When it comes to rivals in video games, Wario is one of my favorites. Sure, Mario characters don’t offer much in the way of great character building, but Wario has always held a very special place in the Nintendo lineup for me. For being such a vile person, it’s pretty astounding that he has turned into one of the more iconic video game characters. A lot of that is thanks to the Wario Land games.
Wario made his debut as the main antagonist of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins before spinning off into his own series in the Wario Land games. The first one of those, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, is now 30 years old. While at its core, it is a 2D platformer like you are used to with Mario games, these titles shook up the traditional formula in unique and novel ways that no other Nintendo franchise had. With no true entry in the series since the Wii, Wario Land is in a prime position to take the spotlight once again.
The antithesis of Mario platformers
Similarly to how the character is essentially just the opposite of Mario, the Wario Land games are the antithesis of Mario platforming games. Instead of the acrobatic stylings of gaming’s number one plumber, Wario is bigger, slower, and more powerful. This lets his gameplay mirror his brash personality. He’s not looking to jump over enemies and run his way to a goalpost with grace and flair. Instead, he shoulder charges his way through most obstacles and, in most cases, doesn’t even need to worry about dying.
You would think that making a character unkillable would make the game a cakewalk, but that’s not the case here. Wario Land 2 and 3 both used enemy attacks to give various status effects to Wario that would allow him to get to certain areas. For example, getting stung by a bee would have him swell up and float to the top of the area. Being lit on fire would have him run at top speed while ablaze to break special blocks. In many cases, your objective becomes determining when and how to get hit by enemies in the right way to advance.
It’s examples like the above that made Wario Land 2 and 3 some of my favorite Game Boy games ever. If you have a subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library, I highly suggest you try out Wario Land 3. That game works as a pseudo-Metroidvania. You are running all over the world map to grab treasures that unlock new paths on other levels. Wario Land 2 doesn’t progress in the same way, but it also has a non-linear level path. Depending on the treasure you find, you can be put on a particular path as you work your way to completion.
While those two are my favorites, the rest of the games are no slouch. The most recent game, Shake It, being a Wii game, was heavily focused on shaking the controller, but stood out for its beautiful hand drawn animations. Virtual Boy Wario Land was essentially the only game on the ill-fated console to be received positively and worked in jumping into the background of levels about a full decade before other 2D platformers started doing it regularly. Every game in this series has at least one unique idea or feature worth checking out.
How to bring Wario Land back
Wario Land is the perfect ground for Nintendo to test out new ideas for a 2D platformer. Super Mario Bros. Wonder did this a lot with the Wonder Seeds, but a new Wario Land can get weird from start to end. First off, bring back Wario’s invulnerability and let enemies give him special abilities when they hit him. Those kinds of puzzles don’t show up in games these days. Some can make a return from the older games, but I would like to see more experimentation and give more utility to them besides just the single use they had in the Game Boy days.
A new Wario Land is also the perfect opportunity to build up popularity for Captain Syrup, who was the main antagonist of Wario Land 1 and 2, and also appeared in Wario Land: Shake It. This pirate captain is largely unknown in the Mario world, but give her the spotlight and I think we could have a new Pauline situation on our hands. Plus, having a female antagonist to insert into future Mario spinoff games would be really nice to see. To my knowledge, she has only appeared in the Wario Land games, but this is the perfect situation to build her out more to be a new potential female character for people to fall in love with.
Even with Warioware and Super Mario games still getting consistent releases, there is a vacant spot that only Wario Land can fill in the Nintendo lineup. Something that can let the brute show off all of his vulgar personality while also being a perfect experimental ground for new ideas. Super Mario Bros. Wonder showed that Nintendo is willing to get weird. Let’s see how weird they can go with Wario at the helm.