The first Wario Experience is not a disappointment!
If you have played the second game then you might be aware of Captain Syrup and her Black Sugar Gang. They make their first appearance in this game and when the game starts they have stolen the beautiful and gigantic statue of Princess Peach. Wario get's to hear about this (this is never told in the game, but at least it says so in the story part of the manual) and hopes that if he can return the castle to Peach he can get a reward in form of, say, a castle. Those of you who have played the second game might think you know how it ends, but I assure you that there is a little twist. There is also a couple of different endings but all are very similar and only varies depending on how much money and how many treasures you've collected.
The game is set on Kitchen Island, and because of that every area in the game is named after food or kitchen utensils, such as Rice Beach, The S/S Tea Cup, Sherbet Island, Mount Kettle and so on. Though it's all in black and white the level design is both funny and varied. It's set in everything from dark caves and gloomy dungeons to sunny beaches and spooky forests, and even a couple of rapid train levels. The enemies are mainly idiots but that is to be expected, except for the bosses that mostly turns out to be quite challenging. The control is acceptable, since it feels limited, at least when you've seen what Wario can do in the later games, but it works just fine. Your stamina in this game is indicated of what kind of hat Wario is wearing. He starts out with a tropical helmet and can get bunny ears, crocodile heads, a horned helmet and so on, which is just as screwed up as it sounds.
If you're a fan of the Wario series, or Mario series for that matter and haven't played this game you better have an excuse.