Wario World (GameCube) Review

Could this be the missing link from Mario Sunshine?

Well the short answer is no, it's nothing like it, and all the better for it. It's half platformer, half beat-'em-up, and half insane cartoon. Yes we know that makes three halves, but what are you gonna do, eh?

So starting off, the storyline not usually one of Ninty's strong points in this type of game, and of course this is no different. Some charming young fellow has stolen all Wario's loot, which he finally managed to stash in his newly built castle, and not just that they've then gone and turned it all into 'yucky' monsters. As you would expect old wazza isn't exactly swimming with joy about all the shenanigans happening in his castle. So instead of having a good sit down and thinking what would be a good move, he (of course) rushes into a parallel universe to try and pummel all those dastardly monsters to get his dough back. Bless 'im.

So let's talk about those bad guys then shall we? To start with the 'ickle wickle' baby ones can be dispatched with a couple of basic punches via the B button. Another relatively basic move is the Ground Pound, Yoshi style, which is again nothing to write home about. However the fun really starts with the larger enemies. After a bit of softening up, they can be picked, via the B button again, which opens up a whole new dimension of smashing options. Firstly you could fling them at a wall. Simple yet satisfying, but then of course the enemy will probably wake up after a while, which means no treasure to erupt from his broken body and you'll have to knock him out again. So make sure you either charge the throw by holding B or try chucking it at its fellow comrades. Now we get to the good stuff, grabbing a stone

But I don't want to be smashing, bashing or thrashing.

Then buy another game dumb ass, alternatively if your into treasure hunting there's plenty of that too. Admittedly most of the treasure is earned by destroying nasty's but not all of it, oh no. Remember those oh challenging levels from Mario Sunshine that we all loved to hate at one time, which saw Mario transported to a strange dimension full of large rotating blocks and the like, as well as being stripped of your trusty F.L.U.D? Well they make a trusty return in an even harder from in Wario World. Scared? Well you should be. Some of them will surely be too much for your petty human brains. Guaranteed you will find that on at least one occasion the game will make you weep, then sob, then swear; loudly. This really takes you back to those classic Mario, platforming classics that make the fat plumber who he is today. They are assessed by Ground Pounding the various trap doors, located through the levels. Insuring that the sound of the underground will be full of emotions, (on the part of the player at least).

Is that It? Sounds pretty boring...

Well friend, you couldn't be further from the truth. There are literally hundreds of those little details spread evenly throughout, those little stand out moments, we all love so much, which truly make the game. There are too many to go into here, (plus we don't want to ruin it for future buyers), but for the sake of the review we will give some examples. On the subject sound effects, we heard someone say the other day,
'Well there not as good as in Eternal Darkness'

Eternal Darkness uses sound to add atmosphere and basically make you 'scared shitless', whereas Wario World, which even though based around a main character who is an evil twin, was never supposed to be scary. The effects are used for humour, you know, ha ha. So when Wario disposes one of his foes, he'll say a corny little catch phrase or maybe just laugh. Also at the end of the game, you get a little extra reminiscent of Luigi's Mansion. In the form of what happens at the very end of the game, depending on how much treasure you picked up during the game depends on how well Wario's castle will be rebuilt.

Extras wise Wario Word does not dissapoint.Provided you have the following; a GC, a GBA, and a GC to GBA cable. Yes you guessed it, Nintendo are showing off there connectivity again. We're sure you've all played Wario Ware? If not its Wario's new game on GBA, which puts you through a series of mini-games at very high, brain-killing speeds. Well anyway this link up option allows you to download some extra special minigames to you GBA. Even better you don't need Wario Ware to play them! They get stored on the GBA's internal memory so you can even unplug it from the GBA go downstairs to play it, (making sure not to turn the power off) then when you get bored go back up and get some new ones! All very clever, of course this luxury requires some effort; if you want to be sure you've got all of them, just finish the game once, which isn't hard as the game is rather easy.