In this review, we search for treasure in the Game Boy Advance game Wario Land 4. We find out how well this adventure game plays.
This game was released in 2001. It is the fourth game in the series, but the first to be released on this system.
We first tried Wario Land – Super Mario Land 3. We found that game to be a very solid game. Next up, we tried Wario Land II. That game wound up being barely passable. After that, we tried Wario Land 3. That game wound up being a great game all around. So, we thought we’d try the fourth game in the series to see if it continues to be a strong series.
The story is essentially that a new pyramid was discovered deep in the jungle. Naturally, for Wario, there is no need to second guess that there is treasure hidden in there. So, he hops into his car and drives towards the pyramids location.
If you are familiar with the Wario Land series, a lot of what is going to be covered today will seem like old hat, but there are some new concepts thrown in here as well.
You start the game at the entrance. There is an introductory level which shows you the basics of the game. Each level has four gem parts. These act as keys to beating the area. So, it is essential that you collect these items. The bonus 500 coins it comes with also doesn’t hurt either.
Another essential item you need to collect in each level is the bird key. This bird key is somewhere in the level snoozing away. Touch the key and it will follow you wherever you go. Beat the level with the bird key and it will unlock the next area in the world.
A non-essential item, though essential to basically 100% clear the game is also the CD. This item is located in a treasure chest just like the gem parts. Each CD unlocks the levels track in the sound room so you can listen to it at any time.
With the exception of the introductory level and the final pyramid level, each “world” contains 4 levels. Beat all four levels with every gem piece in that world and you’ll unlock a mini-game section, an item shop, and a final boss.
The mini-game area features three mini-games: a home run derby, the Wario Jump, and a Wario Roulette game.
The home run derby squares you off with a batter. Simply tap “A” to swing the bat. The pitcher will throw pitches at you. If you hit the ball accurately enough, you’ll get a home run. If you miss or get a foul, you’ll have a strike counted towards you. Hit a home run and you’ll reset the strike counter. If you have two strikes and miss completely, you’ll strike out and your game ends. Hit as many home runs as possible before you strike out. Obviously, the ball will fly towards you at different speeds. There is also curve balls, partially invisible balls, and even one that stops part way through. The more home runs you hit, the more difficult the throws will be.
The second game is Wario Jump. It simply puts Wario on a tire and makes him run down a path. Tap “A” to jump. there are a host of obstacles along the way. For every obstacle you clear, you get a point. The second you fail to fully clear an obstacle, though, is the moment you lose. Each obstacle is placed at different distances. As you go along, your running speed will increase. Just know that your jumping distance remains the same. So, really, your window to tap “A” simply gradually shrinks until you finally crash into something.
The third and final game is a Wario Roulette game. Essentially, Wario is in a barber shop, but his face is always changing. The game gives you a moment to examine the face in question. After that, different parts of a face spin around. Tap “A” to get the right face part. There are three parts: eyes, nose, and mouth. As you get more correct, the game simply shrinks the time you have to examine the game. So, while there is a roulette aspect involved, this gradually becomes more and more of a memory challenge.
At first, these mini-games may seem like a pointless extra, but they can play a role in making your life easier. This is because the higher the score you get in each mini-game, the more gold coins you earn. Each attempt at each game does cost money, but generally speaking, money isn’t really a problem. However, earning golden coins tends to be a much tougher proposition. You can certainly grind for them, but it will take time.
This, of course, leads us into the item shop. You might think that items will simply help you make the game easier, but these items will only apply to the ensuing boss battle. Each item can help you in the boss fight. The more expensive the item, the more it can probably help you. Dragon, for instance, costs 10 golden coins. This damages the boss by about a third of the health before the battle even begins. That obviously helps you in the long run. Alternatively, you can always skip the item shop, take on the boss without assistance, and save those gold coins for a future battle. There’s plenty of strategy to be had for something this simple.
Finally, there is the boss battle. While you do start with full health, there are two things working against you: the boss generally has way more health than you and the boss fight also has a time limit. Generally speaking, the time limit is pretty reasonable, but it does tend to throw the more casual and conservative strategies out the window. Keep an eye for flashing parts as that can be a helpful hint on what to hit next. If you beat the boss, you beat the world and move on.
Generally speaking, there are six areas. There is an introductory world and the pyramid world. Each contains 1 level. The other four areas surround the pyramid. Each of these worlds contains four levels and are generally more involved.
In regular levels, the goal is to get as many coins as possible while still surviving. Coins can be collected like any other Mario game, but other items are located in breakable objects and defeating enemies.
Now, when you start, definitely take note of where the start warp is located and different locations as you move along. This is because when you make it to the end of the level, there is a special blue pillar you jump on. These pillars contain a bomb. Once activated, you have a limited amount of time to make it back to the start warp.
One thing to note is that different areas are unlocked when you initiate the bomb part of the stage. Other areas are also locked off. If you don’t collect all of the critical items, you may not need to worry. This is because some critical items are only found in the locked away areas. You can only collect them when you activate the bomb at the end of the level. Certainly, there are a number of levels where you can get everything before this stage, but note that you’ll also be revisiting parts of the level to get back to the start. I’ve had a missing gem piece that was accessible the whole time, but I only wound up collecting it on the way back. Time out and you’ll lose all of your cash. I think you also die if you wait long enough, but I never spent that long in the level to find out.
While previous games basically allowed Wario to be basically invulnerable, in this game, it is more than possible to die. You have a number of heart containers. You can fill this up through collecting hearts. Additionally, you can find an additional hidden chest and get a full health bonus. The final and slowest way to restore health is through taking out enemies. Many enemies have a small red item. This adds to a red bar. Fill the bar up and gain an extra heart. If you die in this game, you lose all of the gold and items you’ve collected in that level and are forced to start over. This sound bad, but you also basically have unlimited lives as well.
Along the way, you’ll also have “power ups” you need to use to get everything. There are arrows (which bees and the enemy with the bow and arrow are armed with). Get hit by that and you’ll inflate Wario’s head. This allows him to float up. “A” will cause him to move up faster. Touch a ceiling and Wario will deflate. Note that other enemies with arrows will simply damage you.
Another Power Up is Wario being lit on fire. Wario will run around and only turn around when he hits an obstacle. When Wario hits enough obstacles, he’ll become engulfed which forces you to walk slowly and disables jumping. Wait a bit and Wario will recover. The bonus of this is that it allows you to break flame breakables. Just time those jumps well.
A third power up will cause Wario to become super heavy. This allows him to break hard to break obstacles without the need to utilize the super butt drop. Just know that Wario can’t jump very high and slows him down as well. The benefit is that you can simply touch enemies to knock them out in this state.
Meanwhile the snowball power up covers Wario in snow. Touch a slope and he’ll become an unstoppable snow boulder. Hit a permanent obstacle and you’ll end your run. The bonus is that you can break snow breakables in the process.
Another power up is the spring one. If Wario gets hit with the enemy with the hammer, then he’ll jump around for a bit. Tap “A” at the right time and you’ll perform a super jump until you hit a ceiling. Breakable objects are no obstacle for you in this state.
A similar power up is the flattened state. You can cross small narrow gaps in this state. Additionally, you can float through the air and access high up narrow passages that would otherwise be unreachable.
An additional power up is the zombie state. You can’t walk very fast and you can’t jump very high. However, if you jump on a narrow platform, you can simply “melt” through. Your hat will fall down and allow Wario to reappear where there is a solid surface.
One final power up we’ll mention is the vampire bat state. In this state, you can fly around by using the arrow buttons and tapping “A”. Note that light will revert your state.
In the levels themselves, there are a number of obstacles such as ball receivers, slopes that allow you to roll through narrow passages, bonus areas that forces you to “work” with an old explorer, hidden areas, domino races, and a whole lot more. Suffice to say, this game will throw a lot of unique obstacles at you.
One thing I do like is the introductory level. You don’t need to understand any kind of written language to get through this. This game simply uses pictures and a diagram of the buttons to tell you what you need to do. It gives you a host of obstacles to overcome in the process so you have a shot at being able to solve later puzzles with ease.
A negative with this game is that there is a definite difficulty jump after the introductory level. At first, I thought I accessed the hard world, but really, the difficulty simply jumped. I found this to be a bit annoying. Still, the difficulty does level out quite a bit after. So, if you are able to take down the first world, the rest of the game save for maybe the final boss will definitely be beatable. The final boss is only moderately more challenging after.
Another complaint I have is that ladders and pipes can be finicky. I generally have to wander a bit on top of the ladder or pipe to find the correct hit box. This can definitely be annoying. Luckily, there isn’t a whole lot of ladders and pipes necessary to complete the game. Still, it is annoying to contend with.
Beyond the big jump in difficulty initially, I don’t really have anything to complain about in the overall gameplay. This game both makes me think as a player, but at the same time, doesn’t necessarily frustrate me that much. This, of course, is a difficult balance to make, but this game does manage to find that balance.
Generally speaking, this game has a lot going for it. There are a number of different challenges that keeps the game fresh from beginning to end. The initial difficulty curve and the finicky ladders and pipes can be annoying, but beyond that, there isn’t a whole lot to complain about here. There are a lot of power ups, collectibles, and environments to play with that keeps this game enjoyable from beginning to end. So, a solid performing game through and through.
Graphically, this is one of those games that need to show off this, at the time, new systems capabilities. At this point in time, we are coming off of the Game Boy Color, so an upgrade is definitely needed here. This game manages to show off the systems capabilities with style. There are all sorts of effects and transparencies involved here. Not a lot of hand held games did that up to this point. Additionally, the art from beginning to end works very well. The characters are also nicely animated. So, overall, I found this game to be impressive on that front.
The audio works quite well. The music is pretty decent. While I won’t necessarily be one to say the music is something to jump up and down in excitement over, it’s pretty solid. What I do like is the nice voice samples. This shows that this system is a step up from the Game Boy Color in a big way, adding a nice layer of life you might not otherwise notice is missing. The sound effects also work nicely as well. So, good all around.
Overall, this is a strong game for a game so early on in the systems life span. The gameplay is solid and varied, though the initial difficulty curve and finicky ladders and pipes are annoying. Meanwhile, the graphics are impressive for a handheld game at the time. Even the audio is pretty solid as well. So, overall, this is a great game to play.
Overall
Furthest point in game: Beat the game.
General gameplay: 21/25
Replay value: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Audio: 4/5
Overall rating: 82%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
