Episode 371: Wario Land II & 3
Added 2021-04-12 13:00:00 +0000 UTCWe tackled the first Wario Land game and its unnumbered (but nevertheless essential!) Virtual Boy sequel a few months back, and now it's time to venture back into the games with numerals at the end. One Roman, one Arabic. That's Wario for ya, though. Always breaking the rules, even the ones he establishes himself.
But sequel indicators are nothing compared to the other rules these games break. Wario shatters the entire orthodoxy of platform action games here by being too stubborn and pig-headed to die. Say goodbye to lives, health bars, 1UPs, and hunting coins for extra chances; in their place we have a rubbery, elastic sort of anti-hero who can only be inconvenienced, never killed. And often he turns those inconveniences into an advantage! Wario is quite the iconoclast.
Here to discuss with me the brilliance of these games (and the occasional frustrations their unique design often introduces into the action) are Bob, Stuart, and Ray—a core group of regulars. The gorgeous art is by Greg Melo, and edits and music selections once again come courtesy of Greg Leahy.
Tunes this time:
- 07:34 - Wario Land 3: Boss Fight
- 15:06 - Wario Land II: Perfect! (Let's Get That Treasure!)
- 26:37 - Wario Land II: One Noisy Morning
- 35:53 - Wario Land II: The Journey Home
- 47:04 - Wario Land II: Hot Wario
- 58:16 - Wario Land II: Anyone for B-ball / Wario Land 3: Out of the Woods (Daytime)
- 1:08:36 - Wario Land 3: Golf Mini Game Entrance
- 1:24:34 - Wario Land 3: Peace is Restored
- Closing - Wario Land 3: Staff Roll
Comments
Nice you predicted metroid dread
bakarina
2022-07-19 14:48:18 +0000 UTCThis episode inspired me to pick back up Wario Land II, which I bought on 3DS but never finished. Most of the complaints listed in the episode kept me from getting into it (stiff controls, annoying boss battles). I also find the music really grating. The GameBoy's chiptunes were never that great, but other Nintendo titles manage to squeeze some catchy tracks out of its limited capabilities. Following Bob's advice I started save-scumming my way through the boss battles and defeated Captain Syrup! I'm going to slowly make my way through revisiting levels and hopefully it starts clicking at some point.
PurpleComet
2021-04-30 23:27:35 +0000 UTCSomeone will be dropping the first copy of Virtual Boy Works to have come off the presses by my house in about an hour.—J
Retronauts
2021-04-23 11:56:18 +0000 UTCA really great episode! I already had the urge to replay these games and after listening, I have no choice. My very minor issue is that I'd prefer to play these on my IPS screen GBA, but the games have glitched out for my on my GBA flash cart. A GB/GBC-specific flash cart is around $150 for some reason, which feels ridiculous when I have almost every GB game I'd like to play on my 3DS... which doesn't look nearly as nice as the IPS screen. (The games themselves are, like Jeremy said, pretty reasonable on eBay, but I'm concerned about old batteries and stuff like that.)
Brian Rude
2021-04-19 00:12:44 +0000 UTCGreat episode. Not really on topic but I was wondering if Jeremy has any plans to release more print versions of his on-going Works series. I have two volumes for each his NES and Gameboy works and love them.
CAMBOT
2021-04-18 05:23:08 +0000 UTCWario 2 for the W(in).
Cajun Baz
2021-04-14 17:26:24 +0000 UTCAmazing episode!! I can’t wait for the wario land 4 revisiting 😄
Alexander Pero
2021-04-14 01:00:52 +0000 UTCThat art is amazing!
2021-04-12 21:37:17 +0000 UTC2022, the year of Wario. 30th Anniversary activities and games all year long. Do it Nintendo. For all of us.
Eric Plunk
2021-04-12 20:37:36 +0000 UTCCan we have a new tier where Jeremy records all intros and outros in his Wario voice
Paul
2021-04-12 18:06:04 +0000 UTCA+ intro, Jeremy.
2021-04-12 15:24:07 +0000 UTCI literally just started playing Wario Land 3 again and am stunned at how quickly it grabbed me. I didn't expect to get hooked this quickly.
James Couche
2021-04-12 13:29:18 +0000 UTC
