Wario Land 3

WARIO LAND 3

Today, let's take a nice long look at Wario Land 3, the third in the Wario Land series and fifth in the Mario Land handheld series. The game features Wario finding himself sucked into a magical music box controlled by an evil clown named Rudy and has to collect treasures in order to escape. Of course, our main characters are Wario and Rudy, with no Captain Syrup returning, sadly. Let's go over it all and see what we've got.

Wario still functions in much the same way, jumping, elbowing things out of his way, butt bashing to shake the ground, picking up and throwing enemies, and rolling around in a ball. He also brings back his abilities to gain powerups based on the effects enemies have on him. His ball, bouncy, drunk, flat, fiery, frozen, inflated head, and zombie forms all return, though some with different enemies that can inflict the conditions. He can also get wrapped up in string or covered in snow, both of which allow him to roll as a ball. He can be electrified and stunned, turned invisible, or turned into a vampire so that he can fly as a bat. He is also seen flying a plane in the beginning of the game, so there's that.

Another detail to note is that throughout the game, he collects treasures and items that he can use to cause changed in various levels so that he can progress, most of them implying that Wario himself is using the items, so I should consider them as well. This then adds to his repertoir: five music boxes, gloves, boots, overalls and other items that boost Wario's abilites, a lantern that reveals a hidden castle, a burning torch, two cogs to run an elevator, a warp-creating compact, a jar that summons rainstorms, a spellbook and wand to freeze things, a spellbook and wand to summon lightning, an axe to cut trees out of the way, a pair of rings to access a tower, two slates to open a gate, a fan to blow away mist, two papers showing how to calm winds, three conch shells that make a volcano erupt, two chemicals to move heavy blocks, an air pump to raise an ice block, and many many more. It's not certain how many of these should be seriously considered for Wario's moveset or not, but I feel they're at least worth noting.

Rudy the Clown replaces Captain Syrup as Wario's nemesis in this game. The struggle with this character is that he's mostly giant and immobile, functioning more like a general boss than an active player the way Bowser, Captain Syrup, or Tatanga were. Size doesn't matter too much to me (not simply because I have every intention of including Godzilla if the day ever comes that I work my way around to that franchise), but his mobility is a problem. Things we know he can do is suck people into a music box and transform people into monsters, as well as punch downward, slam with his fist, and clap his hands together during the actual boss fight. In my personal opinion, unless any future games give him more, I think he works best as a boss fight, and, well, honestly if this game were to have only one representative stage, a recreation of his boss fight would be the best choice to go with, with his hands acting as platforms. But that's just me.

As far as other bosses go, we have Doll Boy, a matryoshka looking doll sitting on top of barrels and throwing hammers; Wormwould, a giant worm that spits rocks; Wolfenboss, a floating wolf (ahem, fox) spirit throwing out spirit balls and spike balls with little not-Goombas inside; Shoot, a soccer-playing bunny (why these games like sports-playing bunnies, I'll never know); Muddee, a giant salamander crawling around on a wall; Scowler, a giant squid; Helio, a balloon with spear arms that spits out a pump to inflate him; Jamano, a ghost that chased you until you take out his four ghost friends; Pesce, a fish that swims around and eats fruit; and Anonster, a spider that swings around and spits webs.

We don't really seem to have many returning enemies, though many are very similar to previous enemies. We have: Spearheads, totally not Pirate Gooms; Para-Gooms, who have spiky umbrellas as weapons; Prince Froggy, Red Froggy, and Futamogu, frogs really good at being in your way; Webbers, projectile-shooting spiders; Birds and Zombies, probably the only truly returning enemies; Silkies, string-spitting larva; Fire Robota, Beam Robota, Spear-bots, and Hammer-bots, little lego-looking dudes with various weapons in their chests; Teruteru, who latch onto Wario's head and blind him; Mad Scienstein, a scientist throwing invisibility potions; Doughnuteers and Applebies, who throw food to Wario; Omodons, big Thwompy things lifted up by robotic Omodonmekas; a fat, earthquake-making guy apparently named Count Richtertoffen?; Pneumos, flying jellyfish with stingers; Brrr Bears, throwing freezing ice; Hebarii, little pink blobs clinging to the ceiling; Tadpoles, Haridama, and Octohon who swim around; Mr. Moon and the Sun who follow Wario around and attack with electricity and fire respectively; Kushimushi, who are basically Hoopsters; Water and Sand Hands that reach out and grab you; a robotic mouse obsessed with throwing you out of its room; Kobatto, a swarm of bats circling an area; Togeba, a spiky thing that Wario can flip up as a platform; Nobiiru, spiky things that hide in the wall, and giant snakes that breath fire. Again, still not much to work with.

Now, let's come to the stages. This game has a bit of a different mechanic to it, in that it plays out much more like a Metroidvania-style game, with a number of levels for you to work through, each level giving you a new ability or a treasure that alters something about a different course or opens up a new area, resulting in a lot of backtracking to different levels, each little bit unlocking something new. As it is, this means we have several singular levels with varying themes to them, so I'm going to try to list them all here:

Out of the Woods
The Peaceful Village
The Vast Plain
Bank of the Wild River
The Tidal Coast
Sea Turtle Rocks
Desert Ruins
The Volcano's Base
The Pool of Rain
A Town in Chaos
Beneath the Waves
The West Crater
The Grasslands
The Big Bridge
Tower of Revival
The Steep Canyon
Cave of Flames
Above the Clouds
The Stagnant Swamp
The Frigid Sea
Castle of Illusions
The Colossal Hole
The Warped Void
The East Crater
Forest of Fear

I'd go through and spell all these out for you, but the names are pretty much exactly what they say on the tin, so . . .

As far as items, you have the ridiculous list of treasures mentioned above, including the handful of upgrades and the music boxes used in the plot.

Let's see what we've got:

Characters:
Mario: run, jump, super balls, submarine, plane, downward spin, grow, fireballs, fly with bunny ears, helicopter
Wario: get bigger, bunny ears, fireballs, slam down, knock down globes, booby traps, Wario balls, throw shoe, elbow, charge forward, stick in ceiling, dragon fire, jet propulsion, pick up and throw, roll into a ball, fireball, fat, flatten, zombie, inflated head, frozen, bounce around, become a ball, get drunk, electric, vampire, snowball, string ball, fly a plane, various treasure given abilities
Tatanga: fly ship, three energy balls, swoop, crescent, ball
Captain Syrup: army of pirates, Bobo, Genie, throw bombs, genie's lamp, fireballs, mini-genies, flying machines, Bomb Gooms, bombs, pillar of fire, steal treasure, electric beam, electric ball, mechakuri, fire blast, electricity.
Daisy: not much, unless reference character
Koopa: explode, walk forward, spikes, float, spin, burrow
Goomba: walk forward, ghost, Paragoomba, scuba helmet, maybe Gooms
Piranha Plant: bite, nippers
Boo: hide, float

Bosses:
King Totomesu
Dragonzamasu
Hiyoihoi
Biokinton
Big Bird
Sewer Rat
Witch
Three Little Pigs
Octopus
Spiked Koopa
Bifun
Hinyari
Funfun
Bobo
Zenisuki
Genie
Rudy the Clown
Dollboy
Wormwould
Wolfenboss
Shoot
Muddee
Scowler
Helio
Jamano
Pesce
Anonster

Stages:
Birabuto Kingdom
Muda Kingdom
Easton Kingdom
Chai Kingdom
Tree Zone
Space Zone
Macro Zone
Pumpkin Zone
Mario Zone
Turtle Zone
Mario Castle
Rice Beach
Mt. Teapot
Sherbet Land
Stove Canyon
S.S. Teacup
Parsley Woods
Syrup Castle
Wario's Castle
Maze Woods
In Town
The Cellar
Ruins at the Bottom of the Sea
Uncanny Mansion
Mysterious Factory
Out of the Woods
The Peaceful Village
The Vast Plain
Bank of the Wild River
The Tidal Coast
Sea Turtle Rocks
Desert Ruins
The Volcano's Base
The Pool of Rain
A Town in Chaos
Beneath the Waves
The West Crater
The Grasslands
The Big Bridge
Tower of Revival
The Steep Canyon
Cave of Flames
Above the Clouds
The Stagnant Swamp
The Frigid Sea
Castle of Illusions
The Colossal Hole
The Warped Void
The East Crater
Forest of Fear
Rudy the Clown

Items:
Super Ball Flower
Mushroom
Fire Flower
Carrot
Heart
Treasure
Coins
Bull Helmet
Dragon Helmet
Jet Helmet
Music Boxes
Gloves
Overalls
Boots, Etc.
Treasures

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's go check out Wario Land 4!