What would you like from a spiritual successor?

ChanceTime

ChanceTime

Wario Fan Supreme
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Hi, everyone. There hasn't been a new Wario Land for a long time now, though I won't venture to say that the series is completely dead. Hypothetically though, if the series were to stop, what would you personally like to see out of a spiritual successor?

Think of the elements of the Wario Land games that you just can't get out of other games on the market, what about these games has you wanting another one? Or perhaps, where do you think the series could've gone or attempted had it been given attention on modern systems?

See, @Melluh and I intend to make games together in the future for a living once we both graduate. While I'm not about to make any promises I can't keep, a game in the essence of Wario Land certainly wouldn't be too peculiar coming from us once we find our footing. There's valuable things that we've learned about game creation thanks to this series, and... Who knows? Perhaps we can someday give something back, in a way.

...Please don't hit us with sticks if that doesn't come about, though.
 
One of the best things I got from the Wario Land series that I couldn't get in other platformers were the abundance of field puzzles. Think of how in Wario Land 3 especially you had items and chests that were hidden away and only with a key or an item you could get from another stage could help give you secret passages. Something like that would be really cool to have as well as the whole night/day world change. Not only changing the environment and enemies you could have certain parts of the day have passages to another level or something like that, not sure if this would lag the game as in having to wait for the night/day to take effect. It could happen once you start a stage and finish just one level if it makes it much faster.
 
I want a shoulder tackle, but I also want to be able to hold a button to do a running, more powerful shoulder tackle like in Land 4! (Also it must have that after image effect)
 
Transformations? It's quite rare to see games where getting hit with a certain obstacle transforms your character and gives them special powers. Only other example I remember (with similar ideas) was Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy on Gamecube.

So yeah, that's one idea we need in a Wario Land successor, since no other game seems to include it (at least any more).

I guess the mentioned field puzzles too. Day and night mechanics would be interesting, as would items gained elsewhere changing earlier levels in interesting ways. Paper Mario Color Splash does some of this, though nowhere near as much as the Wario Land titles did.

Finally, I want to see some of the heart and soul put into the Wario Land games, where levels actually have interesting ideas and a lot of variety. One of the best parts about Wario Land 3 and 4 was that no two levels were the same as one another in general 'theme', and in the latter, no two levels even used the same graphics and music. Same goes with Wario World.

I'd love to see this in a spiritual successor too.
 
A character and universe that also manages to capture the same charm as the original to match with the gameplay.

giana-sisters-twisted-dreams-directors-cut.jpg

Freedom_Planet_Steam_artwork.jpg

These two do it really well.
 
I'd like to see the f"oreground background" mechanic in a game. But i'd like it to have more emphasison the level design, Yes it was well used in VBWL but it feels like a clever way to make levels larger without using too much memory than something super clever. Though at times it worked really well like the final boss for example and i want more of "that" from a spiritual succsesor.
 
Health or no health? Also a world map/level progression like Wario Land 2 where you play through one path and then see all the blank levels for alternate routes.... or maybe something more in between Wario Land 3 and 4?
 
I'd personally like to see a spiritual successor without health, just cause so few games have that 'complete invincibility' set up.

Map wise, Wario Land 3's one would be a good inspiration. Loved how getting treasures in different levels affected other ones.
 
I like the no health too. It seems to make for better level design when getting hit setbacks your progress vs giving you a strike (which you will almost always will inevitably erase with a health regen object spawn).

Personally, I always wanted to see something like the Great Cave Offensive, but larger and with Wario. Also, reasonable fast travel points for convenience.
 
Wish it'd come to the Nintendo Switch at some point though. Unfortunately, I remember the devs not really having experience making games for consoles, based on the interview I did with 'em.
 
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