30 years ago, we clutched our Game Boys in our sweaty palms and gasped in collective awe at the majesty we were faced with when Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins dropped on the scene. Not only did we have an absolute banger in our hands — completely outdoing the first Mario Land in every respect and feeling like a 'proper' Super Mario Bros. game magically squeezed into the old Boy — but it was also the first time we got to bask in the glory of Wario. In his debut appearance, Mario’s rival was a sneaky yet imposing figure, towering over him.
Fast forward three decades (yes, really) and the Wario we know now is a fair bit different than that hulking menace we first saw in 1992. Wario now resides mostly in the comedy jobber region, occasionally being trotted out as a side-antagonist in Mario Sports games. But where was the turning point?
The way we see it, there are three eras of Wario...
Wario, the Rival and Hypnotist
“The wicked imposter Wario has cast an evil spell over Mario Land” is how we were introduced to Wario in an iconic ad (above) which saw him attempting to hypnotise the viewer into believing Mario is the enemy, shouting, “Obey Wario, DESTROY MARIO” with a menacing look in his eyes. This early interpretation of Wario is the most malevolently evil the character has ever been.
While Mario was away scrapping with aliens in Sarasaland, Wario took the plumber's absence as an opportunity to put the denizens of Mario Land under his control via a magic spell, seize Mario’s castle, and lock the door with six golden coins scattered around the land.
Yes, in the early days Wario was a master of hypnotism and knew magic. This trait even carried on to the TV commercial for Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 in which he attempts to hypnotise the viewer by dangling a coin in their face and lecturing them on the positives of greed. It also gives us a rare glimpse at his hair.
So what would drive a man to harbour such resentment towards Mario that he would commit a hostile takeover of his land? In the manual for Super Mario Land 2, Mario — ever the narcissist — claims, “He has been jealous of my popularity ever since we were boys.”
However, the Club Nintendo comic ‘Mario Vs Wario’ sheds light on a darker side of the tale. As it turns out, Wario was a victim of childhood bullying from none other than Mario himself. Yes, Nintendo’s golden boy tormented poor Wario.
So just maybe, he was the good guy all along, who slid into anti-hero status through no fault of his own.
Wario, the Treasure Hunter
After Mario put him in his place, Wario never again attempted a coup of Mario Land. In fact — outside of spin-off competitions like on the racetrack or playing Tennis and DDR — he hasn't stood against Mario ever since.
Instead, Wario took to a life of treasure hunting, starting with the original Wario Land. For a character who used such underhanded methods against Mario in his debut, it turns out that Wario is kind of a badass.
Zooming ahead a few games, Wario Land 4 begins with a shot of a newspaper stating that a pyramid harboring a legendary treasure had been discovered, and that ancient beings were stopping people from discovering it. So what does our beloved Wario do? He gets in his car and heads straight there.
Even when he shows up to the first boss encounter, Spoiled Rotten — a horror beyond human comprehension — does he start to doubt this plan? No, Wario rams himself straight into the enemy with no hesitation. Throughout his adventure, Wario gets flattened, stung by bees, set on fire, and even turned into a zombie, but he has no thoughts of stopping. Not until the treasure is his.
Then came Wario World, which begins with our dashing hero sat on a throne in his castle made of gold, surrounded by piles of treasure. Unbeknownst to him, among his treasure pile is the cursed sentient gem the ‘Black Jewel’ which suddenly awakens, thrusting Wario from his home and stealing his entire collection of treasure.
Smash Bros. Brawl finally gave us Mario’s dreaded rival in Smash...and what does he do? Falls off his bike and farts
He drops headfirst into an unknown land, having had his entire life’s spoils stolen from under him. Is there a 20-minute cutscene of him lamenting everything he has lost? No, he gets straight back up within seconds and heads out to get his treasure back. This is a determined man whose lust for treasure overpowers mere human emotions like fear and despair.
The peak of Wario’s no-nonsense man-of-action era was definitely 2008’s Wario Land: The Shake Dimension. This was no mistake, as Tadanori Tsukawaki — design director of the game — said in a Nintendo online interview:
“As much as possible, I wanted to show a macho Wario, one who is masculine and tough...I asked the animators to strongly emphasize his manly characteristics.”
However, this is arguably the last time we saw this side of Wario.
Wario, the Gross Businessman
This takes us up to Wario’s third era, the era in which he became a smelly, garlic-devouring slob who gave up his life of adventure to sit on his behind and have others create video games for him. This version of the character is mainly seen in the WarioWare games and the later Mario spin-off titles.
As incredible as the Smash Bros. series treats its characters, Wario’s interpretation in those games is almost solely inspired by this latter era. Outside of the iconic shoulder charge (which was removed in Smash 4), Wario's move list lacks any reference to his Wario Land days. Brawl's trailer finally gave us a glimpse of Mario’s dreaded rival showing up in Smash after years of requests, and what does he do? Falls off his bike and farts on everyone.
The comedic aspect of the character is also present in most sports titles, such as the intro scene of Mario Power Tennis, which shows him and Waluigi as bumbling fools who mess Bowser's plan up. This continues in his latest Mario Strikers: Battle League appearance, in which his super shot involves him smashing his butt onto the ball, followed by him devouring a giant clove of garlic.
Wario is an interesting character study amongst the Mushroom Kingdom crowd, with arguably no other character having gone through the drastic changes he has. While we adore the WarioWare games with all of our heart — and who doesn't love a good fart gag? — it is a bit disappointing to see the comedic aspects overpower a once extremely capable character. Then again, perhaps this is simply the result of there not being a Wario Land game in the last 15 years.
It’ll be interesting to see if Wario appears in the new Mario movie, and what form he will take if he does turn up. Will he be a Shadow the Hedgehog-esque post-credits stinger setting him up as the villain for an inevitable sequel? Or will he be in the background to make fart jokes happen?
Who knows. Whatever happens, today we salute you, sir!
Feel free to let us know your favourite Wario games and moments below. We're off to fire up Super Mario Land 2 for a 30-year-anniversary playthrough!
Comments 59
The world just needs more Wario. It's hard to believe that the last Wario Land game was released 14 years ago.
Of course, the best thing that bears the Wario name is the WarioWare series, and while I thoroughly enjoyed Get It Together, I'm really yearning for a successor to Smooth Moves and/or DIY.
What do you mean? He still hypnotizes 😂
Happy 30th anniversary Wario and SML2!
I miss the Wario Land games...
I do think that Wario Land is kind of a largely superfluous series, can get why they've pretty much shelved it. The games are fine and all but they didn't really do anything that special compared to Nintendo's multitude of other 2D platformer series (granted a lot of those haven't really budged much in recent years either) and WarioWare has much more of a distinct identity.
That said I would like to see Captain Syrup added to the WarioWare crew. She'd be a fun addition.
I’ve always found it odd that Nintendo won’t use Wario, Daisy, etc. in the mainline Mario games. There’s real potential to have Wario as an antagonist again and they just never go there. Maybe someday.
Wow, 30 years... SML 2 is definitely my most played game on the OG GameBoy.
Today I shall eat an entire head of raw garlic in Wario's honour.
Wario Land 4 was my first game on the GBA and I have many fond memories of unlocking every single secret in it. I couldn't get my hands on Wario World but Shake It/Shake Dimension was peak Wario fun. It was the game I was playing right at the moment my Wii gave it's last breath, even.
I really miss treasure hunter Wario
i just want to see a new Wario Platformer game again.
Yeah, I liked the badass greedy tough guy Wario, the version of him in Warioland 4 is one of my favorite Nintendo characters ever.
I definitely don't like how his defining traits became that he's fat and gross and he has the power of farts.
Wario is my favourite Nintendo character. So many great games and great memories through the games he starred in. I want a new Wario Land game.
@antdickens I thought it was Nintendo Power comic not a Club Nintendo comic that had Mario vs Wario.
@Lizuka I dunno about that. Wario Land 2 / 3 (not so much 4) had a very unique niche in being essentially a 2D version of Mario Odyssey, where you needed to explore for treasure, gain powers from the various enemies, and in 3, could even make changes to the levels themselves to bolster exploration. Plus 2's split narrative is something not seen in any platformer since. Unlike Mario's almost arcadey nature, DK's flowing and difficult levels, or Yoshi's meandering and soft level designs, Wario is first and foremost their exploration platformer, a niche somewhere between Mario and Metroid.
4, while a good game, is where the series lost track of what made it worthy of being a separate platformer from the other options IMO.
I always hoped that Treasure would have ended up making a 2D Wario game.
I was all over Wario Land: SML3 back during the Game Boy days. Really dug it.
However, to show how far back I go my favorite Wario game was Virtual Boy Wario Land. That was a really fun game! I remember being worried I'd go blind playing it because I'd play it for hours at a time (Lol the Virtual Boy had warnings against that all right). It really disappoints me that I didn't see it mentioned up there. Then again, I can understand why it wasn't because I was probably just 1 of 23 people that played it
@Ganner - I also had fond memories of the Virtual Boy Wario game. If I remember correctly, it had a ‘hard mode’ after you beat the game. Great times. Might be why my eyes are so bad nowadays. 😋
Wario Land 4 is one of my favorite games ever. I love how you have to explore levels to even unlock new ones. The escape sequence at the end of each level is also thrilling, and the boss battles kicked my butt as a kid. Cractus and Cuckoo Condor were the stuff of nightmares.
I want to play a sequel to Wario Land: Shake It! On Switch.
Wario was one of my most favourite characters in the Nintendo world until Nintendo destroyed his personality. He was great as an antagonist in the 90's, nowdays they made him a comedic clown. Such a shame because he could be an alternate antagonist boss besides Bowser. Imagine a new 3D Mario game where Bowser is not the villain but Wario. I say it was a missed opportunity to create something different.
Treasure hunter Wario is also my favourite Wario and I hope he will return to his former self. Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land was my first Wario game and I had a great time playing it. Searching for the treasure and collecting it was really fun and addicting.
Thankfully I did not play the rest of the treasure hunter series yet.
After reading this it is definitely on my list now.
Warioware is an amazing series.
Honestly, my least favorite thing Nintendo has EVER done was ruin Wario as a character. I loved him in SML2 and the original Wario Land. I still think that for many reasons Wario Land is one of the best platformers Nintendo ever made.
But over the years they made him this dumb character who picks his nose and farts and rides a motorcycle. He doesn't even dress the same, and the Wario Ware microgames series are so shallow it numbs my brain. They're like the worst mobile games back before mobile phones and lame games were even so common place.
Apart from the waggle, Wario Land Shake It was an incredible game that I'd love to see a sequel to (although it had its share of gross out humor as well, despite what this article says).
Warioware forever changed/ruined (depending upon your taste) Wario. You can see a huge difference in his character from before that game and after.
I think he basically started out as the "bad guy" version of Mario, hence why his hat has always been an upside down M, which is of course a W, but his sidekick/pal Wauligi has a far more obvious upside down L which further cemented them as the "bad guy" opposites of Mario and Luigi.
Now it's like Wauligi is more so the bad guy character, while Wario has taken on far more of a comical angle, being more goofy than bad these days.
How did Mario got his own castle and became the ruler of an entire country? What kind of maniac dictator name his colonized land with his own name? Maybe Wario was just a freedom fighter trying to liberate “Mario Land” from the evil plumber’s oppression…
Wario’s one of my favorite Nintendo characters, and I don’t even care what side he shows. My first Wario game was Wario World and I loved that game to pieces! It was too short, but so sweet with its over-the-top cartoon violence, freakish boss battles, and catchy music. Greenhorn Forest has the perfect Wario music track that perfectly captures everything about him. Wario World also introduced me to WarioWare, and I’ve been a big fan ever since. I may not be that attached to the Wario Land series since I only played those games long after the fact but I would love for Nintendo to revisit someday.
I want to make a shout-out to Wario’s Woods. I’m not even a puzzle person, but while I prefer the SNES version, either version of that game has lots of charm and it’s very unique. Wario is not only the villain again but Toad is the hero with Birdo playing a major role, and it featured unique characters like in WarioWare who sadly haven’t been seen since.
I enjoyed Wario World. Not a bad game. Maybe they could do a new one.
30 years of the best bozo in gaming. If they made another Wario Land game I'm sure it would sell like crazy! I love WarioWare but I miss busting and bashing my way looking for treasure.
In the end I'll just take more Wario wherever I can! Would love him as an antagonist in a Mario Movie Sequel
Wario is, without a doubt, my favourite video game character of all time. If I'm playing a game and Wario's in it, I will select and main him as soon as humanly possible.
I was first introduced to him like so many of us as the villain of Super Mario Land 2. He was a big, fat more badass version of Mario. Dude was large and in charge. It was so weird but awesome to have a character like him, my Mario-obsessed self immediately gravitated to the similar but very different character. Then I played Wario Land and fell in love with it. Wario Land 2 is my favourite Game Boy game of all time, Wario Land 3 is complex and satisfying to progress through, Wario Land 4 has awesome level design and gave Wario even more personality than he already had, and Shake It was beautifully animated. An obese, menacing treasure hunter that will stop at nothing to achieve such his comparatively selfish goals, proving you don't need to be heroic or attractive to be a great protagonist. He's so much more relatable than Mario and he's just fantastic.
I'm honestly not a fan of how WarioWare completely superseded Wario Land as the Wario franchise. They're fun games of course and I buy every one that comes out, but I feel they lack the gravity and grandness of the Land games. Those games are so special and unique to me, and Ware is just kinda meh by comparison. I also miss when Wario was just a badass. Gross out humour is funny to me, but it's not necessary for Wario to work and be distinct from Mario. He's mean, menacing, superhumanly strong, fearless, and pursues cash instead of captured princesses. Wario is the greatest and he's-a gonna win!
Also I've been following Pizza Tower and Antonblast and man I can't wait for those to drop!
I know I'm probably in the minority, but I actually liked Wario's outing on the Virtual Boy. The only downside was that everything I saw after playing it was red for a few hours... 😄
@Waluigi451 From what I've heard, it's because those characters originated from games that weren't made by the mainline Mario team and they mainly want to use "their" characters. So you only see them in spinoffs that aren't made by the core Mario team.
IDC what happened, I just want to see more of him. A new Wario Land/World please and start including the WarioWare crew and Captain Syrup in the Mario spin-off titles, Kart, Party and Sports.
The New Super Mario Bros. game where you just collect as much gold as possible, should have been a Wario platformer, it fits his character far better.
I can't see Wario anymore without thinking of that one meme about the kid in that school class who thought he was Wario or whatever.
Have a rotten birthday!!!
Love Wario. My favorite games are Wario Land VB, Wario Land 2, Wario Land 4, Wario Land Shake It, WarioWare and WarioWare Twisted. Of all these, the best one is probably Wario Land Shake It. Really wish que got a sequel on Switch.
For those that might be confused.. Wario Land: The Shake Dimension is just called Wario Land: Shake it! In the US.
I keep forgetting to realize that this sight is based out of the EU and UK.. not the US.
I believe that it's about time we see Wario make a return to a mainline Mario, as the last one iirc was Super Mario 64 DS. Ever since then, he has felt increasingly less associated with Mario other than the spinoffs.
I loved every game wario had especially gameboy games and wario on GBA , I thought wario world on gamecube was totally new experiance. Wonder about that mario movie, are nintenfo planing a new NINTENDO tv station.
@Thwomp_Stomper @_@What's that Wario's jiggling ass? Steal money and buy more Nintendo merchandise? Ooookaaaaay.
Anyone play the very last level of Wario Land 2?
Pretty challenging.
Still waiting on that Super Wario Bros. game
I like the wario of the wario land games...and best thing about this entire article is the offset eyes drawn on him in the initial description of him...golden
@Nintendo_Thumb well they hate waluigi so it might be awhile
While I’ve always been irritated and confused by his SSB representation, I hadn’t considered 3 distinct eras before. Very interesting. I hope we can go back to his non-gross days again..
@Tasuki Was Club Nintendo a UK magazine maybe, I don't know?
I would assume they would reprint Nintendo Power material then.
Lots of wasted potential right there. I'd gobble a Super Wario Odyssey (They really wouldn't call it that of course, but wouldn't that be great?) right up if it existed.
The Wario Land games are phenomenal. Some of the best 2D platformers of all time, and they feel very distinct compared to Mario for example. I would really love to see a new one.
I start to feel very old, yes 😂 I bought SML2: 6 Golden Coins on a school field trip and loved it obviously.
I already had Wario Land before that which had the superior art direction if you ask me but SML2 felt more like Super Mario World which I was very familiar at the time.
Youngsters today will never know the pain of trying to see what the heck is going on in that little dim green lcd and for that I am glad.
@EdwardElric I did consider throwing in "my moustache has deemed that you get my Wario steam"
@SMcCrae95 That would have been hilarious lol
I have played many things Wario ever since encountering him on the 3DS VC through Super Mario Land 2. I've played the entire Wario Land series outside of the Virtual Boy title (I'm not counting Wario World since I consider it to be a spinoff) and have also played many of the WarioWare entries. The Wario Land platformers are my favorites of the bunch (especially II and Shake It!), but I've enjoyed them all in some form.
He's a fun character with a lot of potential to show up again as a villain, but Nintendo seems determined to leave him at "bumbling anti-hero" status for now. I'd love to see another Wario Land title materialize soon. Or maybe a new spinoff series akin to that.
Greatest article ever. Me, I’d love to see him as main villain again, and/or in an RPG with presumed brother Waluigi. I honestly don’t know if Shigeru Miyamoto though, even considers him part of the Super Mario canon.
I too miss the Wario of old. He's still my go-to character in all the Mario spin off, Kart, Party and sports titles. But the WarioWare series and the design of his character definitely lacks the money-hungry bitter and determined guy from the Wario Land series.
Instead of churning out more 'New Super Mario Bros' 2D platformers, I'd love it if they put their focus on another Wario Land-esque game. At the very least they could've made him playable (As well as the even more underutilised Waluigi) in those games instead of a couple of random Toads.
I swear, if this is who they’ve given to Charles Martinet… 💢
@PtM Yeah there's was always a big split between Nintendo characters in the west vs the east, at least when it came to the cartoons and comics.
@Osmium Yeah I would love to see a New Wario Land, capturing the style of the old ones, or in the Shake It style.
@PtM I don’t necessarily need him to be cool, but I don’t enjoy the “he’s foul and stinky! Watch him shake his butt and be gross!” version.
The REAL Information here is:
Mario has a Castle.
It was never in my Mind that this is Marios Castle.
But hey, he has to do something with all the Coins...
I'm not into potty humor, so if Wario goes that way I'll be avoiding the movies that celebrate this. I expect better from Nintendo, than them catering to the lowest common denominator.
A nice read, thanks! 🙏
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