Wario: Master of Disguise

Wario: Master of Disguise
Developer	Suzak
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo DS
Release Date	JP January 18, 2007 NA March 5, 2007 AU May 17, 2007 EU June 1, 2007
Gallery	GH Gallery

Wario: Master of Disguise is the first Wario adventure game since Wario World in 2003 and the first on a handheld since Wario Land 4 in 2001. Unlike the Wario Land series, the game was developed by Suzak, a third party developer also responsible for F-Zero Climax.

Story

Wario is flipping through the channels one day when he sees a television show about Count Cannoli who operates under the alias Silver Zephyr with the aid of his wand, Goodstyle that allows him to change into different, powerful costumes. Envious of the Zephyr and believing he could do better, Wario constructs the Telmet, which allows him to warp into television land.

With his invention, Wario does just that and steals the wand for himself. Without it, Count Cannoli is helpless to stop him. Wario dubs himself the Purple Wind: "Silent but Deadly!" and sets off to doing his own thievery. While doing so, he comes across a piece of an ancient Wishstone. With the promise of being able to have his wish of all the treasure in the world granted, Wario seizes the piece and sets off to collect the other four pieces.

Gameplay

Although the game is stylistically similar to the Wario Land series, the game plays quite differently. The most obvious being the control system. Wario can run, crouch and jump with the directional pad, but all other actions are performed on the touch screen. Using the stylus, Wario can use his charge attack - or more importantly, transform into his different disguises.

Aside from his default Thief costume that allows him the most freedom of movement, he gains seven additional costumes in the game. They can be accessed at any time by drawing the appropriate symbol on the screen. For example, to become Cosmic Wario, he simply has to draw a circle over his head. Each form has its own variety of abilities that are crucial to solving problems in levels and defeating bosses.

Like Wario Land 4, Wario once again has a health meter in the game. But as the game progresses, he can gain additional hearts to increase his vitality. He can also collect gems that will level up his disguises. Throughout the game, Wario can find various treasures that will add to his overall money count. But to unlock each treasure chest, Wario must complete one of several minigames or face a volley of bombs. Each minigame follows a simple theme, such as squashing roaches or filling in colors on an image.

The game itself is composed of ten episodes. Each one are story based - quite unlike the Wario games - and are occasionally broken up by story events. Each level is quite complex and full of puzzles. Due to the complexity of some levels, it can take a length amount of time just to finish an episode, quite unlike the levels in the Land series. After beating the game, five additional secret episodes are unlocked where Wario can race Cannoli to the end of the level.

Sequels

In 2008, Wario Land: The Shake Dimension will be released, this time on the Nintendo Wii.