Games Beaten:
1. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (GCN)
2. Star Fox Assault (GCN)
3. Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
4. Wario World (GCN)I continued my Gamecube run with Rogue Squadron 2, but stopped playing about halfway through. It still looks great today, but the game just didn't jive with me. I was hoping for something akin to Star Fox's all-range mode, and I think it ended up being more like a dogfight flight sim. I tried forcing my way through because 2000s Star Wars video games are the golden era to me, but I was not enjoying myself. I was also terrible at it which never helps.
Next I moved on to Wario World. You'd think I would have played a 3D game by Treasure sooner, just out of curiosity, but I never knew they had developed the title until recently. Why? Because their logo isn't even on the game box! Was Nintendo ashamed of their effort? Were
they ashamed of their effort?? Whatever the case, I thought it was a pretty good showing by Treasure. It comes nowhere near blowing the mind and gameplay innovations (Which one might expect from Treasure) are non-existent except for how dying and lives are handled.
At its core, Wario World is almost a 1:1 transition of Wario from 2D to 3D. He has a similar move set to the Gameboy games, levels are mostly linear with some exceptions, you have limited camera control, and many of the gameplay hooks involve money. Most platformers of the time either went with an exploratory, open level concept like Mario, or they gave up on having platforming be the main focus and decided to home in on other things, like the Jak & Daxter sequels or Ratchet & Clank. Wario World does neither of these things. It's a straight 3D platforming challenge, and I appreciated that.
Instead of unlocking abilities like the aforementioned titles, Wario can do different things with different enemies he picks up in order to progress. In level 1, you have every single ability that Wario is ever going to have in this game. But the game gets around this with its enemies. If Wario picks up an enemy and spins them around, for example, they can be used to unlock gates or raise platforms. Some enemies need to be driven into a steel latch in order to gain access to the platforming challenges where players can obtain crystals that unlock the boss of the level. There are also mini-bosses that can only be defeated in certain ways. Figuring out their patterns/weaknesses are like small puzzles in and of themselves.
One aspect of Wario World that will remind people of Mario is how many collectables there are. There are the boss crystals, pieces of Wario statues, Wario's "stuff" that was stolen from him at the beginning of the game, little gnome-like creatures that are trapped in boxes, and heart fragments. It's definitely an attempt to have players going back and extending playtime, because otherwise, it's a short game. I didn't mind the length at all, though, because by the end, the game was starting to wear out its welcome.
Wario World makes an excellent first impression. The enemies are wacky, the level locations and designs are fun, its take on players dying is interesting (Wario gets sent to a Pac-Man-like underworld where ghosts shake him down for money until he can find a spring back up to the level), and Wario himself is such a character. He'll pick up enemies and while throwing them, shout, "Have a rotten day!" After defeating the final boss of a world, the camera zooms in on him like he's about to do a heroic pose, but then he does his usual evil laugh, as if to remind you that he's not so much a
hero as he is a
protagonist. I've noticed that people have started memeing Wario from this game a bit and it's easy to understand why. I laughed or had a stupid grin on my face many-a-time while playing. And remember how I said the enemies were wacky? Each boss in this game is either creepy or hilarious to look at. There's no shortage of creativity with these bosses. I enjoyed every single one of them.
But as mentioned before, the game started to lose its appeal toward the end. Falling off the stage became a more frequent occurrence and I found myself wishing it would just take a life away instead of making me look around for a spring while avoiding ghosts. The sound design is also... how do I put this...
intentionally annoying. Pause the game at your own peril, and those gnome-like creatures make a shrill crying noise that will immediately make you think of Navi from Ocarina of Time or Baby Mario from Yoshi's Island. Yep, it's that tier of annoying. Enemies in the final world are often just reskins of older enemies, and the increase in challenge is merely swarming you with more of them in confined spaces. The last full level of the game also attempts to make itself more open, and it just didn't work. You need a functioning camera for something like that.
Outside of getting old a bit quickly, my biggest criticism of the game is the lack of story. Now, Nintendo doesn't often have heavy story-focused games, so that was never my expectation. What I'm saying is that, even compared to something like Mario, Wario World's story is bare bones. The beginning of the game explains to you via text that Wario's stuff was stolen by an evil dark crystal. It took everything from him including his castle. There's no explanation of why he's visiting these four world, what the enemies or bosses have to do with the dark crystal, and you don't even see the dark crystal until the final boss battle of the game! Imagine playing Mario 64 and it's never explained why all the levels are paintings and you don't see Bowser or hear from Peach until the end of the game. That's essentially what Wario World did here. There are some fun, wacky concepts, but none of it feels connected.
Still, outside of those things, Wario World is a fun game in short bursts. It's yet another GC title where the developers never got a chance to improve on things with a sequel. I have fond memories of the Cube, but it was a time of turmoil for Nintendo, too. Wario World feels like their attempt to capture an edgier teen audience, and maybe it would have worked if it had been given more of a chance to succeed. Maybe they just needed a follow-up game or more development time (This game feels
very rushed, in spots). I wouldn't put it on Mario's level, but the sheer spectacle and wackiness of Wario World warrants at least one play, if you have the opportunity!
Took me a long time to play through this one. Not because the game was bad, just a lack of free time. I think I'll stick with Gamecube and either go with Mario Sunshine or Custom Robo next!