Wario Land 4

Plot

Wario is reading the newspaper when he notices an article about a mysterious pyramid found deep in the jungle. The legend related to the pyramid is that of Princess Shokora, ruler of the pyramid, who was cursed by the money-crazed Golden Diva.

Without wasting time, Wario jumps into his Wario Car and speeds toward the pyramid. As he enters it, he finds a black cat and chases it. Doing so, he falls down a precipice and is stuck inside the pyramid.

After fighting his way through the entry passage and an early boss battle against Spoiled Rotten, Wario discovers four new passages. After completing these passages, Wario gains access to the innermost part of the pyramid, which ends up being the stronghold of Golden Diva. Wario meets the cat again, who turns out to be Princess Shokora.

Wario defeats Golden Diva and exits the pyramid with all his treasure. What form Shokora returns to depends on the number of treasure chests Wario had acquired from the other bosses prior as well as how quickly the Golden Diva is defeated (this can range from a brattish child, a female version of Wario, a Peach-like princess and ultimately, a superheroine-like princess). Shokora gives Wario a kiss on the cheek and ascends to the afterlife.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Wario Land 4 (which is generally similar to that of Wario Lands 2 and 3) allows for some open-endedness as well as some order of difficulty. After an Entry Passage that serves as a tutorial for the game, there are four main passages: the Emerald, Topaz, Ruby, and Sapphire Passages, in order of difficulty. The Emerald Passage is themed around nature. The Topaz Passage is themed around toys, games, and other "playtime" ideas. The Ruby Passage is themed around mechanics and technology. The Sapphire Passage is themed around horror and danger, prominently involving ghosts and the like. After these four main passages is the "Final" Golden Passage, which serves as a recap of these four themes and also houses the final boss.

Wario's objective in each of the 18 levels is to find the room's treasures and escape the level with them. The room's treasures include:

Wario enters each level through a portal, which promptly closes behind him. He then has unlimited time to explore the level and collect treasure. However, in order to open the portal again and escape with the treasure, Wario must locate and press the Frog Switch. This will open the portal but also start a timer, giving Wario a limited time to get back to the portal - if Wario runs out of time, he begins to lose coins, and will get kicked out of the level with no treasures if he runs out. The levels contain many variations of the switch theme: some require Wario to retrace his steps completely while some might require that he explore totally new areas. Some switches change the level drastically - for instance, the volcano-themed level, "Fiery Cavern", freezes over when the switch is pressed. The Golden Passage has the most extreme variation on this theme: the Frog Switch is stationed right below the portal, forcing Wario to press it as he enters and thus only have limited time to explore the level and collect its treasures.

Unlike Wario Land 2 and Wario Land 3, Wario is not indestructible, and has a limited number of hearts, which are depleted as he is damaged by enemies. If Wario loses his last heart, he is kicked out of the level, losing all treasures that he had gained in that attempt through the level. Wario starts each level with four hearts, but can expand this to a maximum of 8 by collecting hearts found in levels as well as hearts dropped by enemies. However, attacks launched by enemies that give Wario alternate abilities do not deplete his hearts.

At the end of each passage, Wario encounters a boss room, which requires all of the gems to be completed in order to enter. In the boss room, Wario must destroy a boss stationed there within a set time limit and eight hearts (which Wario has no opportunity to replenish). By defeating the boss, Wario clears the passage - defeating the Entry Passage boss unlocks the four main passages, defeating those bosses unlocks the Golden Passage, and defeating the Golden Passage boss wins the game. Treasure chests can also be won from bosses dependent on how long Wario took to defeat them, ultimately affecting the game's ending (if Wario takes too long to defeat a boss but still manages to do so before time runs out, some treasure may be withheld).

Between the four levels and the boss room is a minigame room, in which Wario may spend his coins to play one of three mini-games and win medals. These medals can then be used in a shop before the boss room to buy items, which deal damage to the boss before the battle and thus reduce the amount of time needed to beat it.

When a new save file is created, a player may select one of two difficulty levels: Normal, and Hard. Both difficulty levels have identical stage layouts, but Hard mode places the gem pieces in harder-to-reach locations (often requiring more effective use of Wario's special abilities) and also grants less time for escaping levels and boss sequences. A Super Hard mode can also be unlocked, which reduces allowed escape time further and also reduces the number of hearts offered for defeating bosses.

Re-releases

The game is included in the list of Game Boy Advance games that are available for download by Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors since December 16, 2011.

The game has been released on the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan on April 30, 2014, in North America on May 8, 2014 and in Europe and Australia on June 5, 2014.

Reception

The game received positive reviews. IGN gave Wario Land 4 a 9 out of 10, or "Outstanding", citing its well thought out level design and replayability. GamePro stated "Boasting fantastic graphics and awesome transparency effects for water and fog, Wario Land 4 pushes the GBA to its visual limits". GameSpot commented "The gameplay is tight and varied, the graphics are detailed and bright, and the sound is second to none". GameSpy called the game: "An incredibly entertaining, diverse, and humorous addition to the Mario/Wario legacy. It's challenging and creative, but not as outright frustrating as 'Wario Land 3.'" Game Informer noted "It's nothing new to the Wario Land enthusiast, but it's enjoyable nonetheless". Nintendo Power stated "It's polished variety paired with a mishmash of moves, which makes Wario Land 4 fun through and through".