Things you love about the level design in Wario Land series?

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There are some little things about the level designs in the Wario Land series that I really like.

In Wario Land 2, I really like how Wario explores the SS Tea Cup, then floods it, and then explores THE SAME SHIP, but it's flooder, some blocks are already destoryed (by Wario himself in the previous level), and while the level layout is not exactly the same, a lot of rooms (such as the ship entrance, the room where the cook and the white guys were, the room with the treasure door, the room with 2 vertical ladders) are recognizable if you pay enought attention). Speeking of the Treasure Door, the door with the treasure minigame is the exact same door as in the un-flooder ship. That's so cool.

Wario Land 3 has this open-ish world thing. And althought the levels are not inter-connected, I still find it really cool how Above The Clouds in located right on top of Tower Of revival. The blue treasure chest in The Tower is a Sky Key that leads to the roof and the clouds above. The roof has the same graphics as the tower tileset, as you enter the sky right after getting the blue chest in the tower, you will instantly recognize it, and see that the tower has yet another place that you haven't explored, because you haven't been to the roof yet

Wario Land 4 is a game where all the levels are really memorable, and have very interesting themes.
But Fiery Cavern mixes mixes the Fire and Ice themes into 1 level, where you explore the Fire Cave, and then freeze it, and escape from the frozen cave. That is very interesting. You get to revisit some of the rooms you've been in, and you see how the raising lava has been frozen, blocking some passages, and acting as platforms to reach other locations. Who would have thought on their first playthrogutht that this fire that hurts you and doesn't turn you into Fire Wario would become useful later?

So what do you guys think? Are there any particular levels that you think are very creative with their level designs?
 
Oh man, I love some of your choices. Especially with the SS Teacup sinking, that's a really good point with them being laid out the same pre and post flooding! If I were to talk about everything I love about the series' level design I'd be here all day, but here's a few that come to mind in particular for me;

I think in WL1 the most memorable part of the game was Mt. Teapot as a whole, but within it Level #9 was particularly great. It's the one where the music goes quiet and there's a lot of waterfalls, and you find the treasure room via a block that marks where the door is hidden. I thought that was a pretty neat puzzle! But in general the level was cool.

Wl2 had that room with big coins at the top, and all the blocks to get up there were invisible, so you had to take to care to give yourself platforms to stand on while also ascending. I can't quite remember which level that was, mind... Anyone know which I'm talking about?

My definite favourite passage in WL4 was Topaz, I love every level in that place. The various blocks and how their relationship with one-another in Toy Block Tower's really interesting, particularly how you can use the cat blocks, the timing-based nature of the dice system in The Big Board, the length of time you spend in the level after pressing the frog switch in Doodle Woods and the puzzles involving the pencil platforms you can nudge, and of course the intense time attack races involved with Domino Row. I think that while every level in the game presents something memorable and well-structured, the Topaz passage manages to show off the most interesting mechanics, while still having it utilise the game's core functions. Really the only thing that lets that passage down is the boss, if you ask me.
 
I said a similar thing in the "Wario Land 1 Appreciation" thread before, but I absolutly adore how entering certain secret exits in Land 1 will cause certain effects to happen, like Mount Teapott flooding Rice Beach, which will also reflect in the levels themselves and not just the map, I really think more games should do that kind of stuff.
 
Okay, I did not know the Tower of Revival thing at all. But damn, that's pretty clever. It reminds me of how every world in Donkey Kong Country Returns started out where the last one ended.

And yes, the Wario Land 1 environment changes were great as well. I especially liked how in Parsely Woods, you ended up draining the water and completely changing the layout of level 1 in the process.

As for what I like... well, I quite like how Wario Land 4's Super Hard mode actually changes some of the levels significantly in terms of how you play them. For example, the first level in Entry Passage has the switch moved to halfway through the level, to put you under added pressure and change it from a slow paced tutorial to a fast paced 'get out of here now!' experience. Or how Palm Tree Paradise is literally changed to a grass equivalent to the Golden Passage, with the switch being activated right as you enter the level.

I also like how the game enhances, changes and remixes music based on what's happening. For instance, when you enter a cave in Palm Tree Paradise, the music gets redone with an echoey feeling and with the song with much more subdued as a result:



Oh, and let's not forget how that ghost in Crescent Moon Village actually goes after any money Wario drops, complete with a goofy expression on his face if he grabs it. Or how the flower buds in Wildflower Fields are actually pollinated by the bee enemies and give different amounts of money based on when you destroy them. Those are very small touches, but damn, they're quite effective.
 
Oh, and Pinball Zone.
Of course, I love the main gimmick of this level.
But what I really love is while you have all these subrooms with the puzzles, they are all connected by one big room.
You can see different parts of this room as you go throught the level, but it's not until the very end, where you roll to the start, that you see the full picture

PinballZone.png
 
Yeah, those things are really cool.
I actually never noticed the above the clouds/tower of revival thing d:eek:
Hm... is there anything I could add? Wario Land 3's level design is just genius in general, with how they made you to access certain new chests as you progress (we learnt that the hard way...).
I loved the NINTENDO at the top of the roof in that Wario Land II level.
... I'm sure both the original, II, 3 and 4 have great examples of good level design, but I just can't think of any right now d:p
I really liked one of the music coins in The Vast Plain (don't want to spoil how to get it, but I spent over 15 minutes I think d:P)
 
Oh, here's a pretty cool minor bit of 'awesome' in a Wario Land Shake It level. That cannon shot before the Merfle near the end.



Got to love how he flies past the moon at rocket speed before smashing through the window and landing near the cage.

Then again, the cannon shots in that game were awesome in general. Like the one at 5:08 in this video:



Who doesn't love Wario bouncing around like a pinball as he blasts through walls? Forget a real life human cannonball act, I'd love to see a real life version of that instead.
 
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