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Wario Land 4 (GameBoy Advance (GBA)) Reviews & Ratings
Reviews, Ratings, and Professional Opinions
Review/Rating:
The plumbing and platform genius Mario has been amazing us for many years now and so has his slightly less famous brother Luigi. But, there’s one person in this range of games created by Nintendo that everyone seems to forget about, his name is Wario, and exact opposite of Mario, evil and sinister, the only similarity is that they both jump on strangely levitating platforms throughout many crazy, but well designed levels.
In his earlier expeditions of mentalist values, Wario was an invincible lump of lard that had nothing to worry about but getting what he wanted, but the fourth time round, this has all changed, Wario is now corporeal and strangely enough, it doesn’t make the game any less playable, in fact, I think it makes it better.
Basically, being at the helm of your GBA, you play the selfish bastard Wario while you elegantly leap around obscure temples each with devastating yet innovative additions to them while sporadically having to complete puzzles that require a very small amount of contemplation. You make your way around many levels using as much skill and cunning as you can possible squeeze out from between Wario’s tightly filled belt. Using a combination of creative moves, Wario applies his mighty boot to many enemies’ butts that are unfortunate enough to be around while also collecting medals and other shiny things in order to buy weapons to kill bosses.
Wario Land 4 is a very hard and long game, but it’s not the puzzles that make you want to swiftly remove your GBA from a working state with one blow of your fist, in fact it’s just the general levels and enemies that can be extremely frustrating. Small things like falling off ledges that aren’t really that hard to get to, but after falling off it for the 50th time, you really consider how much you want your GBA. Also, the bosses are one of the hardest part of the game, I know that they are supposed to be hard, but I think they’re over-hard, the first boss took ages to kill and don’t even get me started on the second.
When it comes to looks, Wario Land 4 is a winner, possibly one of the best-looking games for the GBA even though it doesn’t harness the full capabilities of the machine. Small things like the transparency of the ghosts and the splashes of rain on the water below really do add a definitive level of atmospheric goodness to the game. Also, the animation in Wario Land 4 is better than some games I have seen on more technologically advanced platforms such as the PSone. The movement of Wario and his foes is beautiful. But, due to the fact that the GBA has no backlight (because of battery power restrictions) you can’t appreciate the full beauty of WL4 unless you’re in sunlight or under a bright white light.
As most gamers probably know, Gameboys haven’t exactly been on top of the good-sound list, but Wario Land 4 has superb music, some of the tracks in it even have lyrics. As a bonus for all of the levels, there is a CD that is hidden throughout the level that Wario can pick up and listen to in the music room that can be access between choosing a level to play.
In summary, Wario Land 4 is one of the best platformers I have ever played, and believe me; I’ve played a few. If you own a GBA and you want an excellent platformer with great music and seriously mind-blowing animation then get your wallet out because Wario Land 4 is for you.
RATING: 8.5/10
