Virtual Boy Wario Land
North American cover art
Developer(s)Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Hiroji Kiyotake
Hirofumi Matsuoka
Producer(s)Gunpei Yokoi
Composer(s)Kazumi Totaka
SeriesWario
Platform(s)Virtual Boy
Release
  • NA: November 27, 1995
  • JP: December 1, 1995
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Virtual Boy Wario Land[a] is a platforming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Virtual Boy game system in 1995. It stars Wario, a treasure hunter who must find treasure and fight enemies to progress. Wario can jump and charge with his shoulder as basic techniques, and equip special hats to gain things such as fire breathing and bull horns. He has the ability to enter the background at certain points, making use of the console's stereoscopic 3D effect. It was developed by Nintendo R&D1, containing a large portion of its staff, and features the red-and-black color scheme that is standard for Virtual Boy releases.

It received generally positive reception, particularly among retrospectives. It is regarded as one of the best games on the Virtual Boy, receiving praise for its gameplay and utilization of 3D depth, and criticism for its short length. It served as an inspiration for multiple games due to its background gimmick, including Donkey Kong Country Returns and Mutant Mudds.

Plot

Virtual Boy Wario Land stars Wario on a quest to find treasure in the Awazon. Witnessing strange creatures entering a secret cave behind a waterfall, he decided to follow them. Claiming their treasure vault as his own, he collapses through the floor and must fight his way back to the top.

The ending depends upon whether Wario found all additional treasure in the lower tunnels and the coins he has collected:

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

Virtual Boy Wario Land stars Wario on a quest to find treasure in the Awazon. Gameplay involves techniques such as jumping, charging, and throwing enemies and objects. The levels he explores are viewed from a sidescrolling perspective. He has the ability to jump into the background at special blocks. Similarly to Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, featuring the ability to equip hats to gain new powers, which he loses if he takes damage or dies. These hats include an eagle hat that allows Wario to charge horizontally in mid-air, a dragon hat that breathes fire, and a bull hat that increases his power and adds horns. He can obtain a hat with all three abilities called the King Dragon Hat. In each stage, Wario must collect treasure and find a key to unlock the elevator to the next stage. Players can find different treasures hidden around the stages to increase their overall score. There are also mini-games in between stages in which Wario can gamble with the loot he has collected so far. Players fight bosses on occasion, which make use of the game's background gimmick.

Development and release

Virtual Boy Wario Land was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and published by Nintendo. The game was originally named Wario Cruise, appearing with the name on the Virtual Boy system's box and in a Nintendo Power issue.[1] Its development had a large allocation of R&D1's staff involved.[2] It was co-directed by Hiroji Kiyotake and Hirofumi Matsuoka, and produced by Gunpei Yokoi.[3][4][5] The music and sound effects were composed by Kazumi Totaka, which was ultimately his final project with R&D1.[6] Totaka includes a song called "Totaka's Song", which he hides in most video games he composes.[7] Like all other Virtual Boy games, Virtual Boy Wario Land uses a red-and-black color scheme and uses parallax, an optical trick used to simulate 3D.[8] It was released in 1995 on November 27 in North America and December 1 in Japan.[9][10]

Reception and legacy

Virtual Boy Wario Land garnered mostly positive reviews upon release, with most critiques aimed at the Virtual Boy hardware itself.[20] Los Angeles Times's Aaron Curtis found the game enjoyable, but did not like the Virtual Boy's visual style.[21] Rocky Mountain News's Joel Easley felt that its use of 3D demonstrated the Virtual Boy's possibilities, a sentiment shared by AllGame's Scott Alan Marriott.[22][11] GamePro's Wes Nihei praised it for its sound effects and character sprite quality, regarding it as the best game on the platform.[12] Next Generation felt that while it had appeal to more "hardcore" Mario fans, it was not very advanced in comparison to older Mario games. They felt that the 3D mechanic did not add much to the game.[14]

Retrospective criticism for Virtual Boy Wario Land has been more favorable. It has been named as one of the best games on the Virtual Boy by GamesRadar+, Nintendo Power and Retronauts, the latter of which noted that it should be remade for a different platform.[2][23][24][25] GamesRadar+ writer Mikel Reparaz called it a "legitimately awesome" platformer, despite its lacking "3D" gimmick. They noted that Virtual Boy Wario Land was the kind of game that fans wanted the fellow Virtual Boy game Mario Clash to be.[26] Destructoid and IGN similarly hoped to see it re-released, specifically for the Nintendo 3DS.[27][28] Kotaku staff felt that it was unappreciated at release due to its platform.[29] Play's Dave Halverson returned to play Virtual Boy Wario Land often, praising it for not getting tiresome to replay.[30] Retro Gamer felt that the background gimmick helped enhance an otherwise "traditional" platformer.[31] The Australian video game talk show Good Game also felt that it could have done more with its visuals, nonetheless calling it the best Virtual Boy game.[8] Nintendo World Report's Neal Ronaghan enjoyed the background gimmick but felt it did not do as well as it could to explore the concept. They also felt that it served as a demonstration of what a "traditional" game could look like with the 3D gimmicks.[17][32] GameZone felt that its cavernous setting helped the Virtual Boy emphasize subtle visual details, considering it worth buying a Virtual Boy for this game.[33] Polygon writer Kyle Hilliard found that, despite being less popular than all other Wario games, it's the best Wario game. He discussed how, despite it being his first time playing it, he felt nostalgic due to its use of familiar elements from the first Wario Land game. He also praised its 3D effects, particularly the boss battles.[34]

Virtual Boy Wario Land's background gimmick served as inspiration for multiple developers, including Retro Studios in the 2010 Wii game Donkey Kong Country Returns, Jool Watsham in the 2011 3DS game Mutant Mudds.[35][36], and the 2023 Nintendo Switch game Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Notes

  1. ^ Known in Japan as Virtual Boy Wario Land: Hidden Treasures of Awazon (Japanese: バーチャルボーイワリオランド アワゾンの秘宝, Hepburn: Bācharu Bōi Wario Rando: Awazon no Hihō)

References

  1. ^ Staff (September 1995). "Release Forecast". Nintendo Power. No. 76. p. 113.
  2. ^ a b Parish, Jeremy (February 27, 2019). "Virtual Boy Works finally reaches the only game anyone cares about". Retronauts. USgamer. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  3. ^ Mirachian, Darron (September 30, 2021). "Three decades of Wario all started with a name". Polygon. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  4. ^ Kohler, Chris (May 10, 2017). "Nintendo's Line Of Wario Platformers Ended Far Too Long Ago". Kotaku. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  5. ^ Staff: "Producer: Gumpei Yokoi" Nintendo R&D1 (November 27, 1995). Virtual Boy Wario Land. Nintendo.((cite book)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Kazumi Totaka Profile". Video Game Music Online. January 20, 2013. Archived from the original on September 19, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  7. ^ Orland, Kyle (December 14, 2006). "Totaka's song: The search is on". Engadget. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Backwards Compatible: The Virtual Boy". Good Game. June 1, 2009. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: バーチャルボーイワリオランドアワゾンの秘宝". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 364. ASCII Corporation. December 8, 1995. p. 32. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  10. ^ "Virtual Boy Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Marriott, Scott Alan (2007). "Virtual Boy Wario Land – Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Nihei, Wes (March 1996). "ProReview: Portable Systems – Wario Land (Virtual Boy)". GamePro. IDG. p. 69.
  13. ^ Moore, Jason (August 1997). "Planet 64 News: Retroworld – Wario Land (Virtual Boy)" (PDF). N64 Magazine. No. 5. Future Publishing. p. 17.
  14. ^ a b "Finals – Virtual Boy – Wario Land". Next Generation. No. 19. Imagine Media. July 1996. p. 83.
  15. ^ Frear, Dave (May 5, 2009). "Virtual Boy Wario Land Review (VB) – The Virtual Boy's best game?". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  16. ^ "Now Playing – Wario Land (Virtual Boy)". Nintendo Power. No. 79. Nintendo of America. December 1995. p. 106.
  17. ^ a b Ronaghan, Neal (August 13, 2015). "Virtual Boy Wario Land Review Mini". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  18. ^ R.I.P. (1996). "The Final Word game review – Virtual Boy: Wario Land – Nintendo". Game Zero Magazine. Game Zero. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  19. ^ Upchurch, Dave; Clays, Simon (March 1996). "Review: Virtual Boy Wario Land". Nintendo Magazine System. No. 42. EMAP. pp. 40–43.
  20. ^ "ワリオランド". Virtual Boy 追悼記念ガイドブック – 改訂第ニ版 (in Japanese). Toyo Baphomet Council. January 24, 1998. p. 6.
  21. ^ Curtis, Aaron (February 8, 1996). "Valley Weekend: Wario Good for a Hoot and a Headache – The Virtual Boy adventure has some fun features, but the 3-D, red and black display can be a pain". Los Angeles Times.
  22. ^ Easley, Joel (March 1, 1996). "Book A Trip To 'Wario Land'". Rocky Mountain News. E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  23. ^ Reparaz, Mikel (February 23, 2008). "The 10 worst consoles ever – Think the 360/PS3/Wii sucks? These overpriced failures will teach you the true meaning of awful". GamesRadar+. Future US. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  24. ^ "Best of the Best: Virtual Boy Wario Land". Nintendo Power. No. 231. Future US. August 2008. p. 72.
  25. ^ Parish, Jeremy (May 19, 2009). "Retronauts – 8-Bit Cafe: Born on Game Boy". 1UP.com. IGN. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  26. ^ Reparaz, Mikel. "The 5 best Virtual Boy games". GamesRadar. p. 2. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  27. ^ Harris, Craig (July 15, 2010). "Legacy Games for Nintendo 3DS – This isn't the first 3D system. Let's celebrate with some classic Nintendo ports!". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  28. ^ Holmes, Jonathan (January 18, 2011). "Some games that deserve a 3DS revival". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  29. ^ Bertoli, Ben (February 25, 2015). "The Most Unappreciated Platformers of the '90s". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  30. ^ Halverson, Dave (May 2005). "Wario Land – Big Red". Play. No. 41. Fusion Publishing. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  31. ^ McFerran, Damien (May 2009). "Retroispection: Virtual Boy". Retro Gamer. No. 64. Imagine Publishing. pp. 56–61.
  32. ^ Ronaghan, Neal (September 21, 2010). "A Virtual Boy Retrospective – Giving due credit to Nintendo's least-loved system, its games, and how the 3DS owes more to it than you think (Page 2)". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  33. ^ kombo (May 4, 2012). "The Chronicles of Wario: A Retrospect". gamezone.com. GameZone. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  34. ^ Hilliard, Kyle (September 30, 2021). "Virtual Boy Wario Land is a painful, nostalgic experience". Polygon. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  35. ^ Claiborn, Samuel (March 3, 2011). "GDC: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Donkey Kong Country Returns and Retro Studios – Metroid Prime Trilogy developer discusses the stubborn monkey". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  36. ^ Dillard, Corbie (January 6, 2012). "Interview: Mutant Mudds Reader Questions – Renegade Kid answers your questions". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.

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