Wario World

Wario World is a platformer game for the Nintendo GameCube released in 2003. It is a spin-off of the Wario Land games, and marked Wario's first starring appearance on a home game console. In 2004, it was re-released as a Player's Choice title. So far, the title is the first and only 3D platformer game in the Wario series.

Storyline
The story, from the enclosed instruction book: 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 game begins with Wario sitting on his throne in his completed treasure-covered castle laughing. In the lower floor, 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. Tragically, when Wario stole the Jewel thousands of years later, the Black Jewel soon awakened.

Wario, still drooling over his treasures and laughing back at the throne room, soon sees his castle rumble and before he knows it, the black jewel has turned his castle into a brand new world. This new world is separated into four sections: Excitement Central, Spooktastic World, Thrillsville, and Sparkle Land. Each world consists of two levels and a boss fight. The worlds are reached from a main hub area. The hub area also leads to the Treasure Square where the huge treasure box containing the black jewel is placed. Wario must travel through all worlds before going up to defeat the black jewel and lock it back in its chest where it belongs. After defeating the jewel, he regains his castle and riches.

Gameplay
Wario World is a 3D platformer. Each level has three objectives: beat the boss, collect all eight of the Gold Statue pieces and get all eight of Wario's Treasures back. After completing both levels in a world, the boss fight of that world will open. When the world boss is beaten, the next world opens. Wario can use several moves to defeat his enemies in various ways, such as spinning them around or slamming their head into the ground.

Each time the player collects all treasures in a world, a microgame from WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! is unlocked. These games can only be played using a Game Boy Adapter, which connects the Game Boy Advance to the GameCube (not included with game).

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

Moves
Wario has many moves in this game. They are:
 * Jump
 * Wario Punch - A move common with Wario, it helps him 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, similar to Kirby.
 * 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
The three Mad Moves are Wario's three most powerful moves, and can only be used after picking up an enemy first. Using them is the only way to damage many of the game's bosses.
 * Power Throw - 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 a switch.

Items
Blocks and Collectibles in the game.

Generic enemies
These are the enemies that will appear in every level of the game. However, their appearance will change depending on their environment. For example: They will appear normally throughout Excitement Central, but then turn into skeletons in Horror Manor, snowmen in Shivering Mountains, and then mummies in Pecan Sands.


 * Magon
 * Big Magon
 * Triceratops
 * Cractyl
 * Ankiron
 * Enemy Generator (does not appear in Greenhorn Forest)

Other enemies
These enemies appear in only specific areas in each level.


 * Stone Doohickey (at the end of the level)
 * Unithorn (when Wario falls into a pit)

Unique Enemies
These enemies only appear in certain levels.

Mini-Bosses
In every level but Greenhorn Forest, certain enemies will attack Wario, and not let him pass until he defeats them, essentially making themselves midlevel mini-bosses. Wario will not re-fight them when returning to the level after completing it once.


 * Gem-Bodied Creature
 * Crystal Creatures
 * Big Bone-Fist
 * Electric Clown Fence
 * Angler Mangler
 * Tree Freak
 * Terrible Portrait
 * Stone-Cold Statue

Bosses
Wario has to battle numerous Boss characters throughout the game. (Italics mean level's boss, Bold means world's boss)

When Wario defeats a world's boss, he receives a Giant Treasure Chest Key to unlock the treasure chest where the final boss, the Black Jewel waits.

Reception
Wario World was a commercial success, selling over 256,000 copies in United States, and over 142,000 copies in Japan. The game was re-released as part of the Player's Choice label in 2004, along with Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.

The game was criticized mainly for its length, that was considered too short for a 3D game. GameSpy commented that "the game offers a little beyond of what the regular tridimensional games offers, however, what is offered is short and repetitive". GameSpot stated that its length and simpleness can't hold the player's attention for more than a day.

Despite being somewhat criticized, Wario World had average overall reviews. The Play magazine gave the game a perfect score, and the reviewer stated: "Wario World pays off every second the player holding the controller, and that is greatness". Game Informer praised the game's boss battles. IGN's reviewer, Matt Casamassina stated that "the game is fine, but not as fine as a Mario game".

References in later games

 * Mario Superstar Baseball: Wario Palace highly resembles Pecan Sands. Also, some statues make appearances too.
 * Fortune Street: In one of his quotes, Wario mentions the "Black Jewel", the main antagonist of Wario World.

Trivia

 * The quality of Wario Castle at the end of the game depends on how many Spritelings the player saved throughout: plant, wood, stone, silver, gold, and full of treasures. This also occurs in Luigi's Mansion only with the mansion looking better.
 * What used to be Wario World's official website is now used as the official Nintendo software development website.
 * If the player waits around 50 minutes on the pause screen, Wario's chanting will stop, and after a brief pause, he'll glumly say "Sorry."