Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3

WARIO LAND: SUPER MARIO LAND 3

Super Mario Land 3, or more accurately, the first of the Wario Land series was a sequel/spinoff to the handheld Super Mario Land series that then spun off the whole franchise into a series of Wario Land sequels eventually leading to the creation of the Wario franchise itself, though its representation in Smash is more representative of the Wario Ware series than the Wario Land series. It's a shame. These games have quite a bit of their own character.

Wario Land follows Wario after his unceremonious defeat at the hands of Mario as he washes up on Kitchen Island and tries to rob a local pirate crew of their treasure. The game had a much greater focus on collecting as many coins as possible and less on simply completing the level. Sort of a predecessor to New Super Mario Bros. 2.

Our main cast is fairly minimal, with Wario as our . . . protagonist of sorts, and Captain Syrup as our villain, though Mario does make a small cameo at the end, complete with his helicopter from Donkey Kong Jr. (Is anyone else but me noticing that Mario just happens to have a personal helicopter at his disposal yet he never uses it). Wario's moveset here seems to be almost a beefed up version of Mario's in the previous game. On top of running and jumping, Wario can also ground pound and elbow opponents out of the way. Instead of a feather that lets him throw fireballs, he has a dragon helmet that can breathe a stream of flames. Instead of bunny ears that let him fly short distances, he has a jet helmet that can jet him straight across vast expanses. Finally, he has a bull helmet that lets him barrel through blocks, charge forward, and stick into the ceiling. He can also pick up and throw enemies around like it's nothing.

Captain Syrup, on the other hand, is a pretty simple fighter, at least in this game. For her boss battle, she simply summons an enormous genie that floats around, throws fireballs, and creates mini-genies, while she rides on its shoulder and throws bombs at Wario. She also commands an army of pirates and will have future battles to come, but this is all she gives us for now.

Speaking of an army of pirates, let's get into some of them now. First up are her bosses: Spiked Koopa is a Koopa Troopa covered in spiky armor who can tuck into his shell and spin like normal Koopas, but can also float in the air and rise from the sand below him. Bifun is a bull who will charge and can also pick up and throw his enemies. Hinyari is a penguin with punching gloves and can wear a spiked helmet at times. Funfun is a floating head that sticks out his tongue and throws spike balls. Bobo is Captain Syrup's pet bird who guards her ship and sends out smaller birds (Watches) to attack. Zenisuki is a ghost that pops out smaller ghosts. And of course, we've already covered the genie.

From here, we move on to the smaller enemies. Almost everything here is entirely original to this game, so I'll try to get through them as quickly as I can. Pirate Gooms and Wandering Gooms are this series' version of Goombas, and I can't quite tell if they're the same or not. Pirate Gooms carry spears. D.D.'s are also common, being pirate ducks that throw boomerangs. From there we have: Bucket Heads, snowmen that throw snowflakes; Chicken Ducks, peaceful creatures that drop coins; Demon Bats, that do what they sound like; Gaugaus, pirate rats that throw knives; Goboten, a seal with a harpoon; Guragura, a mole with a mace; Harisu, a hedgehog; Helmut, a jellyfish with a spiky helmet; Konotako, a flying bomb; Maizo, a crab; Munchers, basically Nippers; Paidan, basically Hoopsters; Pecans, pelicans that spit mines; Penkoons, penguins that roll rocks at you; Pikkarikun, a thundercloud; Pinwheel, a spinning sea horse; Pouncer, a Thwomp that can chase you; Togemaru, a bouncing ball of spikes; Ukiwani, a bored crocodile floating in the water; Watch, a bird; White Puff, a small creature that inflates when touched; Yadora, a hermit crab; and a Knight who guards Captain Syrup's throne room. None of them really give me much to work with, but I'll keep an eye on the most common ones.

The game takes place across various regions of Kitchen Island, including: Rice Beach, a beach; Mt. Teapot, a cavernous, waterfall area; Sherbet Land, an ice level; Stove Canyon, a lava level; S.S. Teacup, Captain Syrup's pirate ship; Parsley Woods, a haunted forest level; and Syrup Castle, Syrup's hideout.

Of course, our items include Wario's bull helmet, dragon helmet, and jet helmet, and lots and lots and lots of coins and treasures.

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.
Tatanga: fly ship, three energy balls, swoop, crescent, ball
Captain Syrup: army of pirates, Bobo, Genie, throw bombs, genie's lamp, fireballs, mini-genies.
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

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

Items:
Super Ball Flower
Mushroom
Fire Flower
Carrot
Heart

Thanks for reading! Next time, we're full on Wario series with Wario Land II!