Wario World

Wario World
For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developer	Treasure
Publisher	Nintendo
Platforms	Nintendo GameCube Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics (Nintendo Switch 2)
Release dates	Original release: June 20, 2003 June 23, 2003 July 10, 2003 2003[?] May 27, 2004 Player's Choice: April 29, 2004 Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics: December 10, 2025 December 11, 2025 December 11, 2025 December 11, 2025 December 11, 2025
Languages	English Japanese French (Europe) German Italian Spanish (Europe)
Genres	Platformer, action-adventure
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone CERO: - All ages[?] PEGI: - Three years and older[?] USK: - All ages[?] ClassInd: - General audience[?] ACB: - General[?]
Mode	Single player
Format	Nintendo GameCube: Optical disc Nintendo Switch 2: Digital download
Input	Nintendo GameCube: Nintendo GameCube Controller Nintendo Switch 2: Joy-Con 2 Joy-Con Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Nintendo GameCube Controller Nintendo GameCube Controller (NSO)
Serial codes	DOL-GWWE-USA DOL-GWWE-KOR DOL-GWWJ-JPN

“READY TO RUMBLE WITH WARIO? You'd better be ready, punk!”

—Wario, Box blurb

Wario World is a 3D platformer for the Nintendo GameCube released in 2003. It is a spin-off of the Wario Land games and marked Wario's first appearance as a main protagonist in a home console game. In 2004, it was re-released as a Player's Choice title. It is the sixth platformer starring Wario and the only 3D platformer in the Wario franchise. The game was re-released on the Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics service for Nintendo Switch 2 on December 10, 2025.

Plot

The Spritelings are helpers of Wario throughout the game.

The game's story is described in the enclosed instruction booklet:

Story: From Riches to Rags

"Ah, ha ha! I've finally done it!" Wario chuckles to himself as he does some exploring up his nose. Why does he chuckle, you ask? Because he's finally completed construction of his beloved castle! "So, whatddya think? Pretty sweet, eh? The sparkling golden walls, the luxurious chandeliers... And how about these marble floors? It's a wonderfully gorgeous castle for wonderful and gorgeous me. Hey, by the way- and this is a secret- the lower chambers are brimming with jewels and treasures that I've pilfered from all around the world! What? You wanna take a peek? No way! They're mine, all mine! ... As if I'd actually let you put a single grubby finger on any of my fine treasures! Please! I'm not even gonna let you look at any of them!" Yes, Wario is feeling pretty fine. However, unbeknownst to him, something terrible has happened to his jewels. Sleeping buried under all of his treasures is a powerful black jewel that all but wiped out civilization long ago. And now, on an evening where a red moon rises, the evil black jewel awakens. "Huh? What's all that noise downstairs?! I was just getting ready to floss the gunk out of my toes! Gah! I HATE distractions!"

When Wario finally notices that something strange is happening, it's already too late. The evil black jewel downstairs has managed to engulf many of the other treasures and is rapidly growing larger and larger! And not only that--it's churning out monsters as well! Yes, that's right! It seems that the curse that this jewel carries lets it turn treasures into monsters. To make matters worse, the black jewel has decided that it wants to build a kingdom of its own and is changing Wario's world into quite a weird place.

"Whoa! What the heck's going on here?! My castle's going nuts! Who did all this? Who are all these weirdos? WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING TO MY CASTLE?!"

After yelling this, Wario begins angrily stomping his feet. He's come completely unglued! But then, somehow, he subdues his anger and while thoughtfully prospecting his nostril, he gets ahold of himself.

"Using my brilliant brainpower, I think... Wait! That must be it! This is the work of that weird, black-colored jewel! I thought there was something off about that thing the first time I laid eyes on it! Why, that arrogant little PUNK! It actually thinks it can outwit the great Wario! Somehow, someway, I'm gonna take back every last treasure it stole from me! Then I'll smack that thing 100 times!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!"

Once Wario gets angry, absolutely nothing scares him. And so, after stuffing four full heads of garlic into his mouth, he stamps out in a furious rage to meet the monsters!

The black jewel destroys the Treasure Square

The game begins with Wario sitting on his throne and laughing in his completed treasure-covered castle. On the lower floor of the castle, below the throne room lies an evil black jewel, who, thousands of years before, had corrupted any and all who owned it, causing chaos and destruction. To put a stop to this, Spritelings encased the jewel and put it asleep for all eternity. However, when Wario stole the jewel thousands of years later, it reawakened.

Wario, still drooling over his treasures and laughing in his throne room, soon sees his castle rumble. Suddenly, the black jewel turns the castle into a brand new location. This new location is separated into four sections called worlds (each containing a boss battle): Excitement Central, Spooktastic World, Thrillsville, and Sparkle Land. The worlds are reached from a main hub area, which also leads to the Treasure Square where the huge treasure box containing the black jewel is placed. Wario must travel through each world, optionally rescuing the forty imprisoned Spritelings, before defeating the black jewel and locking it back in its chest. After defeating the jewel, he regains his castle and riches with the help of the Spritelings, with his castle being larger and higher-quality the more Spritelings he rescued.

Endings

The quality of Wario Castle at the end of the game depends on how many Spritelings the player saved throughout. The castle takes on one of six forms: plant, wood, stone, silver, gold, or full of treasures.

Image	Ending	No. of Spritelings	Description	Wario's comment
	"Plant ending"	1	Wario is next to a tent in an ominous dark forest, much to his shock and disappointment.	Huh? What did you do!?
	"Wooden ending"	2-10	Wario is in a medieval wooden castle, at which he becomes angry at the Spritelings.	You must be kidding! This isn't funny, you idiots!
	"Stone ending"	11-20	Wario is in a drab stone castle and shows resentment for the Spritelings.	I'm... I'm WARIO!! I can't live in something like this!
	"Silver ending"	21-30	Wario is in a silver castle, but is ungratefully disappointed in the Spritelings.	What are you trying to do to me!?
	"Golden ending"	31-39	Wario is in a golden castle nearly identical to his last one. Wario is satisfied by the result.	Hey, yeah! Oh, I like that! Not bad at all!
	"Treasure ending"	All 40	Wario is in a golden castle filled with treasure, surpassing his original castle in terms of wealth. Wario is ecstatic at his new castle.	That's it! That's the stuff! Now, that's the kind of place a guy like me deserves!!!

Gameplay

An overview of the level's achievements.

Wario World is a 3D platforming game. The player controls the titular character, whose basic moveset includes jumps and punches, as well as their respective advanced forms, the Ground Pound and the Dash Attack. Wario's endurance is represented by hearts; he begins the game with four hearts, but his maximum health can be increased as he retrieves Gold Statues. Wario replenishes one heart when he eats a head of garlic, which are sold by Garlic Dispensers for coins, and sometimes found in wooden chests. Were the player to lose all health and trigger a Game Over, there is the option to pay 200 coins to continue from the same point. Coins spawn from defeated enemies and bosses, and also from some wooden chests.

The game is split into four worlds, each one containing two levels. Every level ends in a boss battle, and after both levels are cleared the boss stage of the world is unlocked. The gameplay places much emphasis on collection, with each level featuring four categories of items for the player to find via exploration. In order to 100% clear a level, the player must:

• Rescue five Spritelings. Each time a Spriteling is rescued, he will give Wario tips and pieces of information.
• Find eight treasures. For a treasure chest to appear, Wario must first activate a treasure button elsewhere, causing the chest to appear on the pad of the same color.
• Find eight red diamonds. These are found in sub-levels accessible via trapdoors. A certain number of red diamonds, which varies depending on the world, must be inserted into the Stone Doohickey at the end of the level to open the path to the boss.
• Collect the aforementioned Gold Statues scattered throughout the levels and in many bonus areas. Collecting all of them in both levels of the same world adds a heart to Wario's life meter.

Wario World also prominently features combat. Wario will encounter hordes of aggressive enemies throughout the levels. Larger enemies require more hits to go down, and also allow Wario to perform more devastating moves by using their bodies to attack other enemies. Most levels include unskippable fights in the form of Crystal Entities and Battle Rings.

By contrast, trapdoor sub-levels (of which there are eight in every level) are entirely focused on platforming and puzzles in the form of obstacle courses. They are self-contained and more unrealistic in design, featuring elements such as floating blocks. A punitive sub-level, Unithorn's Lair, is accessed whenever Wario falls off the stage in the main level; here, Wario has to avoid the coin-stealing Unithorns as he tries to find the crate with the Escape Spring that takes him back to the surface.

Moves

The Dash Attack, one of Wario's normal moves.

Wario has many moves in this game, some of which return from the Wario Land series.

• Regular moves:
  • Jump
  • Punch: A new move introduced in this game, it helps Wario beat up enemies and crush objects.
  • Dash Attack: One of Wario's signature moves, he rushes forward and uses his shoulder to ram into anyone or anything.
  • Hyper Suction: Wario can open his mouth to suck in nearby coins and garlic.
  • Ground Pound: A move that appears in many platformers in some way, Wario can pound enemies with the weight of his body.
  • Corkscrew Conk: Wario can turn into a rampaging, spinning yellow ball and hit high-flying enemies.
• Mad Moves, Wario's three most powerful moves, which can only be used after picking up an enemy. Using them is the only way to damage many of the game's bosses.
  • Mega Toss: After stunning and picking up an enemy, Wario can throw it with all his might.
  • Piledriver: After stunning an enemy, he can also use them to slam, hard, into the ground, destroying that enemy and damaging any others nearby. Wario can also use this move to drill through special Trapdoors.
  • Wild Swing-Ding: Wario can also swing an enemy around at a very fast speed, taking out groups of other enemies, or use them to open special doors that require him to spin the enemy in front of or even at times on top of a switch.

Controls

Action(s)	Input
	Nintendo GameCube Controller	Dual Joy-Con 2 Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller
Game Controls
Move
Jump (During Dash Attack) Corkscrew Conk
Punch / (Press and hold) Dash Attack Pick Up Items and Unconscious Monsters
Hyper Suction	/	/
Dash Attack (Mid-jump) Ground Pound
Rotate View (Underground rooms) Change Camera Angle
Mad Moves
(While holding an enemy) Wild Swing-Ding	Rotate	Rotate
(While holding an enemy) Mega Toss	Hold	Hold
(While holding an enemy mid-air) Piledriver

Worlds and levels

Wario World is divided into 4 worlds linked by the Treasure Square Courtyard, the hub. From the Courtyard, there are 4 worlds with two levels in each.

World	Levels	Description	Impediment	Boss	World Boss
Excitement Central	Greenhorn Forest	Greenhorn Forest is the first level of the game. It takes place in a forest with tall trees and waterfalls. As the first area in the game, this level is relatively easy and the objects are easier to find, making of this level some kind of tutorial. Magons, Clubosaurs, Cractyls and one Ankiron are the enemies from this level.	No impediment	Greenfist	DinoMighty's Showdown
	Greenhorn Ruins	Greenhorn Ruins is the second level of the game. It is set in an area in an ancient temple ruins the middle of the forest. The level features more puzzles than the previous area. The main enemies in this level are Magons, Cractyls, Clubosaurs, and Ankirons. Old Red-Mug is the only area-specific enemy in the level.	Crystal Entity	Sandworm
Spooktastic World	Horror Manor	Horror Manor is the third level of the game. It is located in a horror area, containing two outdoor areas, both a courtyard and a graveyard, and two indoors area, the haunted mansion and its mechanized basement. Enemies here include Zombie Magons, Skelosaurs, Bone Cractyls, and Skeletal Ankirons. The area-specific enemies are Door Spirits, Silver Door Spirits and Swordfish.	Big Bone-Fist Crystal Entity	Brawl Doll	Dual Dragon's Showdown
	Wonky Circus	Wonky Circus is the fourth level of the game. It is set in a massive circus area and contains some puzzles. The enemies in this level are Clowns, Gatorbabies, Pigeons and Circus Ankirons. Cobras, Cage Beasts and Elephants are the area-specific enemies.	Electric Clown Fence Crystal Entity	Clown-a-Round
Thrillsville	Shivering Mountains	Shivering Mountains is the fifth level of the game. It is set in a mountain range covered with snow and ice, with deep snowdrifts, pine trees and igloos. The enemies here are Snowmen, Polar Bears, Snow Bombers and Ice Ankirons. Area-specific enemies are Freeze Cannons, Sled Creatures, Turtles, Fattingtons and Icicle Mites.	Angler Mangler Crystal Entity	Winter Windster	Red-Brief J's Showdown
	Beanstalk Way	Beanstalk Way is the sixth level of the game. It is set in a forest full of giant beanstalks made of three areas: a mainland area, an underground area and a grassland area. The enemies from this level are Wolves, Grizzlies, Hawks and Rhino Ankirons. The area-specific enemies are Stingrays, Monstrous Magnets, Rams and Wind Winders.	Tree Freak Crystal Entity	Spideraticus
Sparkle Land	Mirror Mansion	The Mirror Mansion is the seventh level of the game. It takes place in a giant House of Mirrors and is one of the most puzzled levels in Wario World. Some parts of the level contain giant mirrors that reveal objects and enemies that are not visible in the real scene. The main enemies here are monster dolls, Masked Clubbers, Haipō and Stuffed Ankirons. Magicians, Ninja Crows, mice, and Witches are the area-specific enemies.	Terrible Portrait	Mean Emcee	Captain Skull's Showdown
	Pecan Sands	Pecan Sands is the eighth and last level of the game. It is located in a desert castle and contains many puzzles and rewards. Pecan Sands is divided into two locations, the exterior desert and the temple interior. The enemies here are Mummies, Club Mummies, Hōhō and Mummy Ankirons. The area-specific enemies are Big Scorpers, Flying Spades and Laser Jigglefish.	Stone-Cold Statue Crystal Entity	Ironsider

Items and objects

Blocks

Name	Description
Arrow Block	A gray block with four red arrows on each side. It moves in the direction it is pushed on.
Drop Block	A steel blue anvil-like block. It slowly falls down while Wario stands on it.
Marshmallow Block	A puffy white block that shrinks and disappears almost immediately after Wario stands on it.
Rock Block	Tan blocks with a crack and a bandage on one side. They can only be destroyed by attacking the side with the bandage.

Collectibles

Name	Description
Coin	Small coins dropped by defeating enemies and opening wooden chests. They can be used to purchase garlic from a Garlic Dispenser or revive after a Game Over.
Garlic	Garlic heads that can be found in wooden chests or purchased from Garlic Dispensers. Each Garlic head heals Wario by one heart.
Red diamonds	Red diamonds found in hidden sub-areas. Each level has eight total, but fewer than that is always required to unlock that level's Stone Doohickey.
Spriteling	Forest sprites who have been captured into cages by the Black Jewel. Five Spritelings in different colors can be found in each level.
Statue Piece	Small pieces of Gold Statues on top of a flying base. Collecting all of them in a level awards the player with a Gold Statue, increasing Wario's hearts by half.
Treasure	Treasures stolen by the Black Jewel. Each level has eight total treasures, stored in treasure chests hidden by treasure buttons in eight different colors. Collecting all treasures from a level unlocks a WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! demo at the Treasure Square.

Objects and obstacles

Name	Description
Bomb	Bombs that automatically explode after a few seconds. The bombs with more detailed humanoid faces on them are thrown by enemies such as Ankirons, while the bombs with smiley faces on them are found in wooden chests and inside Unithorn's Lair.
Bowling pin	Flaming-shaped bowling pins which can be destroyed by bombs.
Bunny Spring	A rabbit-shaped trampoline that can propel Wario high in the air after a Ground Pound.
ByeBye Balloon	A Glue Globe attached to a group of colorful balloons. Grabbing it transports Wario between different sections of a level.
Clown missile	A giant clown-faced cannonball which can knock Wario down into pits.
Column	A large column that can be used by Wario to execute a Mad Move.
Cyclone Generator	A weathervane device that resembles a vulture. Punching it causes it to create a cyclone.
Enemy generator	A bulbous object with porcelain-like patterns that constantly spawns enemies in waves. Defeating these enemies eventually causes the generator to be destroyed.
Escape Spring	A metallic spring that launches Wario outside of underground areas. When inside Unithorn's Lairs, the Escape Spring is randomly hidden inside one of the blocks in the room.
Footprints	Green markings in the shape of footprints that indicate the location of precise jumps.
Garlic Dispenser	A helpful character that sells Garlic to Wario. Its price increases after certain levels.