"Warioland 4 is really fun, while it lasts."

in the fourth installment of wario's adventures, our anti-hero reads in a newspaper about apyramid holding legendary treasures.

If you know our little friend well enough, you know that's something he just can't resist. And by now, you'll have guessed you have to help him find a way in this very good platform game.



Now let's rate the game.



Graphics : 16/20

Graphics are not really impressive, technically. They're done with a lot of style, are varied enough, but there is no ''wow, this looks amazing!'' factor.
Wario and his foes are really well animated in funny cartoon style, which helps raise the score a lot.



Sound : 17/20

Wile graphics are good but not impressive, the sound and music manages to be both !

The sound effects are pretty good, but it's the music which really shines. Memorable tunes, sometimes coupled with digitized vocals make this an unforgettable experience.

Of course, Wario is best experienced with headphones because the poor GBA speaker can't do the game's music justice.

The only down side I can think of is the ''CD feature''. In each level, you can find a bonus : a CD (compact disc), and listen to it in the ''sound room''. Those music, unlike those in the game itself, are really terrible and awful. But that's just a minor annoyance because never are you forced to listen to them. it just ruins this otherwise neat idea.



Gameplay:15/20

Although the game is nothing really new (2D platform game like many others), the gameplay department is saved by a really excellent level design. For example, one of the levels is a pinball table, and in another you must race against cascading domino's. In the arabian nights level, flying carpets of course play a big part.

What sets Warioland 4 slightly apart from similar games is that it is slightly more puzzle-oriented than delicate-jumps oriented. Athough those puzzles are never really hard, some will make you brain work for a couple of minutes.

There are also 3 decent minigames : a baseball game, a memory game and a jump-above-obstacles game.



Lasting appeal : 8/20

The game's only weak point. It can be beaten in less than 10 hours. Replay value does exist but is only average : you can try a higher difficulty level, try to unlock the couple of bonuses available, find all 16 CDs or just replay some of the levels. Nothing too exciting, but maybe enough to make you want to re-play once or twice.



Subjective score : 15/20

I had good fun with Warioland 4... while it lasted.



TOTAL : 71%

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/20/02, Updated 01/20/02