We all know that Wario Land is not at all afraid to change things up between games, but has anyone ever noticed how that even applies to something as simple as how you progress between stages?
In Land 1 you had a rather typical world map and some secret exits, however some of these exits will cause changes on the map, which will ofte effect certain levels.
Virtual Boy Wario Land has every level end with an elevator that you need to find keys for, it's very straight forward, though you do have the option to go back to earlier levels by using the previous elevators again.
Land 2 brings back the idea of secret exits, however this time said exits will lead to completely new stories, it's essentially a ''choose your own adventure'' book made into a videogame.
Land 3 is essentially a Metroidvania, split into levels, were the treasures are pretty much like items in those games, which in many cases will grant you access to new areas or open up new levels altogether.
Land 4 gives you access to all the main worlds right after a short tutorial one, there you have to play the levels in order and also need the jewel pieces and Keyzer in order to progress, however you can change between worlds as you wish and can tackle them in any order.
The worlds in Shake It are all linear, but because you have to buy maps from Syrup's shop you can technically play the worlds in any order, you are just very unlikely to do so, because of how steep the prices are.
Obviously other plattformers have made changes in that regard for at least a few games, there are usually some approaches that can be consiered iconic within those series', like the Act structure in Sonic or the choose your boss order and weapon weakness chain formula in Mega Man, Wario really doesn't have anything like that, some approaches may be more well remembered then others, but there really isn't one that could be considered a standard for Wario Land.
This can be take two ways, on one hand it is undeniably remarkable how each Land game has this much of a distinct identity that even something as mundane as level pregression can be different every time.
On the other hand you can also see it as another example of WL not really having many consistent elements and because of that not really having that much of a consistend image as a series, I appreciate it, but looking at the series at large, some could see even something as small as this as part of a bigger problem.
So yeah, any thoughts?
In Land 1 you had a rather typical world map and some secret exits, however some of these exits will cause changes on the map, which will ofte effect certain levels.
Virtual Boy Wario Land has every level end with an elevator that you need to find keys for, it's very straight forward, though you do have the option to go back to earlier levels by using the previous elevators again.
Land 2 brings back the idea of secret exits, however this time said exits will lead to completely new stories, it's essentially a ''choose your own adventure'' book made into a videogame.
Land 3 is essentially a Metroidvania, split into levels, were the treasures are pretty much like items in those games, which in many cases will grant you access to new areas or open up new levels altogether.
Land 4 gives you access to all the main worlds right after a short tutorial one, there you have to play the levels in order and also need the jewel pieces and Keyzer in order to progress, however you can change between worlds as you wish and can tackle them in any order.
The worlds in Shake It are all linear, but because you have to buy maps from Syrup's shop you can technically play the worlds in any order, you are just very unlikely to do so, because of how steep the prices are.
Obviously other plattformers have made changes in that regard for at least a few games, there are usually some approaches that can be consiered iconic within those series', like the Act structure in Sonic or the choose your boss order and weapon weakness chain formula in Mega Man, Wario really doesn't have anything like that, some approaches may be more well remembered then others, but there really isn't one that could be considered a standard for Wario Land.
This can be take two ways, on one hand it is undeniably remarkable how each Land game has this much of a distinct identity that even something as mundane as level pregression can be different every time.
On the other hand you can also see it as another example of WL not really having many consistent elements and because of that not really having that much of a consistend image as a series, I appreciate it, but looking at the series at large, some could see even something as small as this as part of a bigger problem.
So yeah, any thoughts?
