And by that, I mean in its aesthetics, themes, world building, etc?
Okay, you get a few things which are clearly inspired by Japanese culture, like the Palm Tree Paradise song:
And Shake It does have two Japanese themed levels (although they're more generally 'oriental', mixing themes from both Japan and China):
But as far as themes and ideas go... Wario Land is very... non typical for a Japanese developer platformer series. The aesthetics alone are very different, with a style focusing more on semi realistic backgrounds and characters rather than the cutesy ones in most platformers from the region. That bit is even extended to the spinoffs, with World and Master of Disguise maintaining a... gross out ideal in the enemy style.
It's also surprising how few Japanese cultural references there are in the games. A lot of weird games from Japan aren't that insane, they just inspiration from Japanese folklore and legends. Wario on the other hand, is just insane. You won't find murderous clocks in Japanese myths or legends, nor a duck into a frying pan/wok thing that flies across the screen.
And even when things do take inspiration from other sources, it seems most Western ones. I mean, Shake It is pretty obvious, the entirety of Rocking Range is a theme park version of the USA. Gold mines, run away trains, Las Vegas stand in, an old school circus...
Wario Land 4's Sapphire Passage is almost entirely based on Western sources, like Stephen King novels and perhaps Dante's Inferno, with some miscellaneous stuff like the Arabian Nights thrown in.
Even the pirate themes in the original seem to be more inspired by stuff like Treasure Island and Peter Pan than anything 'Japanese'.
Heck, even the basic gameplay and character really. Wario's greed and selfish motives and the franchise's focus on exploration and combat is very different from a lot of other Nintendo platformers. A bit like Zelda in some way, which is also (often) aimed at non Japanese audiences.
So yeah, what do you think?
Okay, you get a few things which are clearly inspired by Japanese culture, like the Palm Tree Paradise song:
And Shake It does have two Japanese themed levels (although they're more generally 'oriental', mixing themes from both Japan and China):
But as far as themes and ideas go... Wario Land is very... non typical for a Japanese developer platformer series. The aesthetics alone are very different, with a style focusing more on semi realistic backgrounds and characters rather than the cutesy ones in most platformers from the region. That bit is even extended to the spinoffs, with World and Master of Disguise maintaining a... gross out ideal in the enemy style.
It's also surprising how few Japanese cultural references there are in the games. A lot of weird games from Japan aren't that insane, they just inspiration from Japanese folklore and legends. Wario on the other hand, is just insane. You won't find murderous clocks in Japanese myths or legends, nor a duck into a frying pan/wok thing that flies across the screen.
And even when things do take inspiration from other sources, it seems most Western ones. I mean, Shake It is pretty obvious, the entirety of Rocking Range is a theme park version of the USA. Gold mines, run away trains, Las Vegas stand in, an old school circus...
Wario Land 4's Sapphire Passage is almost entirely based on Western sources, like Stephen King novels and perhaps Dante's Inferno, with some miscellaneous stuff like the Arabian Nights thrown in.
Even the pirate themes in the original seem to be more inspired by stuff like Treasure Island and Peter Pan than anything 'Japanese'.
Heck, even the basic gameplay and character really. Wario's greed and selfish motives and the franchise's focus on exploration and combat is very different from a lot of other Nintendo platformers. A bit like Zelda in some way, which is also (often) aimed at non Japanese audiences.
So yeah, what do you think?
