Wario World | DJcube

My gold tuned into monsters! Time to brawl!

EU release: 20th June 2003
NA release: 23rd June 2003
JP release: 27th May 2004
Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Nintendo
NGC Magazine Score: 86%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

A strange release schedule for this, especially for a game developed by Treasure – it released in Europe first and took nearly a year to come out in Japan. Wario World is a 3D game based on the Wario Land series, which means mostly 2D levels with a bit of depth to them. It also features a lot of fighting against infinitely respawning enemies, with some decent mechanics.

However, while enemy design varies considerably throughout the game, they’re just reskinned versions of the same few enemy types. Wario’s main punch is made quite useless by his dash attack, which protects you and seems to deal more damage, and each fight ends up felling the same as you dash around to stun enemies, then pick them up and throw or slam them.

There is a lot of hidden stuff in the eight levels (across four worlds), each with three objectives: find all the statue pieces (which increases your health), find all of Wario’s treasure (which unlocks some demos for WarioWare to send to your GBA) and find red gems to reach the level’s boss. The bosses in Wario World are great, with each level having its own boss and four end-of-world bosses, which all require you to figure out how to hurt them. The final boss is a bit of a let down, although it did get completely re-worked for the final release.

Collecting the red gems is also a highlight of the game. To get them you have to drop down a trapdoor and complete a challenge. These are short platforming sections (which remind me a bit of the FLUUD-less parts of Mario Sunshine) and a ton of fun. While I got bored of the main levels before I finished the game (which is not good for a short game), hunting for these kept me interested. I wish the game was more of a platformer than an action game.

Fun

Too short? Maybe, but it’s the getting there that matter. Metroid or Sunshine might keep you plugging away for weeks, but Wario’s quest is so packed with great little details and wanton silliness that you’ll be grinning and cackling all the way through. It’s a shame it’s all over so quickly, but what Wario World lacks in length, it makes up for with gloriously daft and inspired depth. Treasure have done Wario proud – let’s hope he’ll get more of his own proper games in future.
Jim McCauley, NGC Magazine #83

Remake or remaster?

A re-release, with the improved final boss, would be good. Or perhaps even a complete Wario Land/World collection.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Wario World.