Wario: Master of Disguise

Wario: Master of Disguise is a platform game developed by Suzak for the Nintendo DS. It is the first Wario platform title since Wario World, and the seventh Wario platform game overall. This game returns to the franchise's traditional 2D style, as Wario World was designed in 3D. It is also the franchise's first and only Wario platform title launched for the Nintendo DS. The game sees Wario getting sucked into a television show, where he seeks to overtake a famous, Count Cannoli, as the world's greatest thief. He receives the ability to transform into eight different disguises, each one serving a unique purpose for specific levels. The Japanese title refers to Wario's transformations, with the exception of the first one: Thief Wario, as this disguise is his standard form.

The game was later released for the Wii U Virtual Console.

Storyline
While channel surfing for treasure leads on a listless day, Wario accidentally stumbles upon a television show starring future rival Count Cannoli, a.k.a. The Silver Zephyr. Although he is quick to insult the show's premise, Wario is secretly extremely jealous of this master thief and his wand Goodstyle and the riches he has accumulated. Not to be outdone, Wario dashes off to his secret headquarters (his back room) and constructs the Telmet. With this new device in tow, and an insatiable lust for treasure, Wario enters the television and makes his big screen debut.

Upon entering this new world, Wario inadvertently crash lands on Count Cannoli himself. The impact forces Cannoli to drop his wand. Wario, quick to snatch his first piece of treasure, immediately recovers the wand. Upon seeing this, Cannoli demands that Wario return his wand, as it is the source of his power. Wario is quick to inform Cannoli that he will never be getting his wand back, as Wario is having far too much fun waving it about in the air. However upon doing this, the wand begins to speak, revealing that the wand is a being of its own, known as Goodstyle. Goodstyle, with no harsh feelings towards Wario, informs him of the many capabilities that he possesses and how Wario, who Goodstyle refers to as "master", much to Wario's pleasure, can use these capabilities to his advantage. After a quick lesson about how to use him, Goodstyle transforms Wario into a master thief, the silent, but deadly Purple Wind.

Through this new persona, Wario begins a race around the world, along with rival Count Cannoli to collect all the pieces of the infamous Wishstone, believed to grant the wishes of the one who possesses it in its entirety. Throughout their adventures, Wario and Cannoli also run into master thief Carpaccio, who is also in search of the Wishstone fragments. Wario, whose wish is to own all the treasures and riches of the world, stops at nothing and manages to gather all five pieces of the Wishstone through the help of Count Cannoli (who recognizes Wario as the superior criminal) and the mysterious masked maiden known only as Tiaramisu. Wario, Cannoli, and Tiaramisu manage to assemble the Wishstone in its entirety, only to have Tiaramisu reveal to them a secret. It is revealed that Tiaramisu is actually a demon known as Terrormisu who was trapped within the Wishstone, and through its reassembling was now free to reign over this world. This doesn't settle well with Wario, who is furious about the Wishstone not granting his wish for treasure. In a fit of rage, Wario and Goodstyle take Terrormisu on and after a heated battle, emerge victorious.

Terrormisu is then banished into an alternate dimension where she can threaten the world no longer. It is then revealed that Goodstyle is actually the first member of the Cannoli clan who enlisted Wario to tackle the foreboding threat of Terrormisu. Wario, feeling used and cheated, expresses his rage and discontent to Goodstyle. Goodstyle quickly informs Wario that through his accomplishments, he has earned the vast amount of treasure and riches that the Cannoli clan has accumulated throughout the generations. Wario agrees to this arrangement and the player is then treated to a clip of Wario being showered with treasure. Wario, content with the events that transpired, resolves to head back to the real world with his treasure.

However, upon returning to the real world, it is revealed that the Telmet only teleported Wario to the real world, not his treasure. Upon seeing his treasure on the television, Wario slips into a fit of disbelief and resolves to re-enter the television to collect his earnings.

Gameplay
The overall gameplay uses all of the features of the Nintendo DS. The handheld's is the primary source of gameplay, as it is used to change Wario's current disguise into a new one. Each disguise has it's own command that must be drawn in order to transform Wario. All disguises have special abilities that use different enhancements of the Nintendo DS. The standard controls of the game can be played entirely with either the or the system's face buttons. Wario's gameplay is seen on the bottom screen, while the Telmet displays the HUD on the top screen. The Telmet shows the map of the location Wario is in. The location's map is divided into different rooms. Glowing blue dots on the map marks where doors are. Rooms completely filled yellow signal a special chest (purple or green) is located there. Red-filled rooms mark where the boss battle of that episode will take place. Above the map is a timer that tracks how much time Wario takes in the episode. The Telmet also displays eight icons with the symbol for each of Wario's disguises. The number next to these icons symbolize what level each disguise is on in terms of upgrading. In the middle of the top screen below the map is Wario's money total from that episode. Below the money total is another icon, which displays the symbol of Wario's current disguise. Lastly, the Telmet displays Wario's health in the form of hearts. The amount of hearts Wario has can be upgraded in Vita Mighty mini-games. Along with platforming, there are also minigames (much like WarioWare) that must be beaten to win treasures that are added to Wario's loot. These include a sliding puzzle, connect the dots, matching, exterminating cockroaches, and several others.

Standard controls

 * / right: Move right
 * left: Move left
 * Move left or right (depending on which direction Wario is facing)
 * / down: Crouch
 * / up: Jump
 * Enter in desired command to change Wario's disguise

Special controls
Thief Wario:
 * Draw a check mark on Wario with : Transform into Thief Wario
 * Tap the Touch Screen with : Tackle

Cosmic Wario:
 * Draw a circle around Wario's head with : Transform into Cosmic Wario
 * Tap the Touch Screen with : Fire laser beams

Arty Wario:
 * Draw a "canvas symbol" (square with a line going from the bottom left corner to the top right corner) around Wario with : Transform into Arty Wario
 * Draw a square with : Build a block
 * Draw a heart shape with : Create a heart to replenish health
 * Draw a square with a diagonal going from the top left corner to the bottom right corner with : Creates a warp door (links to hat switches)
 * Draw anything but the two mentioned commands: Creates a walking piece of feces

Genius Wario:
 * Draw a magnifying lens (circle with a line through the middle) on Wario's body: Transform into Genius Wario
 * Tap the Touch Screen with : Activate Genius Wario's punching glove

Sparky Wario:
 * Draw a lightning bolt over Wario with : Transform into Sparky Wario
 * Tap the Touch Screen with : Create light in a dark room, destroy enemies, or activate broken machinery

Captain Wario:
 * Draw a prow (backwards C) shape on Wario's stomach with : Transform into Captain Wario
 * Draw a line to the left or right with : Speed up Captain Wario's paddling
 * Tap the Touch Screen with : Shoot torpedoes

Dragon Wario:
 * Draw a tail from Wario's backside with : Transform into Dragon Wario
 * Tap the Touch Screen with : Breathe fire

Wicked Wario
 * Draw a wing on Wario's back with : Transform into Wicked Wario
 * Blow into : Fly straight up

Minigames

 * Lotsa Dots
 * Zappy Path
 * Traced Memories
 * Trash It
 * Roach Smash
 * Trick Slider
 * Wario's Ladder
 * Color Me Happy

Bosses

 * Episode 1 - Mad Hat Mk. I
 * Episode 2 - Mad Hat Mk. II
 * Episode 3 - Sphinx (Riddle Challenge)
 * Episode 4 - Head Honcho Carpaccio
 * Episode 5 - Poobah the Pharaoh
 * Episode 6 - Ka-Bloom!
 * Episode 7 - Barfatronic Lavachomper
 * Episode 8 - Stuffy the 64th
 * Episode 9 - Mad Hat Mk. III (Mini-Boss) Carpaccio (Race)
 * Episode 10 - Terrormisu

Records
The coffee-table book in Wario's TV room can be tapped on to access records of collected treasures, defeated enemies and minigames.

Treasures tab
This tab contains a record of all treasures collected throughout the game. It is divided into four unspecified categories. When the player taps on a treasure, its value and description are displayed. Depending on their value, the treasures can be represented with a tin, bronze or silver medal. Wishstone pieces also appear as treasures and are represented with gold medals.

Collecting all the treasure turns the book's pages into pink instead of yellow, and a medal with a stretched W on it appears in the bottom left corner of each page.

Enemies tab
This tab features a collection of enemies that have been defeated at least once. The player can tap on an enemy to read a description on it and see how many times they have defeated it. The list spreads on twenty pages; each boss is dedicated their own page, except for Stuffy the 64th who is shown alongside Fluffy the Dolphin.

Minigames tab
In this tab, the player can play the minigames found in treasure chests. To unlock a minigame or a variation of it (for example, a different model in Traced Memories), the player has to have encountered it at least once in the main game. Each minigame or individual variation features five difficulty levels; the first level is available at the start for all minigames, while the rest are unlocked by beating the previous level's score requirement. The player can obtain a bronze, silver or gold medal on each difficulty level based on their score, with the bronze medal being awarded for meeting the requirement needed to beat the level. However, the scores for the two other medals are not specified.

Catalog tab
Here, the player can view their records for each episode, such as their fastest time and top scores. There is also a crown in the bottom right corner which can be tapped on show the player's current amount of money and title.

Titles
As Wario acquires more treasure in episodes, he gains a different title, or rank, every time the total amount of money exceeds a certain amount.


 * Over $50,000="Dabbler of Disguise"
 * Over $100,000="Student of Disguise"
 * Over $200,000="Champion of Disguise"
 * Over $400,000="Paragon of Disguise"
 * Over $700,000="Master of Disguise"
 * Over $850,000="Mighty Master of Disguise"

There will also be a Wario statue that appears in the TV room for every title acquired.

Episodes

 * Episode 1 - Whose Show Is This Anyway?!!
 * Episode 2 - The Purple Wind Stinks Up the Ship!
 * Episode 3 - The Sphinx Sits on a Secret!
 * Episode 4 - A Third Thief Brings Grief!
 * Episode 5 - Picking the Pharaoh's Brains!
 * Episode 6 - A Flower That's Drunk Up Power!
 * Episode 7 - Fouling Up the Whole Works!
 * Episode 8 - When Dolphins Ruled the Earth!
 * Episode 9 - More Shocking Than the Next Episode?
 * Episode 10 - The Final Face-Off!
 * Special Episode Part 1
 * Special Episode Part 2
 * Special Episode Part 3
 * Special Episode Part 4
 * Special Episode Part 5

Reception
Wario: Master of Disguise received generally mixed reception. Critics were generally complimentary of the creativity of the disguise mechanics but criticized the unnecessary and imprecise implementation of the touch screen controls and the tedious and repetitive nature of the minigames.

References in later games

 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Count Cannoli appears as a spirit. He is classified as being from the "Wario Land Series", although Wario: Master of Disguise is not a part of the series.