WarioLand 1 is so quaint, I love it.

[ratwedding]

I finally played WarioLand 1 after mainly having experience with wario-likes, wario land 2 and wario world. and i love how different it is from Wario's identity from 2 onwards.

So much of Wario's identity that felt unique/was iterated on as the games matured finally clicked with me as i realized they were all doing the opposite of mario.

Mario attacks from above? Wario charges from the side
Mario eats mushrooms? Wario eats garlic

Since coins are now a thing you collect in bulk, they felt like they had to add hearts as the extra life mechanic.

the enemies feel pretty Wario already which is really cool, and it has a lot of jank which is also really cool.

If you haven’t already, i recommend getting a copy of the game however you do and picking it up.

 

[CM30]

It's definitely a very charming game, and you can certainly see the series philosophy take shape there. Wario in general is shown as a much more brutish, force orientated character than Mario for example, and his moves and abilities all reflect that. You're not some nimble acrobat avoiding obstacles and jumping on heads, you're basically a human tank smashing everything to bits.