Up until only a few days ago, I'd never really bothered to try out Wario Land II on the Game Boy Color. Indeed, despite being a Wario fan for quite a while and enjoying such games as the original, Wario Land 4 and Shake It, I'd somehow never even tried the second or third games in the series due to my interests drifting off to Pokemon at the time of their release.
But now, after bothering to buy 'em on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, I finally have! And as per everyone's expectations, I can now say the likes of Wario Land II are absolutely amazing games, and that everyone should try them if they haven't already. And so here is my review of Wario Land II, a game which I'm at least 10 years overdue in playing.
Graphics
Graphically, Wario Land II is impressive. Indeed, with huge sprites for both Wario and his enemies (with lots of detail to boot), interesting looking levels with varied terrain and a fair amount of animation, the graphics in this game are some of the finest the Game Boy Color has to offer and are rather surprising for a system weaker than a modern calculator.
It's not all good though. For instance, while the graphics themselves do look detailed, the limited colours available on the Game Boy Color really do mean some of them haven't been coloured in too well and that certain palettes are rather... questionable at best. Such as how Syrup Castle's tiles are now bright pink with purple decorations (not a great colour for a villain's base of operations!). Or how the 'creepy' haunted house looks more like a fairground fun house with all the bright greens and purples used for the main foreground (it's so carnival like that quite a few people have actually used its graphics for 'toy' themed areas in fan games and ROM hacks).
Above: Maybe not the best choice for a final area palette.
Above: More carnival than ghost house.
Additionally, a few graphics seem kind of poorly assembled due to the tech limitations, like how in many places coins have a blank background of a single shade of colour instead of matching the surroundings. Or how when you collect them, said missing detail magically appears from nowhere, like how the coins in water turn into animated water currents the second you collect. It's not a major deal, but it does look a little sloppy if you're playing the game years later and forgot that this was made for an eight bit system in the 90s.
Still, Nintendo did do their best with the technology they had, and so Wario Land 2 generally looks rather nice. Definitely worthy of a 9/10 on the graphics side of things.
Music
A real mixed bag unfortunately, with Wario Land II's soundtrack ranging from 'extremely catchy' to 'annoying as heck after about two minutes'. Let's start with the good.
On that front, songs like the ending song, main theme remixes and various others are absolutely fantastic songs that you'll keep humming along to whenever you hear them. Seriously, this theme in particular has to be one of the best in the entire series, up there with Wario Land 3's ending theme and Wario Land 4's soundtrack in general:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSWXGPA86rM
However, the unfortunate thing is, not all songs are quite as catchy. In fact, some are kind of annoying as hell, probably due to the limited instruments and repetitive nature. For me, this was a fair description of the song played in the Ruins Under the Sea and a couple of hidden areas, which i thought needed a bit more variety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp0VEdOPhh4
Still, it's not a bad soundtrack by any means, and its few stand outs mean it's at least worthy of a 7 or 8 out of 10 on this front.
Gameplay
But despite the above, the graphics and music aren't really too important in how good a game is, with the gameplay of Wario Land II being the true deciding factor to its quality.
Fortunately though, Wario Land II is absolutely fantastic on the gameplay front. Different to prior Wario Land games, but fantastic in its own unique way regardless.
So what do I mean here? What's so different? Well, unlike the first two Wario Land titles (including the Virtual Boy game no one's ever heard of), Wario Land II is more of a puzzle based game where Wario has to use different abilities and his exploration skills to navigate huge levels, rather than a simple 'hop and bop' platformer like the game's predecessors. Heck, he can't even die in this game, he just gets knocked back!
But how does it all work? Easy, instead of dying, being hit by certain enemies causes Wario to transform into a different form, which has its own unique abilities needed to progress through and solve puzzles. So getting lit on fire causes him to run around like a madman before bursting into flame, with the latter part making him able to break through certain blocks marked with fire symbols. Getting flattened by enemies causes him to become flat, meaning he can float across large gaps like a paper airplane and get through thin passages with holes in without falling through the gaps. And various other forms exist too, like the self explanatory 'Fat' Wario, the puffy cheeked Puffy Wario (who automatically floats upwards til he hits a ceiling or obstacle) and the ledge falling Zombie Wario, whose undead abilities can let him kill enemies and fall through floors. It's all very different to the earlier power up systems of the earlier games, but definitely much more interesting and making for better level design regardless.
There are also bosses in every other level, and with Wario unable to physically die, they work in a different way too. Long story short, they're all partly ring out bosses, which spend the entire battle attempting to knock Wario out of the arena in order to force him to restart the fight. How do they do that? All kinds of different ways, like gale force winds, inflicting transformations or simply grabbing him and pulling him out, but they all work pretty well regardless, and in fact might actually be more of a challenge to beat than the physically dangerous ones from the earlier games (because if a boss knocks you out the fight, you can't just tank hits like in games where they do damage).
Add some of the best level design in any 2D platformer (the levels are veritable mazes filled with secrets and hidden content) and original ideas introduced all over the place, and Wario Land 2 is one of the most entertaining titles in the Game Boy's line up. A definite classic.
10/10
Value/Game Length
And as far as game length/replay value goes, Wario Land II is amazing. I mean, this isn't like most platformers where you have one neat little path to the ending and a bunch of extra levels that lead nowhere (such as New Super Mario Bros or Super Mario World). Oh no, this game has a little thing I like to call 'alternate story paths'.
Above: Just part of the branching map/story this game has.
Or in other words, depending on your actions in game, you unlock different levels and completely different final bosses and endings!
For example, right at the start, you have two choices. Get Wario out of bed, and you progress down the main story path that involves going through about five 'worlds' and reaching final boss/ending 1. However, if you decide to just leave him there, the pirates actually manage to boot him out and take over his home as their new base! This leads to a different set of levels (which involve Wario trying to break in and kick the pirates out of his castle) and in turn a different final boss and ending.
There are plenty of these routes too. For instance, when you're in town you can find secret exits leading to either a factory or a haunted house, which both have completely different levels, puzzles and final boss/ending! There are still other areas you unlock go back to the main path after you clear about five levels and defeat a boss. Finally, at least one alternate boss/ending is only found by getting a secret exit in a secret level! So not only do you have to find the right alternate path that leads to it, but then find a secret exit in one of THOSE levels that leads to this particular final boss and ending.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u--LhPnuKoA
Above: This is one of the hardest to find levels in the game. A secret within another secret.
It provides for a ton of replay value, and only gets better with the addition of collectibles. What collectibles? A hidden item of treasure in every level, and a map piece gotten from a mini game at the end of each one! If you can find these in every stage (including all the alternate paths), you then unlock a true, super difficult final level with a secret final boss and the 'real' ending, meaning that beating this title ends up taking quite a lot of time overall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrQhIPTfhJ4
Above: Good luck beating this level.
So yes, Wario Land II has tons of replay value, deserving no less than a full 10/10 for doing everything right in this respect.
Overall
All in all, Wario Land II is a brilliant game which is still as fun to play now as it was all those years ago when the Game Boy Color was still new. It's well presented, has some of the best level design and puzzles of any 2D platformer and is filled with replay value and secrets, and so is a game that absolutely everyone should play one way or another.
Buy it now. No questions asked.
9/10
But now, after bothering to buy 'em on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, I finally have! And as per everyone's expectations, I can now say the likes of Wario Land II are absolutely amazing games, and that everyone should try them if they haven't already. And so here is my review of Wario Land II, a game which I'm at least 10 years overdue in playing.
Graphics
Graphically, Wario Land II is impressive. Indeed, with huge sprites for both Wario and his enemies (with lots of detail to boot), interesting looking levels with varied terrain and a fair amount of animation, the graphics in this game are some of the finest the Game Boy Color has to offer and are rather surprising for a system weaker than a modern calculator.
It's not all good though. For instance, while the graphics themselves do look detailed, the limited colours available on the Game Boy Color really do mean some of them haven't been coloured in too well and that certain palettes are rather... questionable at best. Such as how Syrup Castle's tiles are now bright pink with purple decorations (not a great colour for a villain's base of operations!). Or how the 'creepy' haunted house looks more like a fairground fun house with all the bright greens and purples used for the main foreground (it's so carnival like that quite a few people have actually used its graphics for 'toy' themed areas in fan games and ROM hacks).
Above: Maybe not the best choice for a final area palette.
Above: More carnival than ghost house.
Additionally, a few graphics seem kind of poorly assembled due to the tech limitations, like how in many places coins have a blank background of a single shade of colour instead of matching the surroundings. Or how when you collect them, said missing detail magically appears from nowhere, like how the coins in water turn into animated water currents the second you collect. It's not a major deal, but it does look a little sloppy if you're playing the game years later and forgot that this was made for an eight bit system in the 90s.
Still, Nintendo did do their best with the technology they had, and so Wario Land 2 generally looks rather nice. Definitely worthy of a 9/10 on the graphics side of things.
Music
A real mixed bag unfortunately, with Wario Land II's soundtrack ranging from 'extremely catchy' to 'annoying as heck after about two minutes'. Let's start with the good.
On that front, songs like the ending song, main theme remixes and various others are absolutely fantastic songs that you'll keep humming along to whenever you hear them. Seriously, this theme in particular has to be one of the best in the entire series, up there with Wario Land 3's ending theme and Wario Land 4's soundtrack in general:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSWXGPA86rM
However, the unfortunate thing is, not all songs are quite as catchy. In fact, some are kind of annoying as hell, probably due to the limited instruments and repetitive nature. For me, this was a fair description of the song played in the Ruins Under the Sea and a couple of hidden areas, which i thought needed a bit more variety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp0VEdOPhh4
Still, it's not a bad soundtrack by any means, and its few stand outs mean it's at least worthy of a 7 or 8 out of 10 on this front.
Gameplay
But despite the above, the graphics and music aren't really too important in how good a game is, with the gameplay of Wario Land II being the true deciding factor to its quality.
Fortunately though, Wario Land II is absolutely fantastic on the gameplay front. Different to prior Wario Land games, but fantastic in its own unique way regardless.
So what do I mean here? What's so different? Well, unlike the first two Wario Land titles (including the Virtual Boy game no one's ever heard of), Wario Land II is more of a puzzle based game where Wario has to use different abilities and his exploration skills to navigate huge levels, rather than a simple 'hop and bop' platformer like the game's predecessors. Heck, he can't even die in this game, he just gets knocked back!
But how does it all work? Easy, instead of dying, being hit by certain enemies causes Wario to transform into a different form, which has its own unique abilities needed to progress through and solve puzzles. So getting lit on fire causes him to run around like a madman before bursting into flame, with the latter part making him able to break through certain blocks marked with fire symbols. Getting flattened by enemies causes him to become flat, meaning he can float across large gaps like a paper airplane and get through thin passages with holes in without falling through the gaps. And various other forms exist too, like the self explanatory 'Fat' Wario, the puffy cheeked Puffy Wario (who automatically floats upwards til he hits a ceiling or obstacle) and the ledge falling Zombie Wario, whose undead abilities can let him kill enemies and fall through floors. It's all very different to the earlier power up systems of the earlier games, but definitely much more interesting and making for better level design regardless.
There are also bosses in every other level, and with Wario unable to physically die, they work in a different way too. Long story short, they're all partly ring out bosses, which spend the entire battle attempting to knock Wario out of the arena in order to force him to restart the fight. How do they do that? All kinds of different ways, like gale force winds, inflicting transformations or simply grabbing him and pulling him out, but they all work pretty well regardless, and in fact might actually be more of a challenge to beat than the physically dangerous ones from the earlier games (because if a boss knocks you out the fight, you can't just tank hits like in games where they do damage).
Add some of the best level design in any 2D platformer (the levels are veritable mazes filled with secrets and hidden content) and original ideas introduced all over the place, and Wario Land 2 is one of the most entertaining titles in the Game Boy's line up. A definite classic.
10/10
Value/Game Length
And as far as game length/replay value goes, Wario Land II is amazing. I mean, this isn't like most platformers where you have one neat little path to the ending and a bunch of extra levels that lead nowhere (such as New Super Mario Bros or Super Mario World). Oh no, this game has a little thing I like to call 'alternate story paths'.
Above: Just part of the branching map/story this game has.
Or in other words, depending on your actions in game, you unlock different levels and completely different final bosses and endings!
For example, right at the start, you have two choices. Get Wario out of bed, and you progress down the main story path that involves going through about five 'worlds' and reaching final boss/ending 1. However, if you decide to just leave him there, the pirates actually manage to boot him out and take over his home as their new base! This leads to a different set of levels (which involve Wario trying to break in and kick the pirates out of his castle) and in turn a different final boss and ending.
There are plenty of these routes too. For instance, when you're in town you can find secret exits leading to either a factory or a haunted house, which both have completely different levels, puzzles and final boss/ending! There are still other areas you unlock go back to the main path after you clear about five levels and defeat a boss. Finally, at least one alternate boss/ending is only found by getting a secret exit in a secret level! So not only do you have to find the right alternate path that leads to it, but then find a secret exit in one of THOSE levels that leads to this particular final boss and ending.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u--LhPnuKoA
Above: This is one of the hardest to find levels in the game. A secret within another secret.
It provides for a ton of replay value, and only gets better with the addition of collectibles. What collectibles? A hidden item of treasure in every level, and a map piece gotten from a mini game at the end of each one! If you can find these in every stage (including all the alternate paths), you then unlock a true, super difficult final level with a secret final boss and the 'real' ending, meaning that beating this title ends up taking quite a lot of time overall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrQhIPTfhJ4
Above: Good luck beating this level.
So yes, Wario Land II has tons of replay value, deserving no less than a full 10/10 for doing everything right in this respect.
Overall
All in all, Wario Land II is a brilliant game which is still as fun to play now as it was all those years ago when the Game Boy Color was still new. It's well presented, has some of the best level design and puzzles of any 2D platformer and is filled with replay value and secrets, and so is a game that absolutely everyone should play one way or another.
Buy it now. No questions asked.
9/10
