 Ssssss-nestr- Wario is a mainstay in the Mario universe appearing in dozens and dozens of games over the past 20 years or so, first appearing in Super Mario Land 2 for Game Boy, as the final boss, all the way back in 1992. In a weird twist, he became a playable character in the sequel, Wario Land Super Mario Land 3, with the story continuing after Wario got booted out of Mario's castle, this time Wario deciding to try and buy his own castle by going after a stolen golden statue with Princess Toadstool, and selling it back to Mario. The game was a big success, mostly because of the simple fact that it was novel to be able to play a platformer like this as the villain for once. It's a cool idea and Nintendo clearly had a lot of fun with it, so much that they continued the Wario Land series for several games, including Wario Land 2, which was released for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and is now available on the 3DS Virtual Console that I ended up getting for free somehow. I went into this game expecting just another platformer, but Wario's plethora of quote-unquote abilities make Wario Land 2 unique. One ability is, uh, the ability to not die. That's right, Wario cannot die in this game. Sure, you can get set on fire, you can be made woozy, you can get squashed and waddle around like a crab, but enemies and obstacles here are only meant to hamper Wario's progress, not to stop it completely. That's because this isn't really an action platformer. Wario Land 2 is a puzzle platformer with each stage of each level being an area that you have to solve, so to speak. Wario does have some handy abilities like butt stomping stuff or charging into things, which you'll need to do quite often to find all the hidden areas in this game. He can also pick up enemies and throw them with one hand, which is pretty fun. So yeah, the challenge here isn't staying alive and making it to the end of the stage, it's figuring your way out of there by finding the right door. But what's really fascinating here is sometimes you have to use enemies and obstacles to proceed. Like to get down here, you actually have to allow yourself to be set on fire. Or this section here where you have to get smashed in order to fit into this narrow path. Now that's interesting. My favorite is Wario eating this projectile, which suddenly causes him to gain about 100 pounds, so he slowly waddles around until his extra weight comes in handy and he presses down the appropriate panel. Nah, who am I kidding? My favorite is Drunk Wario, who stumbles around like an idiot completely useless until he's mercifully doused in water and sovers up. That's funny as hell. But yeah, there's all sorts of different states you can turn yourself into, and it almost makes this gameplay more like a Kirby game than a Mario game. The catch though is that while you may not die when you get hit by enemies, you will lose coins. And you need coins to play a series of mini-games that will eventually unlock a map that reveals the location of Wario's lost treasure that he rightfully stole. But yeah, you make your way through all sorts of level themes and settings, some of them culminating in a boss fight, and some of those may just be about the only flaw this game has. Some boss fights are great, like you challenge this giant rabbit to a basketball game and you have to jump on him to turn him into a ball and toss him into a basket. That's pretty funny. But other boss fights are downright annoying. Since you can't die, you just get tossed off the screen and you have to make your way back there and start over. Anyway, once you get through the game, you're given a map that gives you access to even more levels which themselves have all sorts of new hidden areas and exits and stuff, totaling up to five different endings. So yeah, if you're expecting just another action platformer with Wario Land 2, you'll be pleasantly surprised because this game is an awesome and entertaining change of pace that might even make you laugh once or twice. Also, it's worth pointing out that both the original Game Boy version and the Game Boy Color versions are both playable on the Super Game Boy for Super Nintendo, all the more incentive to track it down. But the easiest, most accessible way to get it is probably on the 3DS Virtual Console. Go check it out.