Date Acquired: 2010 sometime
Date Completed: 8.31.2010
Thoughts: August was another close call for me. It was a very busy month. My time was taken up by finals in both of my classes, and I started spending time with Nicole. This all led to a relatively video-game free month for me. I finished my finals up last Friday and drove down to Klamath Falls with my family for the week. My DS and Wii were the only two consoles to make the trip, which limited my choices for August's game. I bought Wario Land a few months ago for $11 at Best Buy. I had had interest in it previously, but always thought that at $50 it was over priced. It actually seemed like it should have been a wii-ware title or even a DS game, not a $50 Wii game. The reviews weren't glowing either, so I passed on it, resigned to miss it since Nintendo rarely drops the price of their first party games.
Pros: The graphics and animation are very appealing. Much better graphics than I'm accustomed to seeing in 2D. And I grew up on side scrollers so I have a soft spot for them. The game itself isn't very difficult, but the boss fights, especially the last few, are challenging and fun. The game has some humor to it and is inventive and clever. I liked that you had to purchase maps (after beating a boss) to continue. Towards the end I didn't have enough money to buy the next map, so I had to replay earlier levels to build up my cash. I of course chose the levels I'd made the most money in. I never played the GBA Wario games, so I can't say if it's a natural evolution of that series or not.
Cons: Well it's too short for one thing. My original assessment was correct, this game in no way is worth $50. $11 was fine, but I would feel pretty cheated if I'd paid $50 for this short single player game. Sure I could go back and try to find every hidden treasure, but I never like doing stuff like that. Speaking of the treasure, what was the point of it? You get no money bonus at all for finding it, and you can't sell it like you can in Resident Evil 5. It doesn't help you raise money for your next map or heart container, so what does it do? Nothing. I would have preferred charging more for the maps but letting me sell my treasure. Make it actually worth something, damnit.
Conclusion: Overall it was a fun enough game. Not really something that stands out as one of the best games I've played, but a fun and fast experience. Still should have been a Wiiware title though.
To do: Nothing. I'm mailing it to my 12 year old cousin who's obsessed with Mario. He'll appreciate it, but I'm never going to play it again.
While people expect a certain sameness and familiarity from a 2D "Super Mario" game, Nintendo has created little spin-offs like Wario Land and Super Princess Peach and Yoshi's Island so they have a place to get a little creative and try different stuff without having to worry about the polish and perfection expected of a true Mario title. It's a pretty smart little tactic as it lets them let their hair down a bit and not have to worry about messing with Mario's legacy of greatness but still do some stuff that sometimes ends up being really interesting, if rough around the edges.
ReplyDeleteWario Land is of course the only one that's really developed into a franchise proper. I only played a couple of the early ones, but I get the impression from reviews and from listening to Retronauts (Parish is a big fan of the series and counts the early games among his all-time favorites) that the games have gotten a little less inventive as time has gone on and become more basic action/platform. At first, the gimmick was that Wario couldn't be killed by enemies or hazards, so you'd have to get hurt on purpose and use whatever reaction Wario had to being hurt in order to progress (not terribly unlike the emotions in Super Princess Peach). Get hit by a fireball, catch on fire, and then burn down the tree blocking your path, for example. But they eventually abandonded that, which is too bad.
It's nice to see that they at least brought the puzzley elements back a little bit with this game rather than making it a beat-em-up like Wario World was, though. I'm definitely going to pick it up and play it some day. I mean, it's a Nintendo platformer. As if I even have a choice in the matter.
Ha, well I haven't mailed it to my cousin YET... ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember hearing about some of those inovations in the original Wario games. THe fire thing IS in this game, but that's the only one. I remember he could be squished I think, to fit into smaller spaces and stuff. That isn't an option in this game. It really is a pretty game, and fun. I just wouldn't spend a ton of money on it. $11 was perfect. Jeremy wasn't kind to this game in his review, so I assume the original games are superior.