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Wario Land 4; Now work it, WORK IT!
Topic Started: Jan 30 2012, 08:41 PM (1,345 Views)
Complete_Dweeb
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I’M rAD
When I first got my GBA, I got some decent games for it, but one that I loved to play was Wario Land 4. I don't know if this is just nostalgia talking (I'm not even sure if I'm old enough to have nostalgia), but I just remember loving the game. After I sold it for money, I started wanting to play it again. Then the 3DS ambassador program happened....so yeah, Wario Land 4.

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Story: One day, Wario was reading a newspaper when a certain article caught his eye. It was about a strange pyramid that had been located deep in an unnamed jungle. Wario, being the greedy little anti-hero we all know him as, decides to set out to the pyramid in hopes of finding treasure. Upon entering the pyramid, Wario finds a strange black cat. While following the cat, Wario falls down a pit and finds himself trapped in the depths of the pyramid. After Completing the 4 Passages of the Pyramid, he finds another pyramid located within the pyramid (blah blah inception joke blah). Inside the Golden Pyramid, Wario finds the mysterious Golden Diva, who was said to have cursed the former ruler of the pyramid, Princess Shokora. After defeating the Golden Diva, Wario escapes from the pyramid with the Black Cat, who turns out to have been Princess Shokora all along. (Depending on how much treasure you obtained from each boss, Princess Shokora's appearance will change, we'll get to that later). Wario then leaves the pyramid with all of the treasure he obtained from the Guardian's of each Trial. The Ending Scene shows Wario driving to an all you can eat Lunch at a local Diner. This is a very nice story, but there aren't that many Story Elements presented in-game. I didn't even know Princess Shokora had a name until I looked it up online.

Gameplay: Taking a different approach than what they did in Wario Land 3, Wario Land 4 goes for a slightly more linear type of progression. Instead of being in one huge Metroid-like world, you're now confined to 4 different branches of the Pyramid; the Emerald Passage, Ruby Passage, Topaz Passage, and Sapphire Passage. All of the Passages consist of 4 Levels, a Mini-Game room, and a Boss. Each Passage has a specific theme. The Emerald Passage has a Forest/Jungle theme, The Ruby Passage has a Factory/Mechanical theme, the Topaz Passage has a Toy/Art/Game theme, and the Sapphire Passage has a Night/Horror theme. As previously stated, each Passage has 4 Levels. The goal of each level is to find 4 Jewel Pieces and the Keyzer, after which you jump on a...no...

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FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHWWWWWWWWWWWWG! D:

But that aside, you jump on the frog statue, causing a countdown to appear. Once the countdown appears, you must get back to the entrance in the time allotted. If you run out of time, you will start to lose all the coins you got in the stage. If you run out of coins, you get kicked out of the level. The same goes for if you run out of hearts. Throughout each level, you'll find 4 Golden Treasure Chests with Jewel Pieces inside. You have to get all 4 Jewel Pieces in all 4 levels of a passage in order to fight that passage's boss. The Keyzer is a Ghost with a Key for a nose. You have to take the Keyzer with you out of the level in order to proceed to the next. You move Wario with the D-Pad (I NO KRAZEE WRYTE?!) and jump with the A button (EEVEN KRAZYERR!). You can also press the B button to do a Charge Attack. This is Wario's main method of attack, as jumping on enemies only stuns them. If you move while holding either the L or R buttons, Wario will start to do a Dash Attack. A Dash Attack is capable of breaking blocks that a normal Charge Attack can't. Pressing down while jumping allows Wario to do a Ground Pound, which gets if he does it from a high platform. Various enemies in the game are capable of turning Wario into breakfa--I mean causing Wario to react in certain ways, including being flattened, burned, and even becoming fatter than he normally is. After you finish the 4 levels of a passage, you can go to a Mini-game Room where you can play 3 different Mini-games; Wario's Home Run Derby, Wario Hop, and Wario's Roulette. In Home Run Derby, you play a Batter trying to get a Home Run in a baseball game, for every 3 Home Run's you get, you earn one...Oh, come on!

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frooooooooooooooooooooog.

If you strike out, you get a Game Over, and are sent back to the Mini-Game room. In Wario Hop, you play as Wario riding on top of a tire. During the game, you have to jump over various obstacles. If you touch even one obstacle, you get a Game Over. You get a Frog Medal for every 15 jumps you make. In Wario Roulette, you are presented with a face for a brief moment. You then need to memorize the eyes, nose, and mouth of the face and match them up with the face as they spin around in a roulette. You get a Frog Medal for every 3 you get correct, but if you get one face wrong, you get a Game Over. At the End of each Passage, you fight a Boss, each reflecting the theme of their respective Passages. The Bosses include Cractus, a Venus Fly Trap who's drool can turn you into a Grai--I mean regular Zombie, Cuckoo Condor, a Condor who lives inside a very hazardous clock, Aerodent, a mouse controlling an inflatable Teddy Bear, CatBat, no it isn't a TV show on Nickelodeon, it's just a Bat controlling a giant cat, and the Golden Diva, the Creature who had Previously destroyed Princess Shokora's kingdom. Before each Boss Fight, you have the opportunity to trade in your Frog Medals for weapons to help whittle down the bosses health before the fight even begins. Oh, and yes, that black guy is Mr. Game & Watch. I'm trying to think of a complaint I could give the gameplay at this very moment, and I just can't. The control is extremely fluent, and I always feel in complete control of Wario.

Graphics: This game's graphics are amazing for the GBA's standards. The sprites are very detailed & the animation is so smooth, especially for Wario. If a game can be released this early in a system's lifespan and have visuals this amazing, then it's pretty obvious that I'd give the Graphics a 10/10, but screw ratings, they're dumb.

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Soundtrack This game has some the best music the GBA has to offer, not only do some songs have actual lyrics, but for the most part, the songs themselves are extremely catchy. There are only a few tracks in this game that I haven't memorized, but this game has amazing music.

Toxic Landfill

Toy Block Tower

Hurry Up!!

Lifetime: To me, the lifetime of this game is only a bit above average. You don't want to play this game nonstop for 27 years, but at the same time, you keep wanting to pop it in every so often. There is a Hard Mode, but I never really bother with it since it doesn't change the game all that much, except for making the Escape time limits a bit more strict.

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Overall: To me, Wario Land 4 is a rather unknown gem for how good I believe it is. While it doesn't have the lifetime of a game such as, say, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it does have fun gameplay, stunning graphics, and an amazing soundtrack. You should definitely try this game out, it certainly won't be a bad experience.
Edited by Complete_Dweeb, Jul 28 2012, 03:35 AM.
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krismaster4
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Stayin' Cool, in Sanfransokyo. AS A MILLIONAIRE!
Well yeah sure. I agree with you fully on the soundtrack and the graphics were amazing in its time. I have played and beaten it before so I know how it's like. You did pick some good songs for listening to as well. Heh...once again another really good review. :D
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rpgfan4
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Super
I've been able to beat this game on super-hard (which is unlocked after getting 100% in hard) and without items against the bosses and it's rediculous.

Super-hard lowers the time a lot, puts the chests in insane places, you get two minutes less for bosses, and in the first two levels it moves the frog statue (second being palm tree paradise).

But anyway, great review, and I can see that you did a lot of research (knowing who Princess Shokora is).
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Complete_Dweeb
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I’M rAD
It's funny, I'm just now playing Hard Mode for the first time ever. I never even bothered with it when I originally had it for my GBA.
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Caped Godot
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Co-host of DOOM!
Hm, interesting. I was never arsed to 100% hard mode. I never knew about super hard. That makes me want to play it again.

Anyway, this is a pretty great review. Keep up the good work.
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Jwolfe340
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This is Pabu. Enjoy him.
My friend has been urging me to play this, especially since I have it on the 3DS, though I've been a bit distracted with the Fire Emblem game and Pushmo. Now I have incentive to play this. Great review.
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CamTheMan
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Poor
I like this review a lot, although I didn't see you talk about the control in the game. I guess it might have been because they're now fairly standard for a platformer, but it's always important not to take control for granted.
Nice work, all I can say is I WANT MOAR (o^^)b
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Complete_Dweeb
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I’M rAD
But I did explain the controls...Thanks for liking it, though! ^-^
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CamTheMan
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Poor
mitchgamelover
Feb 6 2012, 09:21 PM
But I did explain the controls...Thanks for liking it, though! ^-^
Only the buttons were listed though, I didn't see any opinions about how fluent the controls were or anything.
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Complete_Dweeb
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I’M rAD
Good point. EDITING, COMMENCE!
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Caped Godot
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Co-host of DOOM!
Well, how bout that. I decided to play the game again, to unlock Super Hard mode, and waddayano, it exists. It took me ten minutes to beat that first boss, too. >.> I guess this review has rekindled my interest in the game. Thanks.
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Complete_Dweeb
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I’M rAD
Hard mode makes Monsoon Jungle a jerkface. >:(
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