Wario Land 3, known in Japan as is a 2000 platform game developed by Nintendo R&D1 and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. The game's plot centers around Wario who must free a mysterious figure who is trapped inside a music box. The game was released in Japan on March 21, 2000, Europe on April 14, 2000, and North America on May 30, 2000.

The game was later re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2013, and as part of the Nintendo Classics service on February 8, 2023.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Wario Land 3 is very similar to that of its predecessor, Wario Land II. Wario must take advantage of his enemies' attacks to physically change and access new areas. For example, if Wario eats a donut thrown by a certain enemy, he temporarily bulks up to twice his size, giving him extra protection against attacks and the ability to break certain blocks. While Wario will always be affected by his enemies, he must also find new powers and abilities in order to progress through the game.

The world of the music box is divided into four different areas, East, West, North, and South, with a total of 25 individual stages spread between them. Each stage contains four treasures, for a total of 100, each of which is locked in a colored treasure chest that can only be opened with the corresponding key. The colors of the chests are, in the approximate order that they are intended to be opened, Gray, Red, Green, and Blue. This order is not fixed, although the game provides hints as to the next stage to travel to and the next treasure to obtain. Often, when a treasure chest in one stage cannot be reached, Wario must backtrack to retrieve a new item to make it accessible.

Finding new treasures usually opens a path to a new stage, or unlocks a new area in a previous stage. Some treasures grant Wario a new ability, allowing him to access previously unreachable areas. Whenever Wario obtains a new treasure, he is transported back to the music box overworld. Time alternates between day or night each time Wario exits a stage. Some stages change depending on the time of day; certain enemies may be replaced or different paths may open up.

| Fam = 33/40

| GSpot = 9.8/10

| IGN = 9/10

| NP = 8.2/10

| rev1 = Nintendojo

| rev1Score = 10/10

| NLife = 9/10

| GR = 90%

Wario Land 3 received highly positive reviews. It holds an aggregate score of 90% on GameRankings based on 15 reviews, making it the highest-rated game in the Wario series.

GameSpot rated the game 9.8 out of 10, Nintendojo awarded it a perfect 10 out of 10 and called it one of the best platform games available for the Game Boy. In Japan, it ranked as the tenth best-selling Game Boy Color game, with 255,536 copies sold.

Legacy

Rudy the Clown and several of Wario Land 3s enemies return as antagonists and playable characters in Dr. Mario 64 (2001).

Notes

References

  • Official website (in Japanese)