Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!

"Wario Blast"

Hello everyone. I am going to be going over all the Wario games ever released. The Wario series has always left me amused and/or amazed, and I wish to share my personal thoughts on each of the games (there are many), in hopes of pursuading some of you to try some of this dimented Mario look-alike, and his many evil quests for more gold to fill his castle.

Maybe I should explain the character Wario a bit, before going into my review. Wario has always been considered a bully to the other Nintendo characters, wether it be Mario and his gang, a crew of greedy pirates, and even Bomberman. Wario has always been that dimented ''evil'' (I would hardly call him evil, he is just, a bit... disturbed...), man with that sinister look, the muscles, and enough bullying to actually kill somebody. He has always wanted more money, and is probably the greediest character, next to Captain Syrup which I will get into later on, ever. Now that you know Wario, let's get on with ''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman,'' one of my favorite Wario games.

Wario Blast is one of those many Wario games in which Wario decides he feels like tormenting somebody else besides Mario all the time. This ''lucky'' character he chooses to mess with is unfortunately Bomberman, another famous figure in gaming today. Bomberman doesn't want to take any of Wario's crap, so he goes back, and the two mad bombers decide to go off on each other with bombs.

I will review each basic elements a game has to offer below. Each will be rated out of 10 points.

1. Story ?/10

Since there really is no story, I can't rate it. A game like this really doesn't need a story. It's just Wario and Bomberman having a feud over something, and killing each other through about 50 levels, and at the same time beating obscure bosses. Just a simple, yet addictive game, that needs no story, in my opinion, but a story would do well...

2. Sound 7/10

Pretty descent music for the original gameboy if you ask me. The music to some, is annoying, but I truely thought it was better than some of the stuff I've heard. It certainly isn't something to listen to daily, but it wasn't bad. However whenever you die, you hear the same song chant, and that get be VERY annoying, especially after dying. You have a tendancy to cuss the screen out for mocking you after your death, and hearing it every time, waiting for it. That is fairly annoying, sound-wise. The sound effects were well-done. You certainly can tell what a ''BOOM'' is out of this game, which is good.

3. Gameplay 9/10

The gameplay was fun, and very addictive. You can either play as Wario or Bomberman, and this is a good feature. You may think Bomberman might be ahead of Wario, bomb-setting wise, because he has been doing this for a long time, and his name is named after his skill with bombs. However, Wario is just as good as Bomberman in fact. They just have different appearences (obviously).

The gameplay is the standard Bomberman style, in which you walk down corridors and blow up boulders in your path, and collect power-ups. But at the same time, each set of levels has a different feature. These features include: warpholes, they warp you to other parts of the room, arrow panels, they throw your bomb in the direction the arrow is pointing, and many others. As you progress in levels, you gain different abilities like the ability to dash or jump un-breakable blocks. The first stage in a set of stages is against one enemy. Then 2. Then 3. The fourth stage is a boss, and you gain an ability when you defeat most bosses, and progress to the next set of stages.

The gameplay can be hard at times too, but not too hard to where you pull your hair out. The bosses were well done, and each challenging in their own ways. My brother is one of the few who have actually beaten the final boss, which I once thought was impossible, as many others still think. There isn't much reward for such a hard boss being defeated. There are also secret passwords that allow you to play a bonus stage in which you fight off as many enemies as you can without dying. I got up to 87/120. There is a trick you can perform to kill off enemies easy, but this trick is later destroyed when two enemies come out at once, once you get in the 80 range. I still haven't beaten it, but it is still something to look forward to, which is good in a game.

4. Graphics 6/10

The graphics were okay at some points, but the majority of it wasn't so good. Sure the bosses were good looking. Or should I say very good looking... but Wario and Bomberman looked really bad. I can understand them looking so bad when the creators had to focus on making them small, but some of the facial features could have been left out. Wario looks like a little freak, not that he isn't supposed to, but he looks really messed up. As for Bomberman, he was okay looking, (what can you expect from a simple character like him), but the problem is that his different sprites don't match up correctly. The backside can be bigger than the right and left side, and this can be pretty annoying, that's why I play as Wario. :) The rocks, bombs, and other little objects are well done, not much to expect from them, and still, well done.

5. Replay ability/Overall 10/10

I play this game so often it isn't even funny. I just pick it up when I am bored. Wario Blast is one of those games in which the player gets addicted easily, and can't give it up like some other gameboy games I know of that get boring quick. However, it depends on the person. If you are a Bomberman fan, you'd like this one. If not, you might not like it as much. You might as well pick it up just to see Wario at his best: bullying. I, for one, like this game for it's addictiveness and a change of gameplay. ''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman'' is a classic in my eyes, however many don't appreciate it as much because to them it is hard. They are correct, but with enough practice, as many games need, this game can be beaten within a day or two. Still, a very fun game, with extra features that leave you wanting more out of Wario and Bomberman.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/02, Updated 11/08/02