| Developer: Treasure | Publisher: Nintendo |
| Release Date: June 23, 2003 | Also On: None |
After finishing construction of his beloved castle, Wario finally settles down. Unknown to him is that an evil black jewel lay under his castle, the same one that previously wiped out civilization. It seems that the curse that this jewel carries lets it turn treasures into monsters. Wario now sets out on his goal to turn all of the monsters back into his adored treasure.
Nintendo’s anti-hero finally gets his first GCN title in the form of Wario World. Though he is known mainly as the opposite of Mario, Wario has become less evil and more just plain old greedy and goofy, at least in his latest GCN platform title. Wario World is full of charm, but lacks length and is far too simple.
Even though there are a number of moves (e.g. punch, ground pound, dash attack, etc.), there simply aren’t enough to keep you entertained for a sustained amount of time. Treasure threw in a couple other special moves to add some fun and strategy to the game. The pile-driver is useful if you would like to get rid of a lot of enemies in close vicinity or to open steel trap doors. The wild swing-ding spins enemies in both clockwise or counterclockwise, is useful for damaging larger enemies, and can open gates with the spinner switch.
In each level (just like in nearly all platformers), you will have to hunt for certain items. The main things that you need to collect are red diamonds, which can be found in all of the 8 trapdoors per level. In order to open the boss room you must collect at least 3 red diamonds, but some of the later levels will require you to have more. Freeing the 5 spritelings will make something good happen, but they are more useful for the hints that they tell you. The final important item is garlic, which can be found in chests or can be bought at Garlic Dispensers scattered across each level.
Wario World is most definitely not like other titles in the genre (e.g. Super Mario Sunshine, Jak and Daxter, etc.). Wario World focuses on both arcade-style action and puzzle solving, both of which are effortless. The puzzles begin so simple that a three year old can figure them out, but gradually get more challenging, and some (near the end of the game) will take 10+ minutes to finally figure out, which gets frustrating due to the overwhelming difficulty.
As I stated earlier, Wario World is anything but long. It is broken up into four worlds, with two stages and a boss fight at the end of both each stage and level. Beating the third boss in a level will open up the next world. Each level is larger than that of other platform titles, but it does not allow you to roam around much. Compared to the likes of an open-ended game like Super Mario Sunshine, you could basically say that Wario World is a 3-D side-scroller (though it isn’t), which shows how linear it is. Wario World takes minimal effort to beat and little reward (since each level is basically the same, but only w/ a different coat of paint). I beat it in one night and found other games (e.g. Luigi’s Mansion) to me more fun, both thanks to the more open-ended and variety of game play. I suggest that you do not purchase this title, but if you feel like getting the little leprechauns’ game, go ahead and pick it up at your local Hollywood Video, oh yeah, and be sure to “have a rotten day”.
| Graphics: | 8 |
| Sound: | 6 |
| Gameplay: | 4 |
| Creativity: | 8 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 3 |
| Final: | 5.5 |
| Written by Kyle | Review Guide |
