Wario Land 4

A quality title through and through, Wario Land 4 examines the strengths and weaknesses of the series in all of it's totality and streamlines the experience significantly. The levels are more focused and in lower quantity. The pacing is quicker. Wario's movement is more malleable. The reaction abilities are handled a lot more tactfully. The bosses provide a fun level of challenge, and the increased screen width makes the enemies fair and manageable. Most notable of the new additions to the game, however, are the frog switches. Although hardly a threat with how generous the amount of time you're given to exit each stage is, the many ways that Wario's movement can be harnessed for speed as well as the familiarity that's already established after venturing through the stages once make them a fun, welcome and unique challenge.

While less remarkable than the gameplay, the presentation of Wario Land 4 is also something that I am favourable to. Somehow predating the WarioWare series, Wario Land 4 falls right in line with the surreal style of that series with it's heavy usage of strange vocal samples, an off-kilter art direction and an incredibly goofy and experimental soundtrack. Wario being forced into the position of a (somewhat) reluctant protagonist and Princess Shokora's true form being that of an unconventional beauty are also aspects that I am fond of. It adds a level of depth to the character that hasn't been seen before or since.

While overall greater than sum of it's parts, many of my gripes with Wario Land 4 concern that of it's the design philosophy, and how it negates some aspects of the series that I consider crucial. The exploration in Wario Land 1 still stands as the best in the series. Losing coins as a primary form of damage like in Wario Land 2 is still the best way of punishing the player, and the ending to the game should be directly influenced by how many coins and treasures you collect in the stages, not by how fast it takes you to defeat the bosses. The alternate routes that some of the frog switches create are great, though I also wish that there were more of them as a way of catching the player off guard.

Wario Land 4 is perhaps the most straightforward and nicest looking Wario Land game in the franchise, as well as the final game in the franchise. Wario Land 4 improves a lot on the previous games, its no longer super long or convoluted, or full of trial and error puzzles. Wario Land's 3 problem was that it was just way too long and full of many difficult and hidden chests, and collecting all the treasure in the game was just a chore and felt tedious, especially since you had to go back to each World 4 times in that game. In this, there are a total of 18 levels with boss fights at the end of each World, and you only have to visit each level once, as you can collect all treasures and the key in one go. I liked this approach a lot better than having the repeat the level and backtrack. Although this game also is a bit too linear, I found almost no challenge and everything was pretty easy to find, and there were no longer many enemy puzzles where you had to have enemies hurt you to gain a power.

The boss fights in this are probably the best in the series, and remind me of Super Mario type bosses. And the controls of this are a bit smoother than past games. I just wish this were a little longer, levels in this game are a bit short and I beat most of them in around 5 minutes, and there aren't many levels in this, and since you are done with the levels after one go, I beat the game in only a single day, where the other Wario Land games took me several days. This game just feels a bit dumbed down and casualized compared to the previous 2 Wario Land games, which is a good and bad thing. I will say its better than the previous 2 games, but it still has flaws and it still is inferior to most of the main Mario games. Had the game had a bit more complex design, with more unique puzzles and enemies, and was a bit less linear and short it could have been great, but as it stands, its a short game thats fun to play in a single sitting and beat, and likely never go back to again. Its a shame Nintendo didn't revive this franchise on DS or Switch, it could be a fun puzzle/platforming franchise and they could really do a lot if they doubled the length of this game and expanded the length and puzzles of each level.

I never played a mario game when i was a kid, but i did play a lot of Warioland 4, and its such a great game.

Because its a nintendo game, its a game that focuses on gameplay first. Warioland has a bigger health poll compared to Mario, and he has a much bigger array of abilities he can perform, such as running (at sonic speed), rolling, and shoulder thrusting. With the interaction of environmental hazards, such as bees and pithons, he can also be set on fire, or fly like a ballon or even be flatened like a leaf. These new forms are essencial for getting to the next area or even hidden areas. The levels are well designed enough that they are enjoyable to explore, since each one was a hidden key, pyramide traingle and unlockable track. Getting to the end of the level means setting of a bomb, after which you will have to backtrack to the beginning of the level in less than 1:20 mins. I love these part of the levels, since it tests the player on his knowledge of the level, and the timed element makes it a rush to get back to where you started.

Another great thing about this game are the boss fights, and there are 5 in total. And each of them is amazing. They have amazing design, and whilst they are simple to fight, their fights often has multiple stages. And on top of it, the clock is always ticking, and you will lose treasures if you take to longer. These treasures will stack up in the final boss battle, and according to how many you are left with after beating the game will affect your game. Because of the instant saving that the game does, this means that its really hard to pull off a perfect run. Of course you get the princess at the end none the less, thats the way nintendo works.