#suzak

Between Wario Land games (World in 2003 and this in 2007) the Ware spinoff series exploded, with four whole entries utilising different hardware gimmicks to expand the microgame concept. Eventually it fell on Suzak to continue the parent series. They had previously done some F-Zero games on GBA for Nintendo and would later be known for their G.G Series of small-scale games on DSiWare. But for now, their goal was seemingly to take Wario Land and make it as much about the touchscreen as they possibly could.

Oddly enough, the premise here is pretty similar to Suzak's first game, Domokun's Strange TV on GBA. In that game, Domokun went into his TV and it was an excuse to change up gameplay styles and settings by swapping between programmes. Here, Wario invents a telly-helmet to enter the world of a drama about a master thief... then he stays in that one show the whole time. The plot kind of forgets that he's even in a TV world until the epilogue, although the game returns you to Wario's tiny Japanese-style apartment living room between stages. It feels like the concept is underused, and continues the stakes-lowering trend of Wario having adventures in pocket realities for no reason.

This adventure plays out in a series of large, sprawling levels. A return to Wario Land 3's style of exploration was welcome for me, including unlocking abilities and an emphasis on puzzle-platforming. There's tons of treasures to find, and this time they're all logged with funny descriptions to read, which is nice. Getting around the levels can be a slog though, especially when backtracking is required. The game has fewer stages than Wario Land 4, but they're massive, many of them taking me over an hour to clear. More frequent save points or the addition of warp points would have been appreciated; this is a portable game after all.

The elephant in the room is the touchscreen integration. You play the game one-handed, jumping with Up on the D-pad (left-handed controls are also available) while your stylus allows your transformations and their abilities. Wario has eight forms total, which get found and enhanced over the course of the game. They have distinct and obvious situational strengths, and it felt like eight was the right number to not be overwhelming but give plenty of variety. At any time you draw the appropriate symbol on Wario's body to take on that form, then tap or whatever to do their thing. They work well for the most part, although blowing into the microphone to fly as Wicked Wario, or drawing boxes and trying to recover hearts under pressure or time crunch as Arty Wario, can get frustrating.

More egregious are the forced touchscreen minigames every time you open a chest. There's a lot of chests in the game and a surprisingly small pool of tasks, so you'll very quickly be repeating the exact same thing... it's a real drag. The minigames themselves aren't even good. I also found the boss fights a low point, as they demand precision transformations and inputs and drag on while draining your health. Yeah, MoD still has health as a mechanic. At least the ticking timer only exists to give you bonus money after a level.

While I think the premise had unfulfilled potential, they do inject some welcome characterisation with cutscenes between and within levels. Wario is afforded many opportunities to display his brazen, oafish Wario-ness, while the villains are a bit bland but bumble along with some fun dialogue. The locations come to life with lovely detailed pixel art, and there are often cute and lavishly animated new enemies for each level. (One level has an enemy cast based around goofy dolphins, which I enjoyed.)