The Switch 2 shocked everyone by making Donkey Kong: Bananza its first major 3D platformer. It was a real surprise because Nintendo had just released Country Returns HD on Switch, so a major 3D game for the ape after a 2.5D appearance wasn’t really on anyone’s mind.
Fast forward a few months later, and Bananza is now one of the reasons to own a Switch 2, if not the biggest reason. Nintendo was able to take that awesome Super Mario Odyssey formula and fill it with steroids, giving fans a destructive 3D platformer with plenty of heart and soul. It also made fans realize DK can work in 3D, so Donkey Kong 64 will no longer be the mascot’s entry in this realm.
Naturally, most fans want Mario to come back with some of the bells and whistles we’ve seen in DK’s newest adventure. You know Nintendo is already hard at work to give their mascot a new adventure in the company’s shiny Switch 2. A new Super Mario game is a matter of “when” rather than “if” when it comes to Nintendo.
Personally, I’d like Nintendo to get a bit weirder with the Switch 2. 3D Donkey Kong was great. 3D Mario is inevitable. How about we shake things up with 3D Wario?
Wario’s World
If the Switch 2 can bring back some prominent franchises, the Wario Land games should be a priority. These were often Nintendo’s weirdest games and stood out from Mario’s squeaky clean look or Kirby’s ultra cute stories. You’d see Wario interact with some of the wildest-looking foes, so imagine some of that odd, grotesque energy on Switch 2.
The only time we’ve seen Wario in 3D (outside of Mario Kart and Tennis) is Treasure’s solid Wario World game on GameCube. It didn’t reinvent the formula of 3D platforming gameplay-wise, but controlling this iconic character in a new plane was interesting. He could punch foes, throw them around, and make money; there was a lot to like.
Something Wario World missed was some of those odd power-ups the character got in his 2D Wario Land games. The classic Wario Land games made this character invincible, but would give him odd power-ups to defeat foes. A bunch of these power-ups would set Wario on fire, freeze him, even turn him into a zombie or dragon. Imagine how fun some of these would be in a brand-new Switch 2 title.
Donkey Kong: Bananza has a lot of punching in it, to the point that beating up the ground to unlock new areas was a huge gameplay mechanic. Bananza also transforms DK into a number of weird creatures, which is also very Wario-coded. Obviously, DK’s brand of gameplay is a lot more family-friendly than Wario’s, who gets set on fire and becomes undead, but some of these ideas with Mario’s weird doppelganger would rule in a new Switch 2 title.
Free from WarioWare
If I’m being honest, I just want Wario to be free from the WarioWare games. At the least, he should get a restraining order from them.
Don’t get me wrong, the WarioWare titles are fun mini-game collections, especially with friends or family. Having to do ridiculous poses with the Wiimote or Joy-Cons is fun when you’re trying to figure out this mini-game’s mechanics in 5 or 10 seconds. No one is calling the WarioWare games bad, in fact, they are very good.
But Wario has been stuck with them since the Wii U generation, and it’s time to change that. Keeping this character as a mini-game attraction feels insulting, especially since he has a rich history of platformers on the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and GameCube.
Yes, we did have Wario Land: Shake It on the Wii and Wario: Master of Disguise on the DS, but those were the last proper platformers featuring this character. While Master of Disguise wasn’t as liked, with many criticizing the touch controls and transformations, Shake It is agreed upon by many to be a good game. Its hand-drawn visuals still look good, and having Wario shake friends and enemies alike was hilarious.
How hasn’t that been ported to Switch yet? I will settle for a Wario Land: Shake It port.
Free Wario?
Admittedly, the chances of getting a new 3D Wario game are pretty low. Nintendo might throw fans a bone and add Wario World to the GameCube NSO, but that’s about it. If we hear from Wario again, it will probably be another WarioWare game.
But a fan can dream, right? Why not dream about a brand-new 3D Wario game with mechanics from Donkey Kong: Bananza and Super Mario Odyssey? Heck, add bits from Kirby’s Forgotten Land, Wario technically eats enemies if Super Smash Bros. is anything to go by.
Think about it: Super Wario World! Punch enemies and the environment to find treasure! Eat enemies to get new powers (or a stomach ache)! Glide with Wario’s flatulence maneuvers!
Yeah, okay, we’re never getting that game. It'd be freaking sweet, though.
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