Wario Land 4 (GBA)
Look guys, look! It's one of my greatest achievments Wario Land 4 on the Game Boy Advance ha ha ha!
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Wario Land 4 is a handheld platformer game developed by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. It was released in Japan on August 21, 2001, and everywhere else throughout October of the same year. The game features 18 standard levels, each requiring Wario to retrieve treasure from a different environment, as well as 6 bosses Wario must fight.
| Wario Land 4 (2001) | |
|---|---|
| Video game | |
 That's right! Wario Land for Game Boy Advance! | |
| First release |
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| Worldwide release | |
| Created by | Nintendo |
| Portrayed by | Charles Martinet |
| “ | STEAKS! EAT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN! | ” | |
| — newspaper, "Epilogue" | |||
Wario Land 4 is notable for several reasons: besides being a breakout hit for the at-the-time flagging Wario franchise, its engine was heavily modified for use in the release of Metroid Fusion. Wario Land 4 also features cameos from multiple Super Smash Bros. characters. Most notably, Mr. Game and Watch appears as a shopkeeper before each of the bosses, selling the player power-ups in exchange for Frog Medals.
Wario Land 4's gameplay in each level follows roughly the same formula: find and collect 4 Treasure Pieces and 1 Keyzer, use a Frog Switch to open the exit, and then rush back to the exit in a psychedelic mad dash. Loud, unsettling music plays as Wario traverses back through the level, often finding new pathways and new challenges between him and the goal. The final segment of each level, the return, is accompanied by a timer.
Wario Land 4's innovative formula, combining slow-paced exploration and fast-paced action, heavily influenced two-dimensional platformers for years to come and led to the creation of a genre now known as "Wariolikes." Most recently, Wariolikes include games such as ANTONBLAST. Its developers cite Wario Land 4 as their direct inspiration, and it features the same combination of exploration followed by escape. Both games also heavily emphasize movement in their gameplay.
Plot
Wario, driving in his car, encounters a newspaper article about the elusive Golden Pyramid. This location, while extremely dangerous, promises tremendous wealth to any who can survive its traps and tricks. Wario immediately travels to the Pyramid, finding a black cat at the entrance. When the two enter, Wario immediately trips a trap, causing the duo to plummet deep into the heart of the Pyramid.
Wario discovers that within the heart of the pyramid, treasure exists in two places: traditional hoards gathered by five bosses, as well as additional loot scattered throughout 17 pocket dimensions accessible via portals. Upon exploring all 17 dimensions and defeating all five bosses, a mini-pyramid appears within the pyramid. Entering this, Wario finds and conquers the final level as well as the final boss: The Golden Diva, a tragic character whose extravagance led to her assembling the Golden Pyramid. She tells Wario of her plan to assemble the perfect final resting place, cackling madly as she inhales the cat, trapping it in her nose. Then, they battle.
Wario is victorious, sending the Golden Diva plummeting into the very lake of molten gold she wished to someday canoe upon. He fails to exit the pyramid, however, as the entrance collapses before he can escape. As the structure collapses around him, he begins to cry.
Fortunately, however, the cat returns. Revealing itself to be Mr. Game and Watch in the form of a cat, it turns into its Octopus form, effortlessly tossing aside the rubble and giving Wario time to escape.
As he leaves the Pyramid, only one gold bar in hand, he turns and gives one last look to the deathtrap. Gone is the gorgeous glimmering structure. All that remains is dust. He seems to be on the verge of some sort of realization about the error of his ways, until a newspaper blows into his face, advertising all-you-can-eat steaks for two dollars. Holding up his gold bar, he jumps into his car and drives off. The credits roll as Wario drives to the restaurant to exchange the gold for several hundred dollars' worth of all-you-can-eat steaks.
Gameplay
Wario can jump, duck, bash, dash, and turn into a frog.
Reception
Wario Land 4 received a 98% rating from Jeremy Donaldson of IGN, who stated: "Wario's movement feels effortlessly natural. Mario can jump, but Wario can run. Each level is perfectly designed to stretch his toolset to the absolute limit. I've played through this game twice already, and expect to return to it several more times. This is a masterpiece." Similar scores from other critics resulted in Wario Land 4 winning the Critics' Choice Award at the 2001 Game Awards. Charles Martinet, the sole developer of the game, received the award.
Legacy
Despite being the final new Wario game produced by Nintendo, Wario Land 4’s success has propelled the franchise into being Nintendo’s most successful. Copies of Wario Land 4 continue to sell better than any modern Nintendo game, regularly achieving the largest quarterly earnings of any single video game. Wario Land 4’s true legacy lies in the unforgettable speech Charles Martinet delivered at the 2001 Game Awards. The speech, which has been extensively studied by academics in the field of game studies, is well-renowned for Martinet’s rhetorical style as well as his chillingly accurate predictions about the future of the games industry. While no recording exists, the transcript remains:
| “ | On behalf of Wario, on behalf of Mario, on behalf of Luigi, and Waluigi, and Mr. Game-and-Watch and the black cat and everyone else who lives in this game… thank you. Thank you from the bottom of all our hearts. Wario Land 4 has been my life’s work, and I am so, so honored to have had the opportunity to gift it to all of you. It took me six years to develop this game. When I began conceptualizing the idea, back in 1993, the world was so, so different. If I had to trace the story of Wario Land 4 back to the context of the times, I would place its origin firmly in the Reagan administration, which really informed both my own politics and those of the game. But I am not here to talk about the past, Geoff. I am here to talk about the future. It is clear, and it is inevitable. The world is changing. (Mario voice.) Mamma mia! (Normal voice.) There will come a time when men like Wario will no longer exist. He lives in your hands, and he lives on platformers. The platformer’s day is numbered, for the gamers who have spoken to me agree: Wario Land 4 perfected the platformer. If another one is created, I have failed as an architect and as a visionary. I have failed as a person. But, more importantly: the days of handheld gaming, as a distinct entity, are numbered. I believe that we are rapidly approaching some new and unnamable melding of handheld gaming and console gaming. I am certain that the distinction will melt away, and this unknowable maelstrom will consume every game. Like any man, I am only as strong as my strongest creation. Wario Land 4 is weak. The Gameboy Advance is weak. The Link Cable is weak. And so I am weak. But this is not our fate. The Link Cables of flesh and blood will rot, but new ones, I believe, will unite the world. These invisible Link Cables will connect every game, and every player. (Martinet pauses to swat a fly.) Games can no longer be played by one person. Wario Land 4 has allowed us to know ourselves, but now, we must know each other. Until truth, and deception, and love and loss and hate and fear are all flowing through those invisible veins I call Link Cables, games will not be perfect. That is my life’s work. The game I seek to create cannot be slowed, nor can it be stopped. It is no longer ahead of us, nor is it behind us. It is among us. | ” | |
| — Charles Martinet, 2001 Game Awards | |||