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+----- Thread: Wario Land (/showthread.php?tid=769)
Wario Land - Dark Jaguar - 15th June 2003
Wario Land for VB was not merely a port, but a brand new game that never was remade for GB. It was in fact a very fun though short game with some pseudo 3D gameplay involved. As the first Wario game I played, I enjoyed it very much.
Visuals: Well, unlike any game for ANY other system save other 3D goggle systems, Wario Land was truly 3D, though it was still just sprites. That's all it had going though. The sprites looked about SNES quality, minus any color depth (many shades of red, and black, that's it). Everything looked as it should, and the depth was nice. However, adjusting to the real world's greater amount of color and different "depth shrink rate" than the VB game can be a sensory rush, like when you first chew on a bit of tasty food and you feel this rush of flavor fill your mouth when you haven't eaten in a bit. Graphically, it was so-so I'd say.
Sound: The sound quality of the VB is somewhere between the NES and SNES, but with superior voice sampling than either. The music isn't memorable (honestly, I can't remember a single tune from that game, so that's a perfect description), but I remember it got the job done. The sounds however are done quite well. Everything sounds as it should, from springboards to blasting fire.
Gameplay: Being my first Wario game, the gameplay was very fun to me. The levels were ones you felt free to explore, and wanted to, with the lack of any time limit. There were only 13 levels, but they were somewhat long (though even the first Wario game is still far longer). They were though very fun levels, with cleverly hidden special items in each you had to find for highest money score. The game is essentially still 2D play, but they gave the illusion of 3D by having two "levels" of play. There was a forground, and the background. You used springboards strewn across the levels to go back and forth between them. Honestly, a 2D displaying system like the GCN or the GBA could have done the same with no detrimental effects on one's ability to determine what little "depth" there was at all. However, it was a fun gimic. There were also the infamous hats. In the first Wario Land, you had the basic hats that stood alone. In the VB game, you could actually combine the functions of the hats and eventually form the almighty flying dragon helm, capable of letting you fly, shoot fireballs across the screen (capable of destorying anything a dash could), and smash into the ground. The levels also had HEIGHT to them, so you had a lot more to explore.
The bosses all involved the springboarding and being able to see how far away their attacks were from your "depth level". They were good bosses, but again, nothing that couldn't be done on a 2D display.
Replayability: When you beat the game, you got hard mode, with lots more deadly spikes, some more enemies, and "damaged" versions of all the rare items to find. Also, some elements of the ending are determined by the speed in which you beat the game. It's got enough fun quality that you will likely have no frustration at least playing until you have a perfect ending on hard mode. Still though, even being the first one I played, I'll say it's not the best Wario game out there. I will however also say that it would be nice if they ported it (fully colored) to GBA some time in the future.
Overall: Not really much to say. If you've played one Wario game, well, then you have played one Wario game. I think I got that expression wrong, but the meaning was basically that they are all very similar in gameplay so after playing one of them you know what to expect from the rest. Fun enough that if you find it for like ten dollars, it's worth it, but anything more (and it would be if you had to get a VB as well) then just get some other cheap Wario game for the same price.
Score: I don't do scores any more. Reading my review should let you decide how good the game is. Score it yourself.
Wario Land - A Black Falcon - 24th February 2008
Playing it now (midway through on Normal), I'd say that "Easy and short but really fun" pretty much sums it up perfectly... though hard mode sounds somewhat promising. The only hard thing so far was the first boss, who was challenging. The levels, though... not so much.
The original Wario Land wasn't exactly difficult either, but at least it had 40 levels with a total of about 45 exits (though on the start screen '39' is the biggest number you can get to display because of course when you beat the last stage the game's over), and there are also 15 treasures to find scattered around the 33 levels, some of which require re-visiting certain levels that change after you progress (when the tide comes in in the beach, Teapot Mountain's lid coming down, the lake draining...). Seven levels have bosses, though there are full levels before the bosses. VBWL has 10 full levels, plus four more that are just boss fights, and 10 treasures, one per full level.
Obviously Hard Mode (something Wario Land 1 doesn't have) adds something, but even so, it's short. Oh well... at least it's great fun. The way that the levels are all connected, instead of there being a world map to travel around, is interesting.
Wario Land - DMiller - 25th February 2008
Wario Land was one of the few games for VB I enjoyed. That and Mario Tennis made me feel like my VB was more than just a collector's item.
Wario Land - A Black Falcon - 25th February 2008
I remember playing it in store demo form in 1995 (Red Alarm too, the other store demo game), but while it looked great, I didn't want one because the system was obviously (unfortunately) failing... I'm sure I'd have wanted to get one if it hadn't bombed so hard. As it was I wanted one, but thought that it wouldn't be worth it when the system had so, so few games and no future prospects...
The game is great, though.
Wario Land - alien space marine - 25th February 2008
I remeber playing VB Mario tennis
Wario Land - Dark Jaguar - 25th February 2008
You know when the system price dived down to around $30 a pop just before it vanished from shelves completely, I wish I had thought to buy every last one and sell them all on the then-nonexistant eBay years later.
Wario Land - A Black Falcon - 25th February 2008
Hah... the only problem is, VBs don't go for all THAT much on EBay... though some of the Japan-only titles are worth a lot of money (Insmouse, SD Gundam Dimension War, Space Squash, Space Invaders Virtual Collection, Virtual Bowling... all somewhat or quite valuable.). Of the US stuff, Jack Bros. seems to be the most expensive game, $50 and up loose.
Though yeah, you would almost certainly make a profit off VBs if you sold them sealed or something on EBay and had bought them for $30.
Wario Land - A Black Falcon - 30th May 2008
VBWL is so good... I've almost finished Hard Mode (just beat the second to last boss). Lost 15 lives on that boss... it's easy to get lots of lives in between bosses, but the bosses are tough in hard mode. On the last boss, I think I was down to one or two lives before I beat it... I spent some time collecting lives after that one and entered this boss prepared with 50 lives. :D
Anyway, just one more level and one more boss left... the game is really, really good. If only it'd been longer, and the VB hadn't died so fast... :(
I've also been replaying Wario Land II for GB recently (I have the GBC version of course, and originally played it on GBC, but the cart erased itself at some point (though my new save is still there), so I decided to play it on Super Game Boy, to see the color pallets and borders. I still find the game somewhat infuriatingly annoying and un-fun... addictive and compelling, sure, but incredibly frustrating and annoying to play. WLII may have far more content than either of the older titles, but it just doesn't have that special feeling of greatness that Wario Land 1 and VBWL have. Though it is good enough to halfway make me wish that I'd picked up Wario Land 3 at some point... oh well. Going from WLII to VBWL, it's very, very clear which is the better game. It's not Wario Land II.
Okay, some of that comparison is unfair because the GB and GBC are far inferior consoles power-wise to the Virtual Boy (GBC came out 3 1/2 years after VB and is far behind it in technical power...), and certainly the great visuals are part of what makes VBWL such a good game, but the great gameplay is just as much a part of that.