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Wario World

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Wario World
Developer(s)Treasure
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Designer(s)Kouichi Kimura (director)
Hitoshi Yamagami (director)
Takehiro Izushi (producer)
Masato Maegawa (producer)
Satoru Iwata (executive producer)
Platform(s)Nintendo GameCube
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Wario World is a platform game developed by Treasure and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube. It was released in Europe on June 20, 2003, in North America on June 23, 2003, and in Japan on May 27, 2004. It marks Wario's first starring appearance on a home games console. The game's plot centers around Wario and his quest to regain his treasure and his castle from an evil black jewel.

The game was fairly well-received by reviewers. They praised the gameplay, but criticized the game for being too short. Wario World has sold over 142,000 copies in Japan and over 256,000 copies in the United States.[1] In 2004, the game was re-released as a Player's Choice title.[2]

Gameplay

Wario fighting enemies

Wario World's gameplay centers mainly on combating enemies, although it requires some platform navigation similar to Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. The controls are simple, and are only used to jump, run, dash, perform fighting moves, and use the "Hyper Suction" ability to consume nearby coins.[3] The level designs are platform-based with combat elements, and have an overall linear design. The levels contain trapdoors, which lead to special platforming or puzzle-oriented challenges that are optional.[4] Throughout the game, small forest sprites known as "Spiritelings" give Wario advice if they are rescued from imprisonment.[5]

During combat, Wario can grab enemies and either spin them around, throw them, or piledrive them into the ground.[6] Enemies drop coins when defeated, and tend to regenerate if the area is left and returned to later. The coins are used to purchase items, such as life-restoring garlic, and to return to life.[7] If Wario does not have enough money to return to life, the game is over.[8] A new feature in Wario World are the spherical "glue globes", in which Wario is stuck to it he touches it, allowing the player to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.[9] Along the way, Wario can re-collect his lost treasures, which are hidden in treasure chests, and collect pieces of golden Wario statues, which increases Wario's life meter by one half.[10] In order to advance in the game, the player must collect a certain amount of red diamonds in each level.[11] If the player collects all the treasure in the various levels, minigames from the Game Boy Advance title WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! are unlocked, and they can be played by using the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable.[12]

Plot and setting

Wario World takes place on four worlds called Excitement Central, Spooktastic World, Thrillsville, and Sparkle World. Each world consists of two levels and a boss fight. The worlds are reached from a main hub area. The hub area also leads to the Treasure Square where the Huge Treasure Box is placed.[8]

Story

The game begins with Wario enjoying his newly built castle, which is filled with treasures that he has collected from earlier adventures.[13] There is, however, an evil black jewel in Wario's treasure collection that awakens and destroys Wario's castle. The jewel transforms his treasure into monsters, and then turns his castle into four different worlds.[14][15] After recovering his treasure from the four worlds, Wario attains the key to the Huge Treasure Box containing the Black Jewel. They engage in a battle, in which Wario is victorious, and is thus awarded with regaining his castle.

Development

Wario World was first shown at E3 2002 as a technical demo.[16] At the next E3 in 2003, it was shown with new levels of gameplay polish and tweaking, which the previous E3 demo was lacking.[17] On August 22, 2002, at Nintendo's Gamer's Summit, Wario World's North American release date was set to November 11, 2002.[18] The game was later going to be released on May 26, 2003, but was further delayed by one month till June 23.[19]

It was uncertain who was developing Wario World, until April 22, 2003, when Nintendo of America officially revealed that Treasure, the company behind the successful titles Gunstar Heroes and Ikaruga, was developing the game.[20] After the successful development collaboration Treasure and Nintendo shared with the Nintendo 64 title, Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Earth, the two companies wanted to work together again. The R&D1 team wanted to continue their co-development juncture with a 3D installment of the Wario franchise.[21] Wario World's music was composed by Norio Hanzawa and Minako Hamano.[22] Wario was voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario and Luigi in the Mario series.[23]

Reception

Wario World was a commercial success, selling over 142,000 copies in Japan and over 256,000 copies in the United States.[1] In 2004, the game was re-released alongside Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and F-Zero GX as part of the Player's Choice line, a selection of games with high sales sold for a reduced price.[27]

Critical response

The overall reception of Wario World was fairly positive. The UK version of Play magazine gave the game a perfect score, and the reviewer commented that Wario World "pays off every second I'm holding the controller, and that, to me, is greatness."[28] Nintendo Power said that the game was "tons of fun."[29] GamePro stated that Wario World "stays addictive by weight of sheer design innovation."[30] The American-based publication Game Informer praised the game for including "droves of awesome boss battles." Matt Casamassina of IGN declared that Wario World had "some great control mechanics and inventive level work."[31]

Criticism

Wario World also received criticism, mainly because various reviewers found the game was shorter than one would expect for a console title. Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer compared Wario World to Luigi's Mansion, a game also criticized for its length, and said that the game was like Luigi's Mansion "all over again."[32] GameSpy stated that Wario World "offers little above and beyond the standard 3D platform romp, and what is offered turns out to be very short and repetitive."[33] GameSpot commented that "the final product is too short and simplistic to hold your attention for more than a day."[34]

References

  1. ^ a b "GameCube Best Selling Ranking". Shrine of Data Sales Database. 1997-11-05. Archived from the original on 2005-02-25. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
  2. ^ IGN Staff (2004-03-16). "Mario Golf, F-Zero Go Bargain-Priced". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  3. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. pp. 6–7.
  4. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. pp. 18–19.
  5. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. p. 12.
  6. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. pp. 8–9.
  7. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. p. 17.
  8. ^ a b Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. p. 16.
  9. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. p. 20.
  10. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. pp. 17–18.
  11. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. p. 13.
  12. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. p. 24.
  13. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. p. 4.
  14. ^ Black Jewel: Ooh, free at last! I'm chock-full of power! I think I'll turn all of this greedy sap's jewels into evil spirits! Bwah ha ha ha ha!!! Treasure (2003-06-23). Wario World (Nintendo GameCube). Nintendo.
  15. ^ Wario World instruction booklet (in Swedish). Nintendo. 2003. pp. 4–5.
  16. ^ IGN Staff (2002-05-23). "E3 2002: Hands on Wario World". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
  17. ^ Lewis, Cory D. (2003-05-14). "E3 2003: Hands-on Wario World". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  18. ^ IGN Staff (2002-08-22). "Wario Gets a Date". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  19. ^ IGN Staff (2003-03-10). "F-Zero and Wario Delayed". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  20. ^ IGN Staff (2003-04-22). "Treasure and Wario World". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  21. ^ "Wario World Development Summary". N-Sider. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  22. ^ "Wario World Info". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
  23. ^ "Full cast and crew for Wario World". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
  24. ^ "Wario World review". 1UP.com. 2004-05-29. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  25. ^ "Wario World reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  26. ^ "Wario World reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  27. ^ IGN Staff (2004-03-16). "Mario Golf, F-Zero Go Bargain-Priced". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  28. ^ Play, Imagine Publishing, p. 60, June 2003 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ^ Nintendo Power, Future US, p. 80, July 2003 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  30. ^ Fennecfox (2003-06-23). "Wario World review". GamePro. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  31. ^ Casamassina, Matt (2003-06-19). "Wario World review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  32. ^ Bramwell, Tom (2003-06-19). "Wario World review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  33. ^ Williams, Bryn (2003-07-25). "Wario World review". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  34. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (2003-07-20). "Wario World review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
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