Virtual Boy Wario Land is unanimously referred to as “the best game on the system”. It’s hard to argue that point in a lot of ways. The music is excellent, the graphics are rich and detailed, and the game controls flawlessly.
However, it’s a bit sad to me that the game considered VB’s best is something that could have released just as easily on any other system. There’s a lot of other retail Virtual Boy games that I enjoy playing more than Wario Land. It’s nice that there’s a High Score option in beating your finish time, but other than that, there’s not a lot that keeps me coming back to this game again and again. Once you’ve beaten it a couple times, there’s not a lot left to return to. I do like the playboy bunny in the Good Ending of the game credits, though – very funny in a 90s sort of way. I wish this game had some more levels, or added a bit more challenge. The boss battles, in particular, are quite a bit less interesting than the levels themselves. There’s a massive difficulty spike with the last boss that I find particularly grating upon replaying the game.
This is a must-play for any Virtual Boy owner, but I’m very happy to say that so much of the homebrew (Test Chamber, Elevated Speed, Warzone) and later release titles (Jack Bros, Bound High, and Virtual League Baseball 2) are much deeper, both in terms of their use of 3D and suitability for the platform.