Wario Land II
| Wario Land II | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Perfect!! Now let's go get the Syrup's treasure!!"
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wario Land II is a platform video game developed by Nintendo R&D1 and published by Nintendo in 1998 for the Game Boy, and later for the Game Boy Color in 1999. It is the second installment in the Wario Land series.
It was re-released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.
Plot
Captain Syrup, Wario's nemesis, and a few of her soldiers, the Pirate Goom, sneak to Wario's castle to cause havoc. They steal Wario's treasure, sets off his giant alarm clock, and leave the tap running, which floods much of Wario's castle. When Wario wakes up, he figures out what's going on, so he decides to give chase across the surrounding lands.
Why It Rocks
- Depending on which path you are going, you can get a different alternative ending everytime you are taking a different path to complete the game. Basically, you don't even need to take the exact same path to complete the game everytime you play it, as you can simply take another path, and still win the game to get an alternative ending.
- There are multiple storylines and hidden chapters, so you can play the game more if you enjoy it. In other words, Wario Land II has a lot of replay value.
- For 1998/1999 standards, the graphics look pretty great. While both versions of Wario Land II have the same graphics, the biggest difference that the Game Boy version has no color (which is a purpose of the Game Boy), while the Game Boy Color version is in color (which is also the point of the GBC).
- Awesome soundtrack. Wario Land II still offers it to this day, especially for a Game Boy game. And this is what would you expect from a Wario Land game, especially since the Wario Land franchise does have awesome soundtrack.
- If you wanted to see a remake of a Game & Watch game on a game released for the Game Boy, then Wario Land II contains one. It contains a remake of Flagman, and it is called Flagman D.D..
- Some enemies cause Wario to assume several new forms. For example, when Wario will get hit by a Yukimaru's chilling breath, he will be covered in ice and slide backwards until he hits a wall, resulting in every enemy on his side being killed.
- As expected from a Wario Land game, the game has tight and responsive controls, which are still good to this day. There's absolutely no chance for the controls to be unresponsive, especially since the Wario Land franchise has responsive controls.
- Awesome box art that still look great by today standards.
- The game is very long, lasting 8 hours if you want to 100% the game, making this game even longer than the first game and even the third game.
Bad Qualities
- The 100% can be quite tedious to make, especially if you struggle making 100% of any games in general.
- It's can be too hard to get some treasures, especially the piece that you had to get at the end of the levels.
- Unlike the first game, you can't die, making the game way too easy compared to the first game where it was challenging.
Reception
Ratings
- GameRankings: 88%
- Nintendo Life: 9/10
Critical reception
Wario Land II received critical acclaim from critics and players. On GameRankings, the Game Boy Color version has a score of 88%, based on 14 reviews, while Nintendo Life gave it a 9/10.[1] On GameFAQs, the Game Boy version received 3.91/5 stars from 352 users[2], while the Game Boy Color version received 3.98/5 stars from 517 users.[3]
Videos
Trivia
- The Game Boy version was supposed to be also released in Japan, but this release was cancelled, probably due to the release of the Game Boy Color.
- This is the first game which depicts Wario as wearing a short-sleeved shirt.
- The Japanese release of Wario Land II came with two black decals shaped like Wario's mustache.
- Many of the game's treasures are references to other Nintendo games and franchises, like Yoshi, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid.
- This is the first Wario Land title to not feature Gunpei Yokoi in the main staff due to his death a year prior to its release.
- The theme for both matching mini-games is borrowed from the Game Boy Donkey Kong.