Bizarro Mario

User Rating: 8.5 | Wario Land Advance: Youki no Otakara GBA
Wario Land 4 / GBA / Platformer / 8.6


One day Wario reads the paper and learns that there's a treasure hidden in a pyramid set in the jungle. Wario takes off immediately and finds himself in a big adventure.

On every stage, You must find the four emerald shards in order to open the boss rooms and then find Wario's lazy friend Keysir so you can get to the next stage. On the stages you will also find hidden CDs which unlocks strange songs in the sound room.

Wario is really flexible this time around - he can bash, ram, crouch-jump, slide around, roll and make super stomps. I think this is what makes this game so unique. Although he is fatter than Mario, he knows more moves.

Wario can also be transformed into lots of stuff. For example touching a bat makes Wario turn into a bat. He can then fly un till he touch light. Wario can also get stung by a bee and get swollen he then floats upwards like a balloon and you have to steer him right and left.
All of them spice up the gameplay with their variation.

The enemies are clever and they fit into all the stages which have all been made special in their own way. Before the bosses you can meet up with this Game & Watch kind of guy and play 3 different mini-games. By earning score in those games, you can get bonus items to use at the following boss. The bosses themselves are well-made and you'll have a blast beating them up.

The music is one of the best things in this game. It's Funky, harmonic, goofy and industrial. Unfortunately the songs aren't very long, so you'll hear a lot of looping. The music can be affected though - for instance if you're rolling the music will speed up and if you crawl it will slow down. The different suits affects the music as well. That gives the game more of its un-serious look (positively meant).
The sound effects are good. Hearing Wario's different moans adds a specific touch to Wario Land 4.

The graphics are perfect for a GBA game, they are colorful and playful. The frame rate could've been a bit higher but that's not anything notable.

If you want more out of the game you can try to find all the CDs that are shattered across all the stages or you could beat all bosses with over 1 minute left on your timer. If you manage all that you might even unlock stuff.

The game also comes with 3 different difficulties - normal, hard and super hard. All they do is altering your life meter at the beginning of a stage, offers shorter timers, making the bosses harder and changing places of all the emerald shards. You'll rip your hair of trying to complete 100% on super hard(I'm looking at you Aerodent).

The game features a bit under 20 well-made stages packed with secret stuff that are at your disposal after solving puzzles. This game has some good replaying value though, all thanks to the fun gameplay and variation. Overall it's a great game to pull out your pocket and play on your handheld. It's a great buy for your Nintendo DS if you find it cheap - so check your bargain bin!

Real Score: 8.6

//Smithy92