The Wario platformers are often noted for having far more of a grey morality focus, in comparison to the goody two shoes Mario, but how much would you say does that really apply to each game?
To me the games that really show this trait of the series the best are the ones that feature Captain Syrup, when you get down to it all their ecounters have no real villain or hero, they are just two very greedy people trying to one up each other:
Sure Syrup stole the golden Peach statue first, but Wario really only planned to rescue it so that he could demand a ransom, pretty much the same thing Syrup wanted.
Sure Syrup and her crew stole from Wario, made a mess in his castle and in one scenario even took it over, but while Wario may have been wronged first, he is at the end of the day, just as willing to rob them of all their treasures, taking more then just his fair share back, one could call it deserved retribution, but to me it's just another example of how alike they are.
And Shake It has them both pretty much in the plan to save the Shake Dimension for the sake of getting the bottomless coin sack, only unlike the other two times Syrup has the last laugh, which makes it easy to see her as worse, but Wario's general attitude to the distressed kingdom and his treatment of it's queen show once again how both only ever cared for one thing and one thing only.
Land 3 I'd actually say is pretty black and white, since Rudy is obviously far worse then Wario, who this time, really only wants to escape the music box world, collecting treasure on the way is just a much appreciated bonus, same can be said about Land 4, while it's clearly Wario, with his typical attitude, the ending and his interactions with Shokora even show him in a very unambiguously good light, moreso then any other Wario game.
Virtual Boy Wario Land really only has Wario trying to get his stuff back and the same can also be said to an extend for Wario World, since the Black Jewel is never shown to have any bigger plans, apart from getting back at Wario for collecting it, either way I'd say that's not particulary grey in this case, since while Wario's quests weren't heroic he isn't really doing anything wrong either and was just living life until the villains came along to mess with him.
Master of Disguise I'd say does a good job at going back to grey territory to a degree. Terrormisu may be the big threat, but all three of the heroes are thieves, thing is that Wario get's tricked into playing into the villain's scheme, so while he's only out for valuables and even becomes a genuine criminal this time around, he really isn't any worse then Cannoli and Carpaccio, who despite being just as guilty of these things, do consciously work against the big bad, so it's actually a bit more complex this time around.
So yeah, what are your thoughts on the matter and how it could apply to every game?
To me the games that really show this trait of the series the best are the ones that feature Captain Syrup, when you get down to it all their ecounters have no real villain or hero, they are just two very greedy people trying to one up each other:
Sure Syrup stole the golden Peach statue first, but Wario really only planned to rescue it so that he could demand a ransom, pretty much the same thing Syrup wanted.
Sure Syrup and her crew stole from Wario, made a mess in his castle and in one scenario even took it over, but while Wario may have been wronged first, he is at the end of the day, just as willing to rob them of all their treasures, taking more then just his fair share back, one could call it deserved retribution, but to me it's just another example of how alike they are.
And Shake It has them both pretty much in the plan to save the Shake Dimension for the sake of getting the bottomless coin sack, only unlike the other two times Syrup has the last laugh, which makes it easy to see her as worse, but Wario's general attitude to the distressed kingdom and his treatment of it's queen show once again how both only ever cared for one thing and one thing only.
Land 3 I'd actually say is pretty black and white, since Rudy is obviously far worse then Wario, who this time, really only wants to escape the music box world, collecting treasure on the way is just a much appreciated bonus, same can be said about Land 4, while it's clearly Wario, with his typical attitude, the ending and his interactions with Shokora even show him in a very unambiguously good light, moreso then any other Wario game.
Virtual Boy Wario Land really only has Wario trying to get his stuff back and the same can also be said to an extend for Wario World, since the Black Jewel is never shown to have any bigger plans, apart from getting back at Wario for collecting it, either way I'd say that's not particulary grey in this case, since while Wario's quests weren't heroic he isn't really doing anything wrong either and was just living life until the villains came along to mess with him.
Master of Disguise I'd say does a good job at going back to grey territory to a degree. Terrormisu may be the big threat, but all three of the heroes are thieves, thing is that Wario get's tricked into playing into the villain's scheme, so while he's only out for valuables and even becomes a genuine criminal this time around, he really isn't any worse then Cannoli and Carpaccio, who despite being just as guilty of these things, do consciously work against the big bad, so it's actually a bit more complex this time around.
So yeah, what are your thoughts on the matter and how it could apply to every game?