Wario Land II

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Wario Land II
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Engine	Majorly enhanced Wario Land engine.
Platform(s)	Game Boy, Game Boy Color
Release date	Game Boy March 2, 1998 Game Boy Color March 31, 1999
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone)
Media	8-megabit cartridge (Game Boy version) 16-megabit cartridge (Game Boy Color version)

Wario Land II is a video game released for the Game Boy in 1998. It was the last first-party title made for the Game Boy and was later remade to take advantage of the Game Boy Color hardware. Both versions of the game can be enhanced in Super Game Boy with borders that switch according to game situations. Colors on the Super Game Boy are not interchangeable as your ability to change them is overruled by internal game commands, while a Game Genie code was made to allow colors to be changed but causing borders to not appear. In the later color version, the save file must be deleted if a Color or Super save is in it before playing the other one. In this game, Wario has to recover his treasure from Captain Syrup and her Black Sugar Gang (formerly the Brown Sugar Pirates).

Gameplay

Wario Land II starts at the end of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. In this game, as in its sequel, Wario Land 3, Wario is indestructible. This necessitated the introduction of challenging and inventive puzzle elements to the game's levels. Enemy attacks can be both a help and a hindrance; on the one hand, they may change Wario's status (so that he is on fire or frozen, for example) or even transform him in order to access new areas - on the other such changes may actually prevent progress and need to be avoided. In addition, some enemy attacks simply stun Wario and make him drop some of the coins he is carrying. Bosses defeat Wario by forcing him out of the boss 'arena'. This resets the boss, and the player must try again.

Coins are of vital importance for use in the game's two minigames - one, a memory game, unlocks the 'treasures' in each level, while the other is a guessing game that unlocks pieces of a treasure map. Both games require coins to play, and in both cases are easier the more coins the player has. In addition, these games must be completed in every level of the game in order to unlock a special, 'final' level ('The Really Final Chapter').

Wario Land II is not entirely linear in narrative, something that is unusual for a platform game. Reaching one of the game's end bosses will reveal a 'map' of the game after the first play-through, from which the levels with secret exits are revealed, and the player may choose which level they want to enter among the ones unlocked. All secret exits alter the storyline of the game (which is conveyed in cutscenes), and all but one alter the game's ending.

Plot

The game features the return of Wario's nemesis, Captain Syrup. Early one morning, she and a few of her soldiers, the Pirate Gooms, sneak into Wario's Castle and cause havoc. They steal his precious treasure, set off his giant alarm clock, and leave the faucet running, flooding much of his castle. After Wario wakes up and figures out what's going on, he gives chase to them all across the surrounding lands. The game is noteworthy for its branching paths. By finding hidden exits in some stages, the player can change the direction of the game's plot (loose as it is) and uncover different endings, as well as find more treasure. In fact, finding every single ending and the really final chapter is the only way to truly finish the game.

Development

Unlike the previous game in the series, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, in Wario Land II, Wario is indestructible (although not impervious to harm) and loses coins rather than health, like Sonic The Hedgehog. Rather than using Mario-esque caps with abilities, the attacks of certain enemies transform Wario into other forms.

Rather than the navigable world of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, in Wario Land II, if you complete the game you can then select levels in an overworld manner, in the form of a story with chapters (though the order is not entirely fixed).

The 'final' level, in which you steal Captain Syrup's treasure, puts all of Wario's abilities to the test. The end boss is one last Giant Spear Man, and completing the level will yield the best ending of the game, where all but one of Syrup's crew is gone for good.

Reception

Upon release Wario Land II was widely praised for its inventive gameplay elements and for being a 'fresh spin' on the platforming genre, as well as having well-designed levels and being a fun experience.

References

External links

• Wario Land 2 at MobyGames