"We all love Wario! Wario is cool! Yay Wario!"

Wario Land II is one of the finest games that you can find on your gameboy, if you thought that the prequel (Wario Land I of course) was good then you're in for a real treat here. It's one of the only games that you're completely invincible, it really gives you a great power boost knowing you're untouchable. In this game the same Captain Syrup that Wario took care of in the first game is back, he's stolen Wario's treasure and he must navigate his way through semi-treacherous courses to get all of his hard earned money back.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is superb, there are some brilliant, original ideas put into use here that make the game a charm to play. Although Wario is now invincible (if he gets hit he just loses a few coins) he can still be affected by enemy attacks. Certain things that are done to him will make him turn into such creatures as Springy Wario, Fat Wario, Zombie Wario and maybe even Flaming Wario. THe player has to utilise all of these transformations if they want to see Wario safely through to the end by passing some tricky puzzles. If you stuff up one of these rooms then you'll just have to leave it and come back to have another shot at it, this is a problem as you may have to repeat sections of a level more times than you may care for (although it can be easily gotten over). Rather than being destroyed by a boss, if they get hold of you they'll just throw you up to a previous section of the level, meaning you have to play through half of the level again to get back to them, this is probably the only downside to the whole gameplay.
The boss fights are interesting and worth a few replays, you may have to play one-on-one against a bunny basketballer or outsting a giant bee. They require some good tactics and certainly aren't pushovers. You can spend long periods of time just trying to search out how to actually damage the dastardly foe. The other enemies are merely nothing but an annoyance, designed to slow down your progress and knock you back a screen or two, they're pretty much pushovers except for a select few.
The design of the levels is fantastic, there's heaps of secret passageways hiding coins and other treasures for you to track down. In fact, a whole level is just made up of secret passageways where charging at every wall you see is the only way to uncover the ending. Each level has a good amount of length to it and should provide a good challenge to the gamer. Hidden in each level there's a chance to win some treasure, you simply play a game of ''match and win'' to see if you can win the fabulous prizes. At the end of each level there's also a ''guess the number'' game, get it right and you will win a section of a big picture, you'll have to win one in every level to see the whole thing.
There's a few endings at your disposal (some really good, some less than that) depending on which path you take. There's three or four hidden worlds so depending on which ones you find the ending could be completely different form someone else. These hidden levels can take quite a bit of tracking down and will cause you some frustration as you seek the things out. Of course you'll have to unlock all these levels to get all of the bonus goodies so it's well worth your time.
Wario has less tricks up his sleeve than the past game, his main attack is his good ol' charge which will either incapacitate or destroy an enemy, but other than this and his transformations Wario really doesn't have anything else to offer, this shouldn't hamper anybodys fun but it would have been nice for him to be a bit more versatile.
Overall, the gameplay has a huge amount of depth and will keep you entertained for weeks on end. Some of the ideas utilised here are marvellous and make the game a real pleasure to have a go at. There are few complaints to be made (barr the backtracking) and there are few improvements that could have been made, it's a fantastic effort and it's a delight to play.

GRAPHICS
The graphics of Wario Land II were actually pretty good, there was a lot of detail there for a Gameboy Game and the general surroundings were very nice. As you made your way through the castle there were sights such as flowing water that meant that there was always SOME action going on in front of you. The graphics always took up most of the screen and didn't appear too bland, the use of shading being done perfectly and with great precision. The scenarios that Wario travelled through were quite varied and it was always easy to make the various areas out, everything on the screen was very clear and the action was simple to make out.
Wario has been made to look very imposing in this game, he takes up a good amount of the screen and seems to overwhelm the environments he's in. He always has a snarl on his face (unless he's a bit transformed *read below to remove this cluelessness*) and certainly looks a lot tougher than the various enemies. The enemies are in most cases a lot smaller than Wario and look quite good, they could have been made to look a bit meaner but they'll do. The bosses you have to face are quite imposing and very big, they've got some fine detail and look quite striking as a final product, not the kind of tihngs you'd want to meet in a dark alley.
Overall, the graphics are a very good effort and are probably at the top end of the scale when you're talking about Gameboy games. There's some great detail in there and the result is a very good looking game. It's only limited by the power of the little system, but definitely pushes the power to it's max.

SOUND
The sound is also of a pretty good standard, the melodies that you're treated to as Wario makes his way through the game are bright and chirpy and sound fantastic. They do not get repetitive unless you play this game for a ridiculous amount of time and will have you bopping in your seat to the rhythm. The music accompanies the graphical scene pretty well with the chosen track being pretty close matching to the atmosphere shown on screen. It's a great job in this area and it's pretty much a pleasure to listen to it.
The sound effects are a little bit sparse but nothing too major, they're zany, cheerful little sounds that go well with the background tunes. They've been put to good use and help add to the character of the game in a rather large way. Some of the effects are of a bit lower quality but that can be put down to the primitive console, some of them were quite ambitious and you can't blame them for trying now, can you?
Overall, the sound does a good effort in complementing the graphics but on it's own can be a bit lacklustre. There are a few problems but most people should be able to get over them pretty easily, a reasonable job here but not much more than that.

LIFESPAN
The lifespan is huge! It takes a fair amount of time to play the game through from beginning to end without finding the secrets and just getting the standard ending. You'll then have to go back and find the secret levels, treasures and everything else that you missed the first time around. It's a combined task that can take months and I can say from experience that you won't mind doing all of it. There's so much to do here and it's worth it to get all of the different endings for the game.

FUN FACTOR
THe fun factor is also pretty high, being invincible you can't help but enjoy yourself as you battle from start to finish. There are some aggravations throughout the game but these are easily forgotten and fade into insignificance in the big picture. The gameplay is of too high of a standard for someone not to enjoy themselves thouroughly when having a go at this game, it's just generally a pleasure all the way through.

CHALLENGE
Because Wario can't die people would think that the game would be ridiculously easy, but that is far from the truth. There are enough tricky puzzles to keep people scratching their heads long into the night, they require some strategy and a good bit of lateral thinking to complete and aren't too easy at all. The bosses are by no means a pushover and will take a bit of work to defeat, there's a great difficulty range and it should challenge people of any age. A great job has been done here overall.

OVERALL
Wario Land II is simply one of the finest Gameboy games that you can find. There's some innovative ideas here, some work well whilst others may be a bit iffy, but there's a lot more successes than failures and it's guaranteed that you'll have a good time on this game. The Mario/Wario Land games really are must gets if you're an avid Gameboy player and it's reccomended that you try one of these many fabulous games out, you'll be happy that you took the risk and did it (that's if you DO do it).
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GOOD POINTS
- YOU CAN'T DIE! WOOHOO!
- Great replay value, you'll be playing until the cows come home...
- Some fine graphics being put on display here

NOT SO GOOD POINTS
- Some annoying backtracking can irritate
- A few of the puzzles can be quite tricky
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GRAPHICS - 10/10
SOUND - 7/10
GAMEPLAY - 9/10
LIFESPAN - 10/10
FUN FACTOR - 8/10
CHALLENGE - 9/10
OVERALL - 9/10