retrosportsgamer wrote:What are your thoughts on Wario Land 2 for the GBC? Contemplating adding it to my virtual console, but i've never actually played a Wario title. Still feel like i need it for the lineage to eventually make it through all the portable Mario games.
I'm a big fan of Wario Land games. I've played 'em all.
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 plays closer to a traditional Mario game. It feels like Super Mario World shrunk down for the original gameboy. Wario has his own special power ups: Bull, Dragon, and Jet that give him various powers. For a long time this was my favorite Wario Land game.
Wario Land for Virtual Boy is a continuation of this style of gameplay with the same power ups. Now Wario is in a two-plane pseudo-3D environment. I wish Nintendo would port this to 3DS already.
Wario Land II for gameboy color is more of a puzzle platformer / traditional platformer hybrid. The first few levels are simple, straight-forward platformer levels that teach you how to play the game. Over the course of the game, the levels grow more and more puzzling. One important change is that Wario is immortal in this game. When Wario takes damage, he is transformed. For instance, if Wario is crushed, he flattens out. Now Wario can fit into smaller spaces. If Wario is burned, he runs around like a mad man on fire burning his way through walls.
Wario Land 3 for gameboy color is a straight-up puzzle platformer that carries on where Wario Land II left off. A lot of the same damage effects are carried over, and new ones are introduced.
Wario Land 4 changes up the formula just a bit. Wario is no longer Immortal; now he has a health meter. Wario needs to explore his way to one end of a level to find a key. As soon as he picks up the key, a timer starts counting down. Now Wario must race all the way back to the start of the level to escape in time. This is a really great platformer.
Wario World is an unrelated beat 'em up / 3D platformer. Though it's totally different from the other Wario games, it's still quite good. This one was made by Treasure. If you like Treasure's other games, give this one a try.
Wario Land: Shake It! for Wii is the quintessential retro 2D platformer. This is 2D platforming refined to perfection. This is now my favorite game in the Series.