Nintendo has made an odd choice to commemorate Valentine’s Day for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
Arriving to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack is Wario Land 4, originally released as a launch title for the Game Boy Advance in 2001.
This Nintendo R&D1 title expands Wario’s reach from what his Wario Land franchise could do on the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Virtua Boy. While you still control a nearly invulnerable Wario to traverse some platforming challenges and a few fun mini-games, the scope of this title significantly expands from what R&D1 had done before.
The first thing you will likely see is the considerably better graphics from prior Wario Land games, and it just gets better from there. Wario enters a new story arc that completely splits away from the main Mario franchise, including ditching Pauline lookalike Captain Syrup. This time, you’re exploring a pyramid deep in the jungle, after reading about a cursed princess and the prospect of a lot of treasure.
But that’s not really what makes this game special. There are Metroid fans and Kid Icarus fans who think their favorite franchises are criminally neglected. The reality is Wario Land 4 is the actual forgotten classic, that didn’t even get the due it deserved because it didn’t happen to be around for the NES.
It was a technical achievement as a launch GBA title, though we can understand if younger gamers wouldn’t be able to appreciate that. Its particular vision of a somewhat open ended world is another variation of the platformer/side-scroller formula Nintendo iterated on with Mario, Metroid, Kirby, Yoshi, etc. And Wario Land 4 distinguishes itself from the pack in the most unusual way; by baking in its demented Nickelodeon-style dirty wacky humor in the game design.
Fans who lament that Nintendo hasn’t jumped back into this franchise should already know the reason why. After the 3D platformer Wario World failed to live up to expectations, R&D1 generated a hit with a spinoff game, Wario Ware. And Wario Ware generated a hit spinoff of its own called Rhythm Heaven.
But Wario Land 4 has finally been getting its due, over two decades later. Antonblast and Pizza Tower are the new iterations of the Wario Land formula that Nintendo should have made, created by fans of the mustachioed mook.
R&D1 hasn’t existed for quite some time now, although many of its staff still work at the now reincorporated Nintendo EPD. Maybe there’s a veteran staffer who’s plotting to make that Wario Land 5 in the same way Yoichi Sakamoto held onto Metroid Dread for all these years.
But in the meantime, you can look forward to Wario’s search for his one true love (the almighty moolah!) this coming February 14, 2025. You can watch the official announcement trailer below.
