, cool-looking, and really added a lot for me as far as the visuals go. Not much voice acting besides almost every character having a laugh. I thought the music was wonderful and very fitting for each level. There's nothing lacking in the music department here.

The game play is reminiscent of both Wario Ware and the Wario Land series. You go through levels defeating enemies and trying to reach red room on your map to fight the boss. To do this you have to incorporate Wario's many disguises, because there's never a straight path to your goal. Artsy Wario can make blocks for you to jump on, Cosmic Wario can shoot lasers at switches and enemies, and so on. On your way you collect money and find treasure chests that contain key items to progress in the game, health upgrades, or just fun but useless items. To open the chests however, you need to play some mini games. They can range from either frustrating(near perfectly tracing an image while avoiding lasers) or fun and simple(like dragging items that are falling into their proper place). They're nice distractions from the main game, but their difficulty starts to increase fast the farther you get, and they start to get tedious. I loved the bosses in this game. They all have unique ways to incorporate Wario's many disguises, and are often funny and different themselves. You'll find yourself in a riddle battle with a Sphinx, fighting royal dolphin, and taking down some of the Zephyr's robotic creations.

After you beat the game, you can get your thief rank all the way up(via finding tons of money), doing special versions of previous levels, and finding and opening every single treasure chest. Wario is a very fun game, as long as you aren't frustrated easily. It's a bit on the short side, but a nice ride while it lasts.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/24/07