Wario (universe): Difference between revisions

''Mario'' began a subseries of platformers on Game Boy called ''Super Mario Land'', of which its first entry depicted [[Mario]] leaving his personal island and castle to rescue the newly debuted character Princess Daisy from an alien entity named Tatanga. The sequel, ''Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'', was the debut for the character [[Wario]], who served as an "evil twin" to Mario and an antagonist figure who was the final boss; he took over Mario's castle and island for himself while Mario was away, and it's up to the latter to oust him. Wario made several other appearances as a villain in ''Mario'' games, including a Japan-only Super Famicom game named ''Mario and Wario'' where Wario would drop a bucket on the heads of either Mario, [[Peach]], or [[Yoshi]] from his airplane, and it is up to a fairy named Wanda to help them to level exits, and in the puzzle game ''Wario's Woods'', Wario launches an assault on the Mushroom Kingdom, forcing [[Toad]], Wanda, and [[Birdo]] to stop him.  

After beng established in several games as an outright villain in the ''Mario'' universe, Wario was from then on portrayed in a less malicious anti-hero light, becoming the protagonist of his own games, most of which were platformers at first, hence establishing somewhat of a subfranchise of ''Mario''. The first of these games was ''Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3'', where the antagonist party, the Brown Sugar Pirates led by a woman named Captain Syrup, steals a Peach statue from Mario, and Mario is trying to retrieve it; as Wario, the player must steal it for himself before that happens. After a Virtual Boy Wario adventure named ''Wario Land'' sees Wario trying to find his way out of a giant cave while collecting money, the Game Boy Color's ''Wario Land II'' continues the rivalry between Wario and Captain Syrup as they try to steal loot from each other. In Game Boy Color's ''Wario Land 3'', Wario is now trapped in a Music Box World and must battle Rudy the Clown, and in ''Wario Land 4'' for Game Boy Advance Wario journeys through a pyramid he hears is packed with treasure. (As a side note, early in the game Wario encounters someone disguised as [[Mr. Game and Watch]]; the game was released after ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''.) All of these games were some variant of Wario trying to get his hands on material riches.

The ''Wario'' name then became synonymous with a form of off-kilter mini-gaming unique for its time. In 2003, the first of a new series called ''WarioWare'' was released for Game Boy Advance, and it received many outstanding reviews and awards for its attempt at a new genre; a collection of over 200 outrageously themed timed ''micro''-games, games short and small enough that most of them require a single timed button press or two, thrown at the player in rapid succession with the barest minimum of instructions popping up on screen each time ("Jump!" or "Haze!" as examples). The games thematically ranged from anywhere between helping maidens, nose-sucking strands of snot, and avoiding giant hot dogs on wheels, to avoiding obstacles in the original ''F-Zero'' or battling Mother Brain in the original ''Metroid''. The game also introduced a diverse cast of strictly ''Wario'' characters not yet seen in any standard ''Mario'' game. In the years to come, new ''WarioWare'' games were produced for GameCube (as a port of the Game Boy Advance game), the Game Boy Advance (''WarioWare Twisted!'', which used a motion sensor to make turning the Game Boy Advance around a gameplay maneuver), Nintendo DS (''WarioWare Touched!'', making heavy use of the DS' features), and most recently the Wii (''WarioWare: Smooth Moves'').  All these games have been considered staples of gaming for their respective systems.

Perhaps as a result of the new respect for the ''Wario'' franchise as a mini-game-proficient game series, new standard platforming games released in between have received some negative press, including ''Wario World'' for [[GameCube]] for its ease and length, and ''Wario: Master of Disguise'' for DS for standard design uninspiring in comparison to the previous ''Wario Land'' games, as well as a lot of scatological humor. But Wario himself is considered a "regular" in the standard ''Mario'' universe nonetheless, in many games such as the Mario Sports games and Mario Kart alongside a second "evil twin" character named [[Waluigi]] (who is actually not considered part of the Wario universe), and Wario and other ''Wario'' properties have featured in 2008's [[Wii]] fighting game ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''.