Wario Land (1): Super Mario Land 3
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Original System: Game Boy
System Played On: 3DS (Virtual Console)
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
On January 10, 2025, I cleared all 40 courses and defeated the Genie, thus finishing Wario Land (1), also known as Super Mario Land 3, for the Game Boy (via the 3DS Virtual Console)! This is the 1st Wario [Land] game I have finished. After my playthrough, I ended with 1,585 coins and 3 treasures. Once I traded those treasures in for coins, my price increased to 12,585 coins, which equates to 2 moneybags, which earned Wario the tree stump house. I also collected a maximum of 19 extra lives. And I did this all in a matter of 5 3/4 hours over 7 gameplay sessions (averaging 3/4 hour per playing session) over the real-time span of 10 days / 1 1/2 weeks / 1/3 month.
Just like the Yoshi games, Nintendo did not want Wario Land to become just another platforming game. The gamer can play that way, however, if he or she chooses. I did choose that route, hence why it only took me 5 1/4 hours, hence why I had a poor final score. This game encourages exploration. I do have some grievances, however, for some of the game mechanics go contrary to this encouraged exploration.
First, why is there a time clock again? Yoshi was smart about this. They turned off the time clock, so the player did not feel rushed to find all the collectables and raise to the finish line. Wario does bring back the time clock, causing a hesitancy in exploring, because spending the time to seek and find will be something the player may not be able to afford down the road.
Second, why didn't the game just leave the end goal gates wide open? OK, to be fair, Nintendo did try to teach this in game. At the close of the first level, Wario watches an NPC opens the door to conclude the level. The only problem, however, is that the game never tells the gamer which controller inputs to use. I honestly had to look up a walkthrough on how to progress. Apparently, the correct answer was Up+B. To be fair, I don't have the manual, and to be fair, I imagine a player with a manual can easily look it up. As a gamer new to this series, however, I am neither familiar with the mechanic of having to open the end goal gates, nor do I have a manual to look these things up for myself (people lose manuals, as evident by the number of "game cartridge only" listings on eBay). Do better, Nintendo, for your future games. You need to more explicitly teach this in the game.
Third, the treasure concept was never fully fleshed out for the players. All my trophies were found randomly because I just so happened to stumble upon either the key or the chest at the end. To make matters worse, if you get a game over, you lose a treasure. If you have no treasures to surrender, upon getting a game over, you lose half your coins. To me, this is too steep of a punishment. Because you lose trophies, you now need to go back to that course to find it again and manage your way through that level again. Losing half your coins is not as bad in the beginning of the game, but is a whole lot worse near the end of the game. That's unfair to players who have experience who just slip up near the end. I say the penalty for game over should have been a simple loss of 100 coins. Not too little, not too much.
Bosses lacked creativity. Most of the bosses were just giant-sized common enemies. Most of those bosses had the same exact way to defeat them: throw their babies at them. I don't know how many of my enemies and foes I defeated by throwing their kids at them. Speaking of bosses...
[SPOILER ALERT!!] I did not enjoy playing flip cup, or rather, flip lamp, while dodging genie attacks. As far as I am concerned, there is no way to guarantee for the lamp to land right side up, so the gamer can catch the cloud elevator up. Therefore, the player is just playing points at this point. Of course, as a Game Boy game, final boss battle takes 6 hits, not 3. Since the boss never changes phases, this rote repetition, which is tedious [/END SPOILERS]
Despite my gripes with the game, I found the game to an overall enjoyable experience, and I liked playing it. Although the subtitle of "Super Mario Land 3" was probably attached at the end to sell more games as a sequel to a beloved series, the subtitle fits. At the heart, this game is a platformer, just like the previous Super Mario Land games on the Game Boy. Just like the prior Super Mario Land games, the gamer aims to reach the goal at the end of level by jumping from platform to platform while either avoiding or attacking enemies. Just like Super Mario Land 1 & 2, the player has power-ups at Wario's disposal to make gameplay easier. At the same time, however, Nintendo mad enough changes to the formula to make the experience feel unique to Wario. Mario eats mushrooms to grow big; Wario eats garlic to grow big. Mario uses flowers to throw fireballs; Wario uses a dragon pot to breathe fire. It's not just the power-ups, it's also the attacks. Small and weak Mario can only resort to jumping on enemies; big and bulked up Wario can body slam and ground point. It's not just the attacks and the power-ups, but it's also the worlds, the enemies and the bosses, too. Yes, even the bosses. While the bosses lacked creativity, they felt like they could not belong in a Mario game, but they definitely belonged in a Wario game. Nintendo will continue to experiment on how to make a Wario Land game feel unique to Wario and not just another platforming game, but as for right now, having a Mario-like platforming game with Wario skin suffices.
