Kind of a lighthearted topic maybe, but I’m playing through WLVB for the first time ever, and I am amazed at how good it is and how well it holds up. All of the powerups, the level designs, the fluidity of the controls, of course the 3D — it hangs so so well together, and it’s got me desperately wanting to play another one of these after I finish this one. Do any if his few platforming adventures equal this one (or better) in your opinion?

Jack Bros, but only the Japanese version is affordable.

The best games on Virtual Boy in my opinion are:

Galactic Pinball
Space Squash
Bound High!
VB Wario Land
Jack Bros.
Hyper Fighting
Faceball Remastered
Fishbone
BLOX
V-Tetris
Panic Bomber
Water World
Insmouse no Yakata

The above list is in no specific order.

matthwq wrote:
Kind of a lighthearted topic maybe, but I’m playing through WLVB for the first time ever, and I am amazed at how good it is and how well it holds up. All of the powerups, the level designs, the fluidity of the controls, of course the 3D — it hangs so so well together, and it’s got me desperately wanting to play another one of these after I finish this one. Do any if his few platforming adventures equal this one (or better) in your opinion?

Actually I think VB Wario Land is the best game in the series. With Wario Land 2 the Wario series changed from “beat the stage while finding secrets and coins” to “run around a bigger stage looking for secrets and coins and you can’t die, just get inconvenienced” which I didn’t think was as good as before. The next best game in the series is Super Mario Land 3 Wario Land on Gameboy, which is still a regular platformer.
Of the later more exploration-based games, Wario Land 4 on GBA and Wario Land Shake Dimension on Wii are both pretty good though, but not close to Virtual Boy Wario Land in my opinion.

I personally think Bound High! is the best game.

add Mario Clash and my list of suggestions looks identical to Dreammary’s

I knew I was missing something, good catch Levine91!

Dreammary wrote:
I knew I was missing something, good catch Levine91!

He didn’t ask which -Virtual Boy- games were better than Wario Land, he asked which -Wario Land- games were better than Wario Land on Virtual Boy

Oh; the answer is none, Nintendo has yet to even come close to what they did with VB Wario Land in the rest of the series.

Dreammary wrote:
Oh; the answer is none, Nintendo has yet to even come close to what they did with VB Wario Land in the rest of the series.

I agree! The Wario series went the way of Castlevania and found it’s way of doing things and never went back. A Wario Land Virtual Boy remake would be nice…

I’d really like to see a WarioEdit program developed as it would be amazing to make a brand new Wario fan game for Virtual Boy. Also a sprite editor to convert a new Mario!! The options are endless really.

VB Wario Land is by far my favorite Wario game.

Wario Land 2 and 3 just didn’t grab me, it deviated too far from the ‘Mario’ formula for me. Having to collect/do certain things to progress? No thanks. VB Wario Land absolutely nailed the balance of collecting vs standard get to the goal. I like how collecting isn’t mandatory to finish, but more of an incentive to play again and explore.

The original GB Wario Land is one of those ones I’ve been meaning to play, so can’t comment on that one. I’ve played a bit but not near as much as I’d like to.

Wario Land is one of my favorite series of games and is even how I found the Virtual Boy!

Wario Land 1 plays pretty slow, and is different from the rest and takes some getting used to, but is fun.

Wario Land 2 has you exploring stages to find treasure, is action-packed, and features a ton of levels and it widely-regarded as the best in the series.

Wario Land 3 is like Wario Land 2, but more puzzle oriented and has you replaying stages to find new treasures.

Wario Land 4 on the GBA is my personal favorite. It has the most depth of any of the games. In each level you must find four jewel pieces and a key to advance to the next level. There aren’t specific treasures hidden like previous games, but there are music tracks to find and a lot of money to be found. There are also big boss fights. It has great graphics, 18 levels, and is my favorite GBA game in general.

Wario Land Shake it on the Wii is a fun game, but I haven’t played it in years and can’t remember.

speedyink wrote:
VB Wario Land is by far my favorite Wario game.

Wario Land 2 and 3 just didn’t grab me, it deviated too far from the ‘Mario’ formula for me. Having to collect/do certain things to progress? No thanks. VB Wario Land absolutely nailed the balance of collecting vs standard get to the goal. I like how collecting isn’t mandatory to finish, but more of an incentive to play again and explore.

My thoughts exactly!

In my opinion VB Wario Land is as timeless as Super Mario Bros 3. It’s the killer game for Virtual Boy, as it has so much replay value. I could play it through over and over and still find fun out of it!

speedyink wrote:
VB Wario Land is by far my favorite Wario game.

Wario Land 2 and 3 just didn’t grab me, it deviated too far from the ‘Mario’ formula for me. Having to collect/do certain things to progress? No thanks. VB Wario Land absolutely nailed the balance of collecting vs standard get to the goal. I like how collecting isn’t mandatory to finish, but more of an incentive to play again and explore.

The original GB Wario Land is one of those ones I’ve been meaning to play, so can’t comment on that one. I’ve played a bit but not near as much as I’d like to.

That’s the thing, Wario isn’t supposed to be just like Mario. The point is for it to be it’s own thing. The collecting and finding treasure to progress adds new fun to the game. It adds hours you can spend going back and trying to collect all the treasure, especially in Wario Land 2. After you beat the game the first time you get a new map screen showing all the different paths and if you have found the treasure or not. Getting it all unlocks a new level. In Wario Land 2 it is not necessary, as like the VB version. It is only 3 and 4 where collecting is necessary to progress. Wario Land 3 does have some weird features, like the golf minigame you must play in each level, but no other Wario game is as far from the rest as that one.

Good to know, I’ll give Wario Land 2 a shot again.

I get Wario Land is supposed to be different than Mario, but in my opinion the VB version does the best job of being different, but similar enough that it’s super easy to get into if you’ve played a Mario game. There’s still treasures to find and the key is mandatory, and it does play different enough to differentiate itself.

speedyink wrote:
Good to know, I’ll give Wario Land 2 a shot again.

I get Wario Land is supposed to be different than Mario, but in my opinion the VB version does the best job of being different, but similar enough that it’s super easy to get into if you’ve played a Mario game. There’s still treasures to find and the key is mandatory, and it does play different enough to differentiate itself.

Good idea! It’s a great game! I agree with you. Virtual Boy Wario Land is tied for favorite with Wario Land 4 for me. I love them both! After all, VB Wario Land is how I discovered the Virtual Boy, I was looking at a list of all the Wario Land games on Wikipedia and I saw VB Wario Land and the rest is history 🙂

I didn’t know about Wario Land 4 so I’ll definitely have to check that one out too. Honestly VB Wario Land was the first one I played, so it was my introduction to the series. So when I played the next one (3 was what I played next, was a good deal if I recall), I was disappointed with the stark changes. I think because of that I didn’t give 2 a fair shot when I got that one. I definitely need to sit down and play the whole series.

clonecman wrote:
Wario Land is one of my favorite series of games and is even how I found the Virtual Boy!

Wario Land 1 plays pretty slow, and is different from the rest and takes some getting used to, but is fun.

Wario Land 2 has you exploring stages to find treasure, is action-packed, and features a ton of levels and it widely-regarded as the best in the series.

Wario Land 3 is like Wario Land 2, but more puzzle oriented and has you replaying stages to find new treasures.

Wario Land 4 on the GBA is my personal favorite. It has the most depth of any of the games. In each level you must find four jewel pieces and a key to advance to the next level. There aren’t specific treasures hidden like previous games, but there are music tracks to find and a lot of money to be found. There are also big boss fights. It has great graphics, 18 levels, and is my favorite GBA game in general.

Wario Land Shake it on the Wii is a fun game, but I haven’t played it in years and can’t remember.

Thanks for this. Got WL2 through WL4 on my 3DS, so I’m going to try them out.

It kinda seems like Wario Land Virtual Boy is its own thing, in a way. SML3:WL is probably closest, but it’s so slow. WLVB is FAST, with the run button especially, and those gigantic sprites. Initially, this seems like my favorite of the series after dabbling in the others a little, but I do like WL3 so far.

Also, thanks everyone for the responses!

Protoman85 wrote:

matthwq wrote:
Kind of a lighthearted topic maybe, but I’m playing through WLVB for the first time ever, and I am amazed at how good it is and how well it holds up. All of the powerups, the level designs, the fluidity of the controls, of course the 3D — it hangs so so well together, and it’s got me desperately wanting to play another one of these after I finish this one. Do any if his few platforming adventures equal this one (or better) in your opinion?

Actually I think VB Wario Land is the best game in the series. With Wario Land 2 the Wario series changed from “beat the stage while finding secrets and coins” to “run around a bigger stage looking for secrets and coins and you can’t die, just get inconvenienced” which I didn’t think was as good as before. The next best game in the series is Super Mario Land 3 Wario Land on Gameboy, which is still a regular platformer.
Of the later more exploration-based games, Wario Land 4 on GBA and Wario Land Shake Dimension on Wii are both pretty good though, but not close to Virtual Boy Wario Land in my opinion.

Agreed Protoman.