One of the most famous Nintendo characters is Mario's arch rival, Wario. With games such as Mario Party 4 and Super Smash Bros Melee already featuring Wario it was only a matter of time before Nintendo was to give him his very own game.

GRAPHICS

As with most Nintendo platform games Wario World is a joy to look at. Characters are presented in cartoon 3-D with beautiful backdrops, whether I it is a woodland forest, a thunderstorm, a haunted mansion, or a circus parade. Enemies light up when attacked, and when in the thick of the action there is a lot of colour illuminating the screen. Although it is not as free roaming as Mario World this is just as good graphically, if not superior.

20/20

SOUND

To complement the action there's the usual moaning as Wario climbs, the cartoon-like sounds when he bounces and the howls of frustration when enemies attack. In addition to this there is appropriately themed music (dependant on the level) and a pause menu where Wario says "nah," a lot. There is not a lot more than one would expect from sound in Wario World, it is certainly of a good standard but nothing in particular jumps out at the gamer.

16/20

GAMEPLAY

Wario World is a traditional platformer starring Wario himself. Rather than being similar to the likes of Sonic Adventure Wario World is much more similar to the likes of Sonic and Mario for the Mega Drive. There are no complicated 3-D free roaming environments but rather a definite path to take filled with challenges such as avoiding spikes, jumping from object to object and smashing into enemies. For fans of the Mega Drive/Snes era this will prove a joy to play while others will wonder why they are confined to a relatively small area when playing.

Wario must collect a series of coins if the gamer wishes to stay alive. Every time the player falls off the screen rather than face the game over stage they will appear in a world where there are many barrels and enemies. When an enemy touches Wario he loses coins. The only way to get out is to find the barrel with the spring that will catapult Wario back onto the level. For skilled gamers this can prove no worry but for others it can mean a large amount of coins lost. It is essential to have as many coins as possible for they can be used to buy health and used to continue the game when the "game over" screen appears. Sadly the further one advances into the game the more coins they have to pay to continue after game over, this means it is important to collect as many coins as one can in the first half of the game to compensate for numerous game over screens in the latter stage of the game.

Although it is a traditional platform game various other factors add to the fun. Firstly gamers cannot simply get to the end of the level to progress, they must have the appropriate amount of red diamonds if they are to face the boss. A lack of red diamonds means gamers can float back to the start using balloons to aid them. To gain red diamonds gamers must smash through certain points in the ground to bring them to a special screen. The screen then has various traps, obstacles or jumps to make if the gamer is to obtain the diamond. Luckily there are usually more diamonds than needed in each level so if one diamond seems particularly difficult to reach it is possible to ignore it and obtain an easier to reach diamond, although this is not recommended.

As gamers advance from level to level so the difficulty rises. The same can be said for the bosses gamers encounter. Initially they are fairly easy to defeat but get to later stages and it is a different story. It is not the most challenging of games around but considering a large proportion of gamers will be children this is unsurprising. Wario World is an entertaining platform game, much better than Sonic Adventure!

22/25

LIFESPAN

Sadly Wario World is not the longest of games - 12 levels over four worlds. Even with the amount of treasure that is to be collected it can be achieved in a matter of one month. After completion there is little to do (much like Luigi's Mansion) so although it is one of the best platform games available once it is completed gamers will not come back to it.

18/25

ORIGINALITY

Platform games have been done over and over again although many should applaud Wario World for resurrecting the traditional style of platform games and adding a whole new zest of life to it. Not only do gamers climb, jump, smash, run and spin from level to level but they also get to indulge in battles and search for diamonds.

7/10

OVERALL

One of the best platform games available marred only by the short length. There are lush graphics, traditional platform action and Wario, what more could one want?

83%.