Wario Land 3

"The 3rd in the series always goes down for some reason..."

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 Land 3,'' a fatal attempt at continuing the Wario series...

First off, I wish to say that I am sorry I have to be the ''Uncle Scrooge'' here, but I truely think this game deserves a 5.

I will rate the various categories out of 10...

(7/10) Story: The story was pretty cool, but it's as if they ditched Captain Syrup from Wario Land I and II. I wanted to see Captain Syrup return at least one last time, rather than being driven away by Wario once again.

Instead, Wario Land 3 features a different objective. You are Wario, obviously, and you crash into a forest below. You enter a cave and see a music box. It suddenly traps you inside, and you find yourself in a strange world. You speak with a weird unknown figure, that informs you of your quest he set up for you in which you must gather music boxes for him, and if you refuse, you must stay in that world forever.

I liked the story, but I still wish Wario land III would have had Captain Syrup somewhere in there. It is a pity she just suddenly stops trying to get her treasure back that was rightfully her's in the first place, from Wario.

(6/10) Graphics: It depends on which part of the game I am playing at the time. The graphics look really good for the bosses and some of the enemies, but the map was HORRIBLE! The overworld map feature in Wario Land III was done kind of sluggish, in my opinion, especially Wario. Too much is going on on the map, and most of it is so small, that it looks crammed in. One main reason why I rated the graphics a 5 is because of Wario. They could have at least changed him a little bit from the crossover to 3. I, personally, didn't really like Wario looking buffed up like that. I miss the old Super Mario Land 2 and Wario's Woods Wario. That twisted punk.

I would have rated the graphics in Wario Land 3 less if it weren't for some of the bosses. I thought they looked pretty presentable, except for the final boss which was the biggest joke I have ever seen! When I read a synopsis on Wario Land III, I was excited by the fact that the boss was a large clown. Gives the game a more insane a unusual feel. But then when I finally see him, I see a clown, but not as I envisioned him. He looks extremely stupid, and the whole way to go about defeating him is plain stupid.

As for the enemies, I thought some were okay, but none of them were featured in Wario Land I or II, except for a boss that I wasn't too fond of to begin with, from II.

(4/10) Music/Sound: First off, I just want to say that I was really hoping after the mistake made with the music and sound from Wario Land II, that Wario Land III would be improved. It never happened. What ever happened to the old Wario Land I music?!

In Wario Land III, you hear some wanabee Wario Land I tracks that sound the same in every level. The same ''Aer Aer-aer aer aer'' sounds. I can't really compare the music to anything else, except by saying it was horrible. The only track I thought was okay was the Overworld Theme at night. The title music was pretty bad, but just mildly bad compared to the rest.

As for the sound, it was annoying. I usually don't get too annoyed with sounds, but the most I could hear out of the game was when you got hurt. It does an annoying ''Aer-Aer'' sound, as if I hadn't heard enough ''Aer-Aers'' in the music. In particular, that is the only sound I can remember, so that can be good, but at the same time, not too good.

(5/10) Gameplay: The gameplay of Wario Land III played like Wario Land II, except it was just bad for some reason. I think the main problem was that it was extremely hard. There are nearly 50 levels, and each one you must find 4 keys to unlock 4 hidden chests. In various chests, you find treasure, and in some, a music box. Once you get all the music boxes, you can then fight the boss. The game is HUGE! Not only that, but there are certain keys and chests you can't get to without an ability you can learn along the way. As you beat areas, more areas are unlocked. You can still have 3 more treasures in one area, when suddenly a new area opens up for you, and by the time there are 30 areas, you will have a lot of work to catch up on.

Wario is invincible. Wario Land II was very successful at this, but Wario land III was a little boring. The only challenge was to do things in order. Basically, the game is just extremely long, not so much as being hard. The levels were very repetitive too.

Instead of recieving different hats that allow you to use a different ability like on Wario land 1, you must take advantage of the enemies. No, not like that sicko! :) What I mean is that once an enemy attacks you, it can effect you in a way that can mean passing something. Like if you can't break certain blocks below you, have the chef enemy feed you, and you will break through them with your weight. If you need to get up somewhere high, have a bat turn you into a vampire in which you can fly up there. This is a cool feature in the game, I must say, but if an enemy does this to you when you don't want it, it can be annoying because then you must find a way to get out of it.

One thing I liked about Wario Land III was the golf minigame. It's a weird little game in which you must ram an enemy a certain distance into a hole. It looks very tough, but it isn't after a while, but you do need practice.

The gameplay, in general, was original, yet hard and boring, whereas Wario Land II was fun. Without the golf minigame, some of the cool bosses, and the desire to see the final boss, I would have given up so fast.

(5/10) Overall: Wario Land III had it's moments, but to me, it was truely a mistake. If you were into Wario Land I and II, you might not like this, although the majority of people that have played Wario Land III liked it, so just try it out first. I am 1 person after all. I just found Wario land III boring. Nothing to aim for, whereas Wario Land II had multiple endings and cool stuff like that.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/25/02, Updated 11/08/02