LogFAQs > #949651504

#67. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Game Boy, 1994)
If you ask me to name a song from a Game Boy game, the song from the first level in Wario Land is going to be immediately what I think of. This game to me is as classic 8 bit platforming goodness as it gets. Playing as the villain, or at least the villain of the prior game, was a fun concept. Then exploring levels, this is one of the very first games I played that has a ton of secrets and alt exits and stuff to hidden within its platforming. Finding the hidden treasures throughout the game required a bit of creativity and semi-puzzle solving. In some cases, some levels change after you beat them, opening up new areas, andallowing you to discover these hidden keys/treasures, or alternate exits, (leading of course to more treasures). These were always the most satisfying to find as it felt cool to accomplish AND the more you found, the better ending you'd get (Basically Wario gets a better castle at the end the more you find)!

The powerups in this game are unique and well-designed. Wario's main attack is his dash attack, but he powers up with GARLIC of course, instead of Mushrooms. Then you have the Bull power up which allows to smash down on blocks, and also gives longer and more powerful dashes. The Dragon Hate, giving flamethrower power, and the best hat, the Rocket Wing hat, making Wario faster and allowing rocket propulsion through stages (aka the speedrunners best friend). Often you'd need one of the specific powerups to get to the secret bits of the game.

Another cool aspect to the game was how it used coins... you could press up and A to generate a + coin from what you've collected in the level, worth 10 coins, and use that as a weapon, to activate checkpoints, or sometimes the end of the level. At the end of each level you could also gamble your collected coins in chance games to get more (the coins, like the treasures, assist in getting a better ending).

The final boss is Captain Syrup, someone who has made a decent bit of Wario appearances, usually as the final baddie, who has summoned a genie to kill you. When you win, you get the genie, and Wario wishes for a BIG CASTLE, but this is when the genie asks you to literally pay him, and this is where the treasure and coins you've collected comes into play, what kind of asshole genie makes you pay him what the fuck. Also you bomb the final tower you fought Syrup in to find a HUGE gold statue of Peach, that Mario comes by and just airlifts out of the sky while Wario watches helplessly, what a jerk. If you get all the treasures and max out your coins you get your face on the moon though!

All in all, a great little platformer, with a bunch of hidden secrets that are fun to find, levels that alter a bit as you beat them or other levels, so you can go back and discover more, including a whole optional world (!!!), neat powerups, and a weirdo ending all make for a great game!



Next up: A simplistic puzzle game featuring a shape

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