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»Wario Land II
"Say it with me...greed is good!"
One thing I’ve got to say about this game: its title fits. I mean, it is the sequel to the original Wario Land. What I’m talking about would be the game’s subtitle...or rather, its lack thereof. While its predecessor bore the subtitle “Super Mario Land 3”, this game was simply Wario Land II. The original was simply a slightly modified spin-off of the Super Mario Land
games for the original Game Boy. For this game they decided to make it
into a separate series, severing a few of the connections from its
origin series and setting the tone for the next two games in the Wario Land series and their own spinoff: Wario: Master of Disguise.
After the events of the first Wario Land,
Wario has retired to his castle with the numerous treasures he
collected during his quest to retrieve a statue of Princess Peach. One
morning while Wario sleeps, Captain Syrup and her crew (recently dubbed
The Black Sugar Gang) invade his castle; steal his treasures, set off a
giant alarm clock and turn on a giant faucet that floods the castle.
This in turn, leaves the place in complete disarray. When he finally
awakens, Wario is enraged and out for revenge, so he chases them out of
his castle and through various areas, such as Captain Syrup’s own ship
and a city.
While the original Wario Land was a neat little take on the typical Super Mario Bros. engine (specifically, the one from 6 Golden Coins),
it lacked real distinction from the Mario series. I mean, sure, you had
to tackle enemies as opposed to jumping on them, but everything else
was pretty much lifted from SML2. The linear levels and the
various forms of Wario (I mean, come on, regular Wario, Dragon Wario,
Jet Wario, ...small Wario?) were the chief offenders. Wario Land II,
on the other hand, takes those few differences, expands on them and
puts them in a whole new setting. No longer are levels simply linear,
instead they are goal-oriented. Granted, most of the goals simply
involve making it to the end of the stage, but the journey to the
stage’s end is a little more complex than the standard
“dash-to-the-end-of-the-stage” fare, the norm for portable platformers
of this era.
Instead, Wario has to navigate through various
stages: bashing through weak walls, entering various rooms, collecting
coins and other treasures and, of course, bashing his enemies into next
week, either with the standard tackle or by throwing them at something
else. Of course, there are puzzle-like elements in the game, like
blocks that can only be destroyed by chucking an enemy at them. Another
far more complex system would be Wario’s power-ups/transformations.
See, in WLII, Wario is pretty much indestructible. Neither
enemies nor bosses nor spiked pits can kill him; all they do to our
portly protagonist is knock a few coins out of him. On the other hand,
there are also no standard power-ups; no mushrooms, no caps, no
anything. Instead, Wario must be attacked in certain ways to gain new
abilities. For example, if Wario gets set on fire, he becomes Fire
Wario, who runs around aimlessly and is endowed with the ability to
break through certain blocks (marked with a symbol resembling a flame).
Likewise, if Wario gets crushed, he becomes Flat Wario, who can fit
through narrow passageways and float through the air like a piece of
paper caught in a breeze after jumping. These abilities have both their
advantages and disadvantages (Fire Wario can’t stay still, Flat Wario
can’t jump very high and walks slowly), which brings more of a puzzling
element into play.
In the end, I’d have to say that this is probably
one of the most enjoyable platformers released on the GBC...and on the
original Game Boy for that matter. Sure, while Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 provided a firm structure; its fatal flaw was its cling to the familiar aspects from the Mario series. On the other hand, WLII
chose to blaze its own trail, creating a game that shares similarities
only to the game’s prequel and not the series it spun off from.
Graphics aren’t exactly impressive, but I guess
that’s to be expected. I mean, this game was originally a late release
on the Game Boy, before being revamped for the GBC. I guess the weakest
part of it would have to be the re-coloring: for the most part it looks
sloppy, kind of like what you’d expect from a fighting game on the Neo
Geo Pocket Color in its early days. Of course, this is likely due to
the color restraints imposed by the original GB. Otherwise, the game
looks okay, especially the revamped introduction sequence, which
actually benefits from the game’s coloration, turning what was once a
bland grey-scale cut-scene into a vibrant one that showcased the GBC’s
potential.
The sound’s actually not too different from that
of the prequel. This goes double for the soundtrack, which centers on
the same melody as its predecessor. Most of the music runs together,
with very little of it standing out on its own, with the delightful
exception of the bonus stage tune, which takes the otherwise dull
melody and makes it into something lively. Likewise, the sound effects
are average, with nothing that really stands out.
Replay is probably the game’s high point. I mean,
sure the game itself is fun, but considering the fact that there are
six secret chapters, making a grand total of 11 chapters (that’s 55
stages in all), it’s also got quite a bit of staying power, especially
since it takes ingenuity to find the secret routes. There’s also the
collection system, which involves the treasures hidden in each level
and the 50 map pieces. All-in-all, this game is one of the Game Boy
Color’s finest.
Article by: Wolfdogg
Posted on: Aug. 30th, 2007 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| An awesome mesh of the platform and puzzle genres. |
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Graphics |
| Game Boy graphics revamped with a mild palette. Eh, I’ve seen worse...and better. |
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Sound |
| Another good soundtrack based around the Wario theme. Sound effects are the norm. |
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Replay Value |
| Considering the fact that the secret stages outnumber the game’s standard length, it’s got quite a bit of staying power. |
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