So, someone on SMW Central released a new Wario themed hack:
http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=10962
But while I like the concept, I'm actually rather disappointed after playing it. Why? Here's why:
1. It barely has anything to do with Wario. Yes, you play as a Wario sprite, he eats garlic and he can charge enemies. But the gameplay and platforming and level design... is just too Mario like. Too many jumps over instant kill bottomless pits and lava (not found in any Land game past the first one), not enough secrets, puzzles and extras in levels (most seem boringly straight forward with little room to explore). Few if any Wario themed enemies (yet apparently Mega Man enemies get included in the last world, which is just plain weird). And the wall kick doesn't work well.
2. The ideas are very, very uncreative (especially for a Wario themed game). Grasslands, deserts, water levels, ice levels, space levels, fire levels... those are more Mario themes than Wario ones. Where's the pinball machine or casino or landfill site or chinese village style areas? The weird void like ones?
3. The bosses are unimaginative, even for Mario ROM hack standards. Every boss I've seen in another hack, and every one was done better elsewhere as a result.
4. The graphics and music aren't Wario like at all. I remember seeing a background from Fiery Cavern... and that's about it. Disappointing.
5. It's too hard, even for ROM hack/fan game standards. Especially bad for a Wario game, since those are meant to be a bit easier than the norm, not ridiculously hard. The bad wall jump controls and super sliding dash attack don't help here either, since they're too finicky to be useful in most of the game.
So yeah, disappointing isn't it? I wanted at least one great Wario Land themed Mario hack, and unfortunately, this isn't it. Just a slightly better than average Mario one.
http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=10962
But while I like the concept, I'm actually rather disappointed after playing it. Why? Here's why:
1. It barely has anything to do with Wario. Yes, you play as a Wario sprite, he eats garlic and he can charge enemies. But the gameplay and platforming and level design... is just too Mario like. Too many jumps over instant kill bottomless pits and lava (not found in any Land game past the first one), not enough secrets, puzzles and extras in levels (most seem boringly straight forward with little room to explore). Few if any Wario themed enemies (yet apparently Mega Man enemies get included in the last world, which is just plain weird). And the wall kick doesn't work well.
2. The ideas are very, very uncreative (especially for a Wario themed game). Grasslands, deserts, water levels, ice levels, space levels, fire levels... those are more Mario themes than Wario ones. Where's the pinball machine or casino or landfill site or chinese village style areas? The weird void like ones?
3. The bosses are unimaginative, even for Mario ROM hack standards. Every boss I've seen in another hack, and every one was done better elsewhere as a result.
4. The graphics and music aren't Wario like at all. I remember seeing a background from Fiery Cavern... and that's about it. Disappointing.
5. It's too hard, even for ROM hack/fan game standards. Especially bad for a Wario game, since those are meant to be a bit easier than the norm, not ridiculously hard. The bad wall jump controls and super sliding dash attack don't help here either, since they're too finicky to be useful in most of the game.
So yeah, disappointing isn't it? I wanted at least one great Wario Land themed Mario hack, and unfortunately, this isn't it. Just a slightly better than average Mario one.
