Another book update. In the next month I should finish the final edit of the book. From there I still have a number of articles to add, a visual reference to put together, formatting, book art and all that business. I’m hoping that everything will be finished in 3-4 months, although I have been wrong before…

I know that it’s been a long wait. Originally my plan was to write a short 60-120 page book on Wario Land 4 as preparation for a 300-400 page analysis of Metroid Prime. I reasonably assumed that the Wario Land 4 book would take about 8 months to complete, 4 months writing, 4 months editing. As I started editing in August last year though, the Wario Land 4 book evolved into the planned Metroid Prime book in terms of size and scope. This expansion has been the source of the constant delays. Despite the wait, the final edit is much more fleshed out than the drafts you can find here on the site.

Once I’ve finally completed the book, I’m planning on doing a bit of promotion. So interviews, podcasts, pitching excerpts and so on. I’m not expecting the book to sell very much, but as a radical advocation for games analysis, I’m hoping that I can use it to challenge some of the issues in this space. I hope to talk more about this later.

I’ll also be back to my regular schedule too and have already prepared notes for another 30 posts. Until I’ve finished the book though, it’s still gonna be hush hush around here, so hold tight just a little longer.

I almost forgot to mention that I made a few modifications to the site a few months ago. I installed the Disqus commenting system, redid the tags on each post and changed the categories. Let me know what you think. ^_^

DP

Hey guys,

It’s been a good 3 months since my last update here. The good news is that I’m basically on track with the plan I laid out last post. I came back home to Australia in early December and have spent from then until now labouring away all day, almost every day for the past 2 months. I’m one agonising article short of finishing the double edit and have finished all the topical essays. After this I’ve got to re-do much of the first segment of the book, add a handful of extra articles and review everything else. I’m guessing that it’ll take me another 3 months before I’m ready for release. It’s a bit hard to tell since I’m not sure how my free time is gonna pan out when I get back to China next week. The good thing is that I’m fortunate enough to have found a job which offers favourable working hours. I’m thinking that, once formatted, the book will stretch out to 350-400 pages–much more than the 120 or so I assumed this project would take.

I’ve been contemplating what to do after the project is completed and have settled on a return to blogging and to start another book. Actually, I have plans for several books, all of which should be shorter and more topical. I think that I’ll keep hush on that until I’ve actually finished them….For now though, I need to struggle through more editing.

I’ve outlined what I think will be a realistic timetable for the final phase of the book, granted that I don’t crash and burn. The next 7 weeks of finishing up the levels will be the hardest. After that it should be smooth sailing. Although I said that before, didn’t I?

October, November, December – Finish the master edit

December, January, February, March – Add topical essays and other articles, prepare reference material and online portal, and do a final edit.

April – Prepare the book for publication

Thanks for being patient. I’m eager to finish this thing and get started on the next project.

My plan of attack consists of 2 fronts. The first, a master edit where I edit and re-edit each post. Currently I’m a good chunk through the “Digging Deeper” part of the book which constitutes most of the analysis. I hope to finish the master edit by early to mid October at which point the book will be close to completion. After the master edit, I’ll be conducting a final edit where I prepare references for the web portal and clear any minor errors. During this time I’ll be preparing topical essays and filling in any blanks.

Starting from this week I’ll have 3 days off a week which should help build some momentum. My main fear, as has been all along, is that I’ll crash and burn out. I’ve been living in China now for a year and 4 months and won’t see my family for another 3 months. Writing this book has been wedged in between my first job out of uni, the first time I’ve lived by myself, and days off managing a long-term relationship. It’s fair to say that haven’t had a lot of down time these past 7 months.

I’m feeling doubtful that I’ll be ready for publishing this year and even then these processes take time. So don’t be surprised if the book is released in January next year. To focus on the project, I won’t be making posts about other games until I at least finish the master edit. I am, of course, taking lots of notes, so expect some in-depth material on Fire Emblem and Harvest Moon later on.

For now, my energy is in making this book as polished as I can get it and I’m quite confident that I’m meeting a high benchmark. If it takes a little more time to make the book that bit better, then it’s worth it. The editing process is teaching me A LOT about writing. I’m sure you’ll be able to see the results in the book and later articles. So far I’ve master-edited roughly 70 pages. I’m predicting that the book will end up at about 250 pages. Previously, I was thinking closer to 300, but the editing process is clearing up a lot of unneeded commentary.

Again, if you’re interested in contributing a topical essay to the book, please let me know. I may also be reaching out for some opinions and anecdotes in the future.

Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones is the second GameBoy Advance title in the long-running strategy RPG series as well as, incidentally enough, only the second game to be released to the Western market. Fire Emblem is in essence the Advance Wars template with assembly line tanks, artillery and foot soldiers replaced with fully featured characters with their own stats, class, inventory and role in the grand narrative. The hybridisation results in deep tactical play with a lean towards party management and class-based tactics.

For an interactive video overview of basic Fire Emblem gameplay, try here. This site is for the latest DS game, Shadow Dragon, but the basic rules are identical to Sacred Stones.

There are two core components to the Fire Emblem games which you could call the strategy and the RPG aspects. The strategy portion of the game is the movement of units along the battle field, which parts of the terrain to take advantage of, how to coordinate your squad, how to deal with the problem at hand, combat, the weapons triangle and the class system. The RPG portion of the game is the character/party management, forming a well-rounded party, choosing when to upgrade to the next class, what weapons and inventory to give each character.

This all sounds pretty complicated and while the series has been criticised for just appealing to its small niche, Sacred Stones does a great job at layering advanced play so that both new and veteran players can be engaged on different levels. The following are a series of examples that demonstrate how the game supports new players while at the same time appealing offering hidden challenge to veteran players.

Selectable Difficulty

When starting a new save file the player can choose one of three difficulty modes: easy mode; offers hints and tutorial as you play, normal mode; no game hints or tutorial and hand mode; a harder difficulty. On top of doing what most games already do in regards to difficulty settings, that is, modifying a few variables like enemy strength, Fire Emblem scales the amount of tutorial as well.

Raising from the Lowest Class

In the Fire Emblem games each character has a class that determines their movement, abilities and statistical profile such as knight, mage and archer. Each class has a (lower) base class and an (upper) promoted class. For example, a knight is a base rank, while a general is a promoted class. The layout of the class evolution tree here may be helpful.

While new players may rely on the handful of promoted class characters present to guide them through the game early on, expert players know that these units will eventually hit a brick wall. Every unit in the game is capped at level 20. Once a unit reaches this level they can no longer level up and increase their stats. The only way to break out of this is to advance from a base class to a promoted class by using a special evolution item which, in turn, ranks up the unit, increases their stats a bit and puts them back at level one. Players can use the class-specific evolution item only once when they’re level 10 or above.

Units that enter the game already ranked up to the promoted class generally have middling stats which suggest that they weren’t maxed out at level 20 in their prior class before they changed rank. Therefore a unit which begins at a low rank, levels up to level 20, ranks up to the next class and levels up 20 levels again ends up a far stronger unit than the higher class unit with average stats which levels up only 20 levels.

Expert players are quite aware of this situation and therefore only use base class characters at the start of the game and only then rank up their units once they hit level 20 in order to end up with the strongest characters come the end of the game. New players on the other hand can rely on the promoted class characters like Seth (Paladin). The end result is that new players have an easier start to the experience, but the further they progress the less of a competitive edge their characters will have. For veteran players its quite the opposite. Using lower ranked classes early on makes missions more difficult, but the result is a stronger party in the long run. This system presents a trade off between short term pain for long term gain.

Furthermore, Sacred Stones introduces new trainee ranks: journeyman, recruit and pupil. These ranks are even lower than base classes and are about as uncommon as fully ranked character units. Unlike the other classes, a journeyman, recruit or pupil will automatically evolve to their respective base class on reaching level 10. Trainee ranks thereby allow players to squeeze another 10 levels out of their unit.

So, a unit that begins at a promoted rank can only level up 20 times, while a unit that begins at a trainee class can level up a total of 50 times. Trainee class characters obviously aren’t as strong as promoted class characters initially and its not as though trainee class characters are neatly handed to the player from the onset either, on the contrary they enter the game at various different chapters. These conditions ensure that players looking to max out a character potentially up to 50 levels need to endure 1) the slow build up of these units in their weaker stages 2) the duration of time it takes for these characters to become available. On the latter point, players that want to wait it out for trainee rank characters need to rework their entire party composition around the eventual arrival of a trainee character, filling that hole in the meantime. For these players it’d be pretty useful to know exactly what trainee class characters are available and when, so either playing the game through first or referring to a FAQ would be needed. As we can see, the effort required to form a highly effective team is a significant burden, but also an optional one. New players can choose to overlook these details completely and just rely on the stronger promoted class characters that can get them through battles.

Maintaining Level Balance/Squeezing for Experience

When managing your party you really want all characters to be pretty well balanced since it’s not all that helpful to have an inconsistent mix of strong and weak characters. There are however aspects of the game that upset this balance. For example, the changing state of the battle field (new units moving in, fog of war, terrain, class attributes) and the class system which gives different units different strengths and weaknesses.

On that latter point, for example, calivers, myrmidon and fighters are all easy to level up because they have a long movement range and strong attack/defence. This means that it’s easier for them to get into the thick of combat and survive. A priest, on the other hand, can only heal. They have weak defence, can’t attack and limited mobility. Healing only grants them a small burst of experience and the limited mobility means that even when they could go to heal another unit, they may not be able to reach their desired target. Similarly, archers can also be difficult to level up as they always need to hang back and avoid direct confrontation.

In order to ensure that all party members get a fair distribution of experience and no one gets left behind, the player needs to design their strategy around the dynamics of the class system and the arrangement of terrain.

For example, when I play Fire Emblem Sacred Stones I place strong units at the front of the pack and put them in range of enemy units, while just behind them are mages, archers and healers with pegasus knights hanging in on the side. When the enemy front attacks, the strong units automatically counterattack the enemy, taking a big chunk out of their health. After the enemy’s turn, I then get one of my mages or archers to finish off one of the enemies, breaking their line of defence. After this I push the healers up to heal the strong units and then send the strong units to hold the next front. Lastly, I let the mages, archers etc. to come in and clear off the weakened front and rack up most of the experience. This strategy works particularly well in confined linear map layouts to strengthen up weaker units.

These types of tactics are useful for balancing out experience, but you can also take it a step above this as well. I tend to think of each enemy unit as offering a set amount of exploitable experience points. If I attack an enemy and kill it in one go, one character gains all the experience. If I let other units attack in multiple turns then I share the experience. If I let the enemy attack my units, particularly the ones which can’t respond (attacking an archer at close range, for instance) then I get a wee bit extra experience out of an enemy unit and also have the option of getting my healers to heal the damage taking. Notice how with a little bit of extra planning I can get exploit the enemy to spread and/or increase the potential amount of experience I can get from a single enemy unit?

Support Conversations

Support conversations are a mystical part of the Fire Emblem games that I’ve never quite been able get much use out of. The basic idea is this, you recruit quite a large squad and in that squad there are pre-existing relationships or new relationships bloom from the ravages of battle. When two people with a relationship stand next to each other in battle for a set number of turns, they’ll encourage each other and their stats will increase. The conversations that occur are called support conversations and they can happen 3 times between 2 characters, each time upping a support rank from C to A. Each character has a fixed set of other characters that they can have these conversations with.

Support conversations give another dimension to the levelling up system. Those players who are willing to exploit this system need to choose their party based on friend relations and then organise their strategies around friend partnering.

Personally, I like how support conversations add in another layer of optional depth. Considering, however, that it can take 20-30 turns of two characters standing next to each other to rise one rank, the system has minimal precedence. It would be better if the number of turns were reduced, particularly for the initial C to B ranks so as to encourage more players to use the system. As it stands it seems severely under-utilised.

Gaining New Recruits

The player gains new recruits to their party in two main ways. The first is new characters finding their way into the main narrative and automatically joining your ranks. Since these characters are important to the standard narrative that all players experience, they are usually mandatory units in your party for their debut battle.

The second is talking to people of interest on the battlefield and convincing them to join your army. There are two types of people that you can self-recruit to join your ranks: civilians and enemies. Civilians are people who wind up unintentionally caught in the conflict. You can find them in houses or walking about on the battlefield identified by their green colour. Civilians don’t attack the player and take their turns like regular units in the “Other Phase”. Enemies are, as you’d expect, on the other team and trying to kill you.

Converting civilians and enemies over to your party can be thought of as an optional side objective to each battle. You don’t need actually these additional characters to advance the core narrative, but their fate (if they are converted, aren’t converted or die) does end up having an impact on the story in some form. Whether it be them dying and having no impact, joining your party and forming relationships or continuing on to assist the enemy in forwarding their dastardly scheme.

The process of recruitment has two parts 1) identify which of your characters may be able to talk to the potential “convertee” (ie. what similarities do they have with your current squad members based on the clues dropped in dialogue) 2) physically move said unit next to potential “convertee” and talk to them. What makes recruiting challenging is actually trying to talk to the unit without killing them or letting them be killed. Civilian units can be attacked by enemy units, so you really need to reach them first. Enemy units though, are even more difficult to convert. They’ll attack you and as a result you will automatically attack back which may or may not permanently put them out of commission. So you need to corner the enemy in a spot where you can’t accidentally kill them (or they can’t reach you), but can move in and talk. Of course, if you make it this far only to send in a unit that has actually no relationship with the potential new recruit then you’ve foiled the plan and need to start all over again. Like most of these examples, recruiting these optional characters is just that, optional; it’s an offer for players to increase the difficulty if they so wish.

Personal Goals: Unit Numbers

Once the player builds up a significant party of units the game gives the option of selecting units, choosing their placements, observing the map and trading inventory in preparation before the battle begins. Under the unit selection part of the menu, the player can choose which units they wish to use in battle from a maximum allotment. While the player can’t exceed that upper limit, they can put as little as a single unit into battle. For players who want to only level up set units exclusively and aren’t worried about the challenge, they can send out just the number of units they need into battle. On the other hand, some players may wish send out fewer units just for the challenge of it.

Personal Goals: Number of Turns

Fire Emblem operates on a turn-based system. Once the player has used each unit once or chooses to end their turn, it’s the enemy’s turn and so on. While only a few levels require the player to actually finish the game in a number of turns, players can scale the difficulty by trying to complete missions in as few turns as possible. Considering that perma-death (see next article) will likely cause more than a few hard resets, players will likely warm to this idea in completing each battle as quickly as possible due to the length of time they can drag out for.

Tower and Monster Encounters

New in Fire Emblem Sacred Stones are the Tower of Valni and Lagdou Ruins. These two areas (I haven’t yet reached the latter so I’m making assumptions about it for now) can be accessed via the world map and offer additional battles that can be played between chapters. These battles are against monsters and don’t have any narrative to them. Once the player is granted access to these areas, the game suggests using them to level up units for battle. For newer players these areas can be used to quickly grind characters up to par, while veteran players can try and conquer the higher, more difficult levels.

In addition to these two areas, monsters will spawn on the overworld map ala Final Fantasy Tactics. New players can also seize these opportunities to level up characters and practice their strategies.

Conclusion

These examples demonstrate two things about the character of Fire Emblem Sacred Stones and the series at large. The first is that the series is openly willing to welcome new players and provide the type of customised game experience so that they can slide right in (selectable difficulty, tower and monster encounters, promoted classes early on as crutches). Equally, we can see that Fire Emblem‘s system of strategy on its own is also flexible enough to support varied, advanced play (experience sharing/exploiting, class exploiting, support conversations and new recruit sub goals) for those who want it without impeding play for those who just wish to play at a normal level.

Additional Links

Iwata Asks – Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon

Fire Emblem Sacred Stones – Serenes Forest

Having only continued writing about Wario Land 4 for roughly 6 weeks after my last break, I feel a bit guilty, but I really shouldn’t do because this part is inevitable…it’s time to edit.

I’ve spent the past 5-6 months writing up what should constitute the majority of content for this project. As I’ve stated before, I hope to turn my analysis into a self-published book and to get the material up to a level that I’m satisfied with I need to edit and edit thoroughly. What this means is that I won’t be posting any new Wario Land 4 material here on the blog. At least not until I’m ready to share a few samples from the final draft as I hope to do.

There are still numerous gaps in my understanding of Wario Land 4. I’m hoping that the editing process will allow me to consolidate what I’ve learnt and help prepare me to fill in these blanks.

Writing is a process of constant pain. You know that you’ve got something worthwhile in your head and only the fragments of that are getting put up on the page in some form. Its hardly glorious. Writing is just the hashing out of something great in the making. Editing, though, is the process of refinement. Editing is where you rattle the chains of your words to become the master of your ideas. In honesty, it’s the one part of the story where you actually don’t feel overwhelmingly impotent.

With the writing so far, I think that I’ve got the right structure and content. With the editing, I hope make it persuasive and wholesome. Keenly, my goal is clarify the analysis while making it readable, perhaps even to the point of genuinely interesting. I’m not going to deny that this type of writing isn’t exactly full of sex appeal—it’s frankly dry, maybe too technical and arguably taken to an absurd extreme—but it’s important. It’s important because, as we are reminded by people who like to sit around and discuss inaction, “we need a language in which to understand video games”. The language is here for those willing to work with it. What we need is an example. I think that’s sort of what this project is, an extreme example of how to use “new” language to deeply discuss a video game.

I honestly have no idea how long its going to take me to edit this thing. I’ve given myself until this December (when I go home for Christmas) to finish which I think should be a generous time frame. Unlike the past 6 months, I’ll be having an extra day off from September too. So that ought to help as well. To be honest, I’m thinking of slowing down a bit and separating myself from the project a bit so as to get a better perspective for editing. I still want to write other stuff, on other games, so look forward to that.

Speaking of which, I downloaded Harvest Moon for the Wii’s Virtual Console last night to celebrate me making it so far. You know, even though it was expensive at around 12 Aussie dollars, it’s just the kinda chill out game that I want to play this summer. So, I’m jazzed for reliving some of my childhood. I load up the game and can’t play it because I don’t have a classic controller or a Gamecube pad. Argh. I’m going to try and get a new Gamecube pad from Japan through Play-Asia. Turns out they have free shipping in mainland China too which is pretty rad. Anyways, thanks for bearing with me during this beat down of Wario-related posts. Anyone wanna talk about Harvest Moon?

BTW, I’m still looking for user submissions if you’re interested.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The name Aerodent suggests “air rodent” which more accurately describes this boss, a rat hiding atop of an inflatable bear. They sure do make these boss characters quirky. The player has 4 minutes to take down Aerodent who has an extended health bar. Unlike the other bosses, Aerodent only has one main phase in it the behaviour of Aerodent changes only slightly. The process of attacking Aerodent is more extensive though and thus by only having one form puts the emphasis on getting the process done repeatedly to beat out that longer health bar in the limited time frame.

Each round of the battle goes like this:

1) Aerodent hovers above the top of the screen while Tack Soldier fall from the sky

2) Refer to interplay diagram with Tack Soldier – the player needs to paralyse the Tack Soldier

3) The player then throws (charge or jump toss) the turned over Tack Soldier into the centre of the inflatable bear

4) The bear lowers and the two pads on it’s feet highlight

5) The player can Attack Jump at the feet to flip the bear over revealing the rodent

6) From here it’s a matter of Attack Jumping at the rodent, the player can do this up to 3 times in one go

A large part of this process involves the interplay between the player and the Tack Soldier who is the only threat during the whole battle. If the player knocks the bear while the feet pads are blinking, when its upside down or attacks the feet before they start blinking it will float upwards. This ends the players turn of attack being a punishment for missing the mark.

As the interplay diagram clearly shows, the Tack Soldier has a lot of interplay. As such there is only ever one on the screen at a time. If there were more than one the design will become cluttered with potential interactions. The Tack Soldier hones in on the player if they bump them instead on jumping on their green helmet to stun it. As the Aerodent takes hits it will start dropping flaming torches that set the ground on fire and act to waste the player’s time. This is in fact where much of the difficulty comes from: disturbing the playing from completing the process. Torches do this by transforming Wario into Flaming Wario. The Tack Soldiers do this with their myriad of states and potential responses to the player. The balloon does this when the player accidently bumps it and the process is reset. Difficulty is also created by the narrowing of time that the player has to attack the rodent.

Catbat

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another weird as boss. Catbat is another hybrid creature combining a cat and a bat. The dominant part is the bat, which has the wings that allows it to float, the weak point is the cat which sits on the bats head. This boss battle is similar to Cractus as it involves navigating to a higher vantage point to attack. This time though:

• the Catbat moves from right to left and back again
• touching the Catbat won’t hurt the player, only knock them back
• when attacking the Catbat anywhere apart from its weak point it’ll spit out floating purple puff balls that transform the player into Puffy Wario
• the floor is broken into 3 platforms suspended above water
• the main threat comes from the Drill Fish in the water, it’s for this reason that touching the Catbat will only knock the player
• vines are replaced with waves generated by the Catbat
• the waves can also push the player into the water
• the player needs to be standing on a wave in order to attack
• the Catbat can be attacked by Attack Jumping at the cat on its head, then later by Smash Attacking its head

The Catbat confrontation is still centred around the player avoiding obstacles to reach a vantage point and attack. Because this vantage point (the waves) moves there’s an emphasis on timing; timing when the water will arrive, when the wave will be steady (later phases) and when the best time is to attack. Just like Cractus the play space is quite busy with the looming Catbat, the Drill Fish in the water, the confines of the vantage point, the push effect of the waves and the enemies coughed up by the Catbat. There’s a lot of variables that the player needs to keep track of and navigating it all requires some real dexterity.

Phase 1

As the above description of events outlines. The waves are always at full height and Catbat only spits out 3 inflatable puff balls after you attack him and 1 if you bump him. If you touch these puff balls you’ll float to the ceiling and Catbat will fly off laughing.

Phase 2

After a few more hits every second wave will dip and then rise suddenly.

Phase 3

The cat will come off revealing a skin head top. The purple puff balls change to red and hurt the player if touched. All waves move up and down sporadically and the only way to damage Catbat is to Smash Attack his head. The latter two points increase the work required to execute an attack. Not only is the method of attack trickier, but the vantage point is frequently obsured.

Golden Diva

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Golden Diva is the Wario Land 4‘s final boss. She is designed to test the player on a wide array of areas in the game system and as a result has a multitude of separate phases. To balance out the initial boss battle with Spoiled Rotten which only lasted for a minute, this battle has a 6 minute timer and Golden Diva has a full health bar. Before the boss battle is a short sequence showing the black cat present throughout the pyramid being sucked into the mask. The intention is to inform the player of the mask as the weak point.

Phase 1

The mask splits off into 4 separate masks, one of those masks remains fully visible the rest are partly transparent and float around the Golden Diva who bounces back and forth. The visible mask swoops back and forth above the ground. If the player touches it the mask will pick Wario up and throw him back at the ground, taking up some of the player’s time. To stop the mask the player needs to wait for it to get down low and Smash Attack it. After Smash Attacking the mask it hardens and the player can use it as a projectile to throw at charge throw at the Golden Diva’s fan covering her face. Each mask moves around slightly faster than the last. This exercise is about timing, timing the Smash Attack and timing the Charge Throw.

Phase 2

A green bug will spawn from Golden Diva’s Crown and float back and forth. If the player jumps on it it’ll curl up, the player can then use the bug as a projectile and throw at the Golden Diva’s mask. This exercise is similar to phase 1.

Phase 3

The Golden Diva throws a large teddy bear explosive onto the stage. Attacking the bomb will send it bouncing around the room until it hits either Wario or the Golden Diva. The player needs to draw a path in their head between where the ball will rebound to and the Golden Diva’s path. Again, a focus on timing skills.

Phase 4

The Golden Dive will toss out a black egg. This phase is similar to Phase 4 of Cuckoo Condor. The player needs to catch the egg and throw it at the mask. This time, however, the black egg detonates to explode in a few seconds so almost immediately as the player grabs the egg they need to get rid of it. The player’s adaption and reflex skills are tested here.

Phase 5

The Golden Diva throws a spiked hammer into the arena. A few seconds later the spikes disappear. The player’s natural instinct, especially considering the context of the prior phases, is to throw the hammer at the Golden Diva’s face. This doesn’t work though. The player needs to simulate a Menhammer by throwing the hammer into the air and letting it land on them, transforming them into Springy Wario. As Springy Wario the player can spring up at the Golden Diva to attack her.

Phase 6

After phase 5, phase 2-5 repeat and then they repeat for a second time, however on the second time the Golden Diva continues to add the next item even before the player has used the previous one. She just keeps on throwing them out, creating overlap and confusion that the player needs to deal with.

Phase 7

In Phase 7 the Golden Diva’s face becomes even more deformed and she grows bulky arms. In this form she floats around smashing the floor to reveal a layer of spikes beneath. During this time, even though she only attacks where the player is standing, she only bumps the Wario if she collides with him. She can’t actually directly hurt Wario. Otherwise, if the player moves she’ll when she’s going to attack, she’ll break the ground where Wario was just standing. The bump from colliding with Wario is hazardous into itself given the lack of safe ground. Golden Diva will continue to break the ground until either the player defeats her or there is no ground left. The player can Attack Jump at her face as she goes to smash the ground. Something to be weary of is the quake from Golden Diva’s smash which can break the window of time the player has to attack when she’s moving back to her floating position and vulnerable. As the ground slips away, the player is going to have to jump to avoid the Golden Diva’s smash and then jump again to avoid the quake and jump one more time as part of a Jump Dash attack. This requires some real dexterity to pull off.

Phase 8

The Golden Diva’s lips flail around helplessly and Wario is left to make the last move.

Overall, this final encounter tests the player on jump, throw, charge throw and attack. The limited space of the room doesn’t allow for swim, Dash Attack and other mechanics to have a presence. Golden Diva focuses more on testing timing skills above other areas of skill.

The boss battles are timed challenges against multi-layered opponents. As the time ticks down treasures added to the player’s kitty will begin to float away. The quicker the player can clear the boss battle, the more loot they get for the kitty. The boss battles are the final test for the passage area and once all of these trials are passed, the Golden Passage opens up. Generally, the boss battles encompass some of the game ideas present in the passage.

This time we’re going to analyse these battles.

This time we’re going to analyse these battles.

Spoiled Rotten

Click here to view the embedded video.

Following the tutorial level, this first boss battle is relative simple. Spoiled Rotten is basically a giant Marumen with two Eggplant Warriors (ie. Totsumen), by its side. The Eggplant Warriors will likely initiate the confrontation as they walk towards Wario and charge for a ram attack. The single screen room ensures that a collision with the wall will ensue and the player is subconsciously informed about the counterpoint between them, the level and the enemy. The Eggplant Warrior’s first strike also sets the impetus for the player to jump and attack, the two mechanics that the player is tested on in this battle. Throwing one of the Eggplant Warriors at Spoiled Rotten has no effect.

The player can attack Spoiled Rotten 7 times before it screws up it’s face and presents it’s sharp teeth. In this form Spoiled Rotten changes from having the properties of a Marumen to a Spearman. Compared to a Spearmen though Spoiled Rotten is another head taller which requires the player to make a full jump over the boss to attack it from behind. After another few hits Spoiled Rotten will be beat.

The fight is a relatively simple one that tests the player on their ability to judge the arc of the jump so that they can cleanly jump over Spoiled Rotten. The minute time limit is long enough for the player to beat the boss, but short enough to set the pace. Notice how there are no treasure in this first example too.

Cractus

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Entering this room Cractus is asleep. The player needs to wake him up by smashing the vase he’s sitting in. If the player touches his prickly, upper area they’ll be hurt. After breaking him open, Cractus will fly along the centre of the screen from right to left, informing the player about his general motions before the battle begins proper.

First Phase

Cractus has quite a number of set attack patterns that it can be difficult to keep track of. In his first phase Cractus will only glide in from the bottom part of the screen. The reason being to draw the player’s attention to Cractus’ weakness, his large flat head. When down low the player can easily jump to Smash Attack Cractus’ head or simply avoid him altogether. It’s also possible to bounce on top of Cractus’ head, but if the player keeps bouncing as he rises to the ceiling the player will get caught in the enclosed space and recoil. In this phase Cractus won’t drop slobber or attack the player outright. By removing these distractions the player’s attention is on following Cractus speed and timing attacks.

The vines are ladders and the player can use them to avoid Cractus and attack with ease. Cractus’ attack patterns depend on the player’s position just before he dives in to attack. If the player is hanging from the vines, Cractus will fly over and drop slobber over the playing field.

If Wario touches the slobber he’ll transform into Zombie Wario. After Wario transforms Cractus will hide in the top right hand corner of the screen and laugh. A firefly will buzz onto the screen and the player can jump to touch the firefly to revert back to normal. This part of the boss battle is a brute force puzzle. The player must realise the connection between the Zombie and light to continue.

The first phase is a simple introduction designed to teach the player how to attack Cractus, his slobber and the Zombie transformation.

Attack

After being attacked Cractus will flash white and rise, dropping goops of slobber as he rises.After rising to the upper area, Cractus will glide forward and attack Wario with his leaf hands. Since Wario must fall back to the ground after Smash Attacking Cractus’ head, he’s left in a vulnerable position to take his attacks. Once he reaches the left side of the screen his attack pattern reverts back to normal. If Wario moves just behind Cractus after he’s stunned, Cractus will float back until Wario is in front of him. He will then attack Wario. After attacking for some time, if Cractus doesn’t reach the left of the screen he’ll just fly off. Either way, after attacking Cractus it’s very difficult for the player to avoid him. The player has very little room to move and must act on reflex to dodge appropriately and dexterity to navigate Wario well within the confined wiggle room. The best way to avoid this attack is to quickly ascend the vines and jump over his head. Being on the vines gives the player the opportunity to Smash Attack his head again. Good players will exploit the looping stun and repeat until he is beat. By virtue of the player attempting to avoid Cractus they’re in prime position to attack him again. Cractus’ response to being attacked facilitates more attacks; the design encourages the player to keep coming back to the vines and using their dexterity skills to manage this climb vines, attack, climb and attack again loop.

Second Phase

After 3 hits Cractus will attack upwards with his leaf hands when gliding along the ground. Now Cractus doesn’t just attack the player after he himself has been attacked. The attacks are more frequent.

Third Phase

A few more hits latter and Cractus will no longer glide along the floor, instead he’ll float along the middle of the screen. This is his response to the player when they’re not at the top of the vines right before he swoops in. At this height Cractus can attack the player from above and below easily and is therefore a much tougher threat. His regular attack pattern now begins to mimmic his “after attack” assault. It’s very difficult to avoid these attacks when on the ground. In the same way, the best method for avoiding the attack is to take to the vines. Once again, the player is put into a position where it’s easy for them to attack repeatedly. This phase is identical to the last, but the height makes it easier to be attacked and thus ups the stakes.

Fourth Phase

This final phase is the same as the 3^rd phase, but now Cractus moves slower, extends his hands out longer and has more attack variations. The slower speed gives him an added advantage as Cractus can stretch his arms out some way, while his head is still a distance away from the player. Also, as he moves slower he has more time to attack which equates to more of Cractus’ attacks per opportunitiy the player has to attack.

Overall, this boss battle drills the player on the Smash Attack under pressure. Cractus has pretty complicated behaviour patterns, so the player has a lot of information to crunch on the fly. The vines play a vital part of the gameplay and moving in and out of them requires dexterity, while timing is needed to land the attacks. Two problems that I faced with this boss is judge the hit box of the head, especially from higher up on a vine and judging when Cractus’ stun animation ended so that I could repeatedly Smash Attack him. The stun animation doesn’t end so clearly and the hit box is perhaps a few pixels too tall.

Cuckoo Condor

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Cuckoo Condor is a boss of two parts. The first part is against a floating bird-theme clocked with a stunner and saw on either hand, and a swinging crane. The second part is against the cuckoo-laying condor itself. Like before this boss is broken up into multiple phases.

Phase 1

The first 3 phases all follow the same structure: 2 rotating saw blades to the mid-left and right of the level with the bird themed clock in the middle trying to grab you with its claw. If the clock grabs you with its claw it’ll carry you to whichever blade is closest. The claw only drops when Wario is underneath it and since the clock floats from left to right, the claw frequently passes and lunges at you. The lunge isn’t immediate though, which gives the player enough time to lure the claw down and then move to the side where they can attack it. Further, a noise will play to alert the player when the claw is preparing for a lunge. The claw will lunge and then hang idly, flashing a red outline when it’s prone to attack.

Attacking the claw will send it spinning right around to the baby condor sitting atop of the clock. This initial phase is all about timing the movements of the claw. It’s best to attack the claw from the ground instead of jumping as the player can jump through the chain to the other side.

Phase 2

After 2 hits the clock will activate the saw blade generator on its right arm. After generating a saw blade, the blade sits in wait, dropping down to the floor only when Wario is nearby. On the floor the saw blades move towards Wario at a medium pace. When Wario approaches from the left, these saw blade drop so that when Wario is in the position to lure the claw down, the blades are coming right towards him. Meaning that Wario needs to avoid the blades as he moves towards the claw. If he doesn’t move fast enough, the blades will catch him. This makes the process of attacking much more risky and introduces dexterity skills into the equation as the player manages the two variables. If Wario changes up his timing, the blade can fall and catch him on the recoil from the attack. Otherwise, when Wario is to the right of the clock the saw blades fall to preempt the attack by falling before Wario gets to the claw. The slowness of the blades is what makes them difficult to manage. Like each phase, there’s a degree of adaption required.

Phase 3

Another 2 hits later and phase 3. For phase 3 the clock will start generating electical blades from its left hand. These are identical to the regular saw blades, but move twice as fast. The electrical blades take just as long to spawn, but only visually present themself as such just before they’re ready to drop. The 2 blades and the timing of the claw create a volatile, ever-changing play environment that can be difficult to track, demanding the player constantly adapt.

Phase 4

3 more hits this time and the clock breaks revealing the condor or rather the mother condor with the baby condor still on top. With the claw gone the blades on either side of the screen move off. The goal is still the same, to hit the baby condor, but to do this the player needs to grab eggs dropped from behind the mother condor and toss them up so that they land on the baby. The eggs are fragile and break when they hit the ground, unleashing little cuckoos. These cuckoos are like homing bombs. They walk along the ground until they come near Wario where they will flash red and run towards him before exploding. As the cuckoos occupy the ground area and hone in on Wario, it becomes difficult to manage the floor. It’s easy for the player to get hit or land on a cuckoo and bounce off, interrupting their plans. This phase requires adaption skills to deal with the influx of birds as well as dexterity to actually manoeuvre Wario so that no eggs are dropped in the first place. Since the player needs to stay grounded while they charge their Dash Attack, the arrangement pushes the player towards alternative tactics like Jump Tossing.

As the condor takes more hits, the rate of eggs it drops increases and adaption and dexterity skills are further pressed.

Overall Cuckoo Condor uses the game idea from the prior level in the passage, Pinball Zone, throwing projectiles as one part of its core game idea. The initial three phases are more general attack/jump exercises. Dexterity, adaption, reflex and timing are relevant areas of skill tested with adaption taking centre stage.

Last month when I continued this project I decided to focus on the attack mechanics, but fell short of concluding the analysis, because I wanted set up a larger framework before I approached it. With that framework now in place I can continue with this analysis which, give or take a few articles, will lead us to the end of the analysis part of the project.

Wario Land 4 is a 2D platformer. The aim of the game is to move from left to right. Enemies populate the path from one side of the level to the other and the player must engage with gravity to jump over obstacles. Jump, attack and horizontal movement are therefore the 3 pillars of the gameplay system. Each pillar is linked to the premise of the game.

Of all the mechanics in the game, the attack mechanics (Attack and Dash Attack) encompass all 3 of these areas. That is, the attack mechanic attacks, moves Wario horizontally and can be used for making jumps.

Of the two mechanics, the Dash Attack has more nuance and is balanced so that it offers great advantages at the cost of some great disadvantages too. The Dash Attack offers big risk and reward. Managing the mechanic is tricky, but if used correctly the Dash Attack is suitable for higher level play with heavy animation control and a deep knowledge of the level layouts.

On the other hand, the Attack mechanic has less to gain, but is the most stable of the two. Animation cancelling gives the player pinpoint control over the mechanic. Both initiating and cutting the animation of the Attack mechanic are easy to pull off. There’s no charge to the mechanic which means that from frame one Wario can break blocks and attack enemies with no necessary run up either. Not only is it easy to pull off and manipulate the mechanic, it’s the most immediate and functional of the two. Therefore, the attack mechanic is a cornerstone of Wario Land 4; a mechanic which affects most areas of the game.  In order to understand the very essence of Wario Land 4, we need to understand how the Attack mechanic characterises play.

Platforming Skewed Towards Timing Skills

Jump Attacking from one platform to another can be broken down as such:

At the first point the player initiates the attack, at the second point they jump and at the third point they cancel and land. The player can attack and jump at the same time, so points one and two can overlap.

When the player reaches point 2 they need to jump before they hit the gap. Making this jump requires reflex to press the button and timing to press the button at the right time. Since even when attacking, Wario doesn’t move all too fast, little reflex is needed. The speed that Wario moves at throughout the game generally is quite slow, so reflex isn’t stressed. At point 3 the player presses left on the d-pad and the animation cuts. To press the button at the right time requires timing skills. Because the attack animation is automated, the player can’t press left or right to manage the fall back to earth, thus dexterity is not tested. What we have in this interaction, jumping, is a focus on timing skills and little focus on other skills.

Travelling, Attacking and Jumping Operate on a Wire

With the Attack mechanic at the heart of gameplay and the player given the ability to cut the animation instantly as soon as they wish, the gameplay operates on a wire. The gameplay doesn’t run fluidly, but instead as a series of on/off interactions. Wario Land 4 therefore lacks grace and stresses minute management of its mechanics. This extends into the Dash Attack and its own system of nuance too. This lack of grace is further supported by the spoils too which encourage the player to stop advancing forward and instead nab the spoils.

Immediate Gameplay

The immediacy of the attack mechanic and its animation cancelling gives a responsiveness to the overall gameplay. The responsiveness acts to encourage dexterity-driven gameplay and on the spot actions. Wario can’t run which thereby dilutes the speed of the game, however, the immediacy of the attack mechanic and its pervasiveness give a jolt to the gameplay any ways.

Aggression at the Core

Because Attack links to most areas of the game, the game is all about attacking. When you paint that under the context of an angry fat man, central to the game is the idea of aggression. Wario’s basic functioning existence is dependent of aggression. Yet at the same time, through animation cancelling, he has complete control over his aggressions too and when he can channel his aggression, Wario can exceed himself. No doubt I’ll be hashing this little narrative out come the topical essays.

Nuance Rises to the Occasion

The reasons why the Attack mechanic is so pervasive is because of the advantages it offers the player. One of the key advantages is the cancelation of the animation which is a nuance. Think about that, would you? Something that isn’t designed to assist the player to move from the left side of the screen to the right ends up helping them do just that.

(I suspect that as I edit and replay the game a few more times over I’ll have more to say here, but for now, this is what I have)

…But Jump is Even Easier

To put things back into perspective a little. The Attack mechanic may indeed be tremendously useful, spreading across all areas of play and unifying much of the gameplay, this very fact doesn’t undermine the degrees of separation that make the other mechanics unique in the design space.

Attack may break blocks, but it’s still better to Smash Attack to break blocks direcly below you. Jump Attack may allow you to manipulate the jump with precision, but it’s much more work than a regular jump. Attack won’t help you climb up ladders either, or help you swim, roll, transform and pick up enemies.

While Attack defines a large portion of the gameplay, the other mechanics are still their own and without their individuality the gameplay would become dry with the repetition of overusing the Attack mechanic. In the next post we’ll continue this exploration into the character of Wario Land 4‘s gameplay drawing other areas of our analysis to try to define this lumbering giant.

In the last post we mapped out the nuance for each mechanic in Wario Land 4. As you probably noticed the techniques ranged from helpful to overall pretty useless. Some of the techniques are just too difficult to pull off, while others don’t really have much use in the game at all.

Understanding how accessible and useful each nuanced technique is will help us further understand the weighting of Wario Land 4‘s game mechanics in respect to one another. Based on our gameplay system diagram, we already know a little about how the mechanics weigh up against each other in the design space. For example, Attack and Dash Attack have high precedence as they fill all 3 areas of the gameplay system (attack, traversal and jump). Nuance plays a part in this weighting as well. A nuance technique which is unrelated to the aim of the game (move from left to right), can be exploited to assist the player in fulfilling this very goal. If the technique is useful and easy to pull off, then the player will naturally use it to their advantage. In turn, mechanic that the nuance belongs to is given greater precedence in the gameplay system.

For each nuanced technique I will provide analyse its usefulness and ease of input. The techniques will be organised from weakest to strongest.

Attack/Jump Cancelling (Dash Attack)

The Dash Attack is cancelled so early on in its animation cycle either because the player didn’t wish to Dash Attack in the first place and thus needs to revert back into the neutral state or because they want to take advantage of the speed of the Dash Attack without launching into a charge.

Firstly, given the permanent clarity of the button layout, with the L and R triggers separated from the 2 face buttons and d-pad, it’s rare that the player will ever Dash Attack accidentally and even if they were this confused, they certainly wouldn’t then have the ability to then cancel the move. Secondly, the window of time that the player has before cancelling the Dash Attack is so minute (maybe half a second or less), that it’s hardly worth going to the effort of starting and ending the attack, just for a second’s worth of speed.

Throwing Enemies Off Screen

Most of the enemies in Wario Land 4 don’t put up much of a fight, so throwing an enemy off-screen isn’t really worth the effort of stunning them, picking them up, moving to the edge of the room and throwing them. For all this interaction, it’s usually much easier to just defeat the enemy outright. Furthermore, throwing an enemy off-screen won’t leave any spoils.

Pushing Enemies Underwater

Pushing enemies around underwater only displaces nudges them a few pixels. It’s a much better use of the player’s time to just swim around the water enemies rather than push them away. Further, underwater enemies have offensive spots too and it can be easy to slip and touch these areas while pushing the enemy.

Only Googley-Blades, Tobowanis and Drill-Fish can be pushed underwater. The latter two enemies aren’t very common and pushing them doesn’t do very much anyways as they’re only ever present in pools of water one unit high which means that the player can only push them forwards in the direction they’re facing. The Googley-Blades on the other hand live in deep underwater areas, so the player has more options on how exactly to knock them. The Googley-Blades swim around quite fast, so the player never ends up in a situation where they have to nudge one to advance. Although I have found a few instances where its helpful to displace a Googley-Blade, so as to send them patrolling a limited, off-shoot area, but these instances have been quite rare.

Using Objects as Shields

This technique comes off as a bit coincidental more than anything else. The pick up mechanic creates a state: holding an object. At some point the player needs to exit this state and return back to the neutral state. So when the player picks up an object, they do so usually with the intention of using another mechanic to end the “holding” state. Be it throwing, charge throwing, dropping, etc.

Since Wario Land 4 uses lock and key arrangements, the enemies and loose projectiles often acts as keys. As such, the pick up mechanic is the most effective way for safely moving the key to the hole without touching the ground. It is a transportation mechanic. Once the player reaches the lock they’ll have to use some variant of throw to enter the key into the lock. Because of the lock and key arrangements, players don’t really pick up an object with the intention of using it as a shield.

More to the point though, very few enemies even attack the player from above, where the object is suspended in Wario’s hand. Also, it’s much easier to just avoid enemy attacks than navigating the level in the “holding” state, with the attack mechanics disabled.

Quake Control

In order to execute an effective quake move that will send an object (enemy/projectile) bouncing into a hazard or elsewhere, the player needs to be able to see the object on-screen (at some point), determine whether the quake will send them to their target and Smash Attack. There’s a 50/50 chance that the quake will send the object bouncing in the left or right direction. So even after the player sets up the situation, success is never guaranteed, casting doubt over this technique.

It’s worth noting that there are 2 arrangements in the game which require the use of quake control (Pinball Zone and in a puzzle room).

Slides/Slide Cancelling

Slides don’t really do anything at all for the player besides add a risk to using the Dash Attack. In theory though the slide is a nuanced technique, because it does allow for some horizontal movement.

Slide cancelling is perhaps the most emergent form of gameplay in Wario Land 4, however it also requires a great deal of knowledge about the level layout. Even with the level layout mastered, the player needs to end their Dash Attack—which has the player careering through the level at a fast speed—in the right position so as to use the level to cancel the slide. Having the knowledge and the ability to time and release the Dash Attack requires an uber level of skill. Even for advanced players it’s not so easy to pull this off and even once its done the advantage can be negligible for everyone except speed runners. So, slide cancelling, while useful, demands much from the player.

Inertia Jumping (Dash Attack)

The inertia jump does give the player quite the horizontal leap forward, but nailing the timing isn’t so easy. The player needs to jump between when there is no charge and when there is visible charge. This brief window of time is hard to judge as their as no visual indicators for the player. The levels aren’t designed for this type of jump either. Still though, the inertia jump can be used to speed through areas of the level. Given that the player understands the level layout by the time they hit the frog switch, post-fold is a great time to use the inertia jump.

Sliding Down Ladders

Sliding down ladders is just a quicker way to descend ladders and is easy to pull off at that too. While it doesn’t aid the player much in the game, it does allow the player to advance the action faster.

Crouch Slide

Crouch Sliding allows the player to slide along the ground in crouch form. Similar to sliding down ladders, the crouch slide only speeds up the process of crouching and moving.

Heightened Smash Attack

The Heightened Smash Attack is easy enough to pull off: you just press down while jumping from a significant height. Doing so will cause a quake which will overturn Harimenzetto and, if Wario lands on one, break a thick block too. It’s quite uncommon for Heightened Smash Attacks to be mandatory, aside from the tutorial-like parts of WildFlower Fields. After it’s taught to the player, the Heightened Smash Attack is generally relegated to concealing secret areas and puzzle rooms.

Walkout (Dash Attack)

Walking out is not only easy to perform it completely nullifies the slide/skid too. All the player needs to do is release the L or R trigger while Dash Attacking to then revert back to a walking state.

Charge Throw/Jump Toss

The Charge Throw is sometimes mandatory, but mostly reserved for optional secrets and puzzles. The throw requires a press, while holding the B button down for any time longer than that of a press will activate the charge. So it’s very easy to initiate a Charge Throw. Often times you’ll do it accidentally as the charge builds up that fast. When charge throwing a projectile into the air it will be tossed in an arc-like trajectory instead up directly upwards. Therefore the player needs to take this into account when aiming for targets above their head.

The Jump Toss forgoes the skewed trajectory of the Charge Throw as the player jumps to shorten the distance between them and the target they are throwing at. The downside is that what comes up, must come down, or rather, the player needs a safe patch of ground to land back on to. The only time when the ground moves is on moving platforms. Also,when jumping the player can’t charge the throw, thus the Jump Toss is useless for breaking any blocks in a straight line. For vertical throwing though, it’s a pretty good alternative to the Charge Throw.

Animation Cancelling (Attack)

Attack is useful in all 3 spheres of the game system: attack, horizontal movement and jump. Cancelling the animation will cause Wario to instantly revert back to his neutral state. Animation cancelling is useful for horizontal movement and jumping, but not really for attacking. I mean, cancelling an attack isn’t a great way to attack now, is it? Unless the attack was against some sort of hazard and the player needs to stop in their tracks before they hit the hazard and get hurt, by which case we’re referring to horizontal movement, not attacking.

So, an example for how animation cancelling can be useful for horizontal movement could be that the player is attacking their way forward when they notice the end of a platform just after they attacked. If the player lets the animation play out, Wario will fall into the hole. However, if the player cuts the animation, Wario will stop just before the edge.

With jumping, animation cancelling is even more useful. The player doesn’t even have to worry about overshooting jumps with the Attack mechanic, so long as at some point the player is vertically aligned with the platform they are jumping to, the player only needs to press back to have Wario fall straight down to the platform. Animation cancelling gives the player pinpoint control on where they will land their jump. Animation cancelling forgoes using the left and right buttons to steer Wario when in the air with a simple button press. This makes Wario Land 4′s platform more about timing, than dexterity. After all, the player can’t manipulate the attack jump once it begins.

To cancel an attack in motion, either in air or on the ground, the player only needs to press the d-pad in the opposite direction that Wario is facing and the animation will stop dead.

Power: the obvious, straight forward actions/interactions that achieve a functional goal (most likely the goal of the game). If a game is about moving and shooting, then anything that helps you do these things directly fits on the scale of power.

Nuance: any effect/property/detail that cannot be placed (or easily placed) on the scale of power of a game. If a game is about moving and shooting, then a quick reloading technique might fall on the nuance side. A technique that helps you evade the radar during a scan is even more nuanced.

To tie the knots a bit, nuance is an action/interaction on the scale of power. Power being how helpful the action is to achieving the aim of the game. In Wario Land 4 the aim of the game is to move from one side of the screen to the other, collecting things along the way. Nuance can be organised in tiers along the scale of power with 1 being close to the game’s objective and anything higher being further away. We’ll be using this method to understand the nuance of Wario Land 4′s mechanics. Away we go.

No nuance

Walk

-no nuance (walking and jumping, and walking and crouching are necessary to move through the levels)

Swim Paddle (horizontal and Vertical)

Crouch

Tier 1

-Crouch Slide

A crouch slide is when the player attacks and then crouches to slide forward. The technique only speeds up the process of a slide.

Swim

Tier 1

-Pushing enemies

It’s possible to rub up to enemies as you swim to displace them. Nudging them in this way can throw off their movement patterns or save the player from getting hit.

Climb Ladders

Tier 1

-Slide Down

Instead of descending each step individually, Wario can grip the bars of the ladders and slide all the way down. He does have gloves, after all. This technique is like the crouch slide, it speeds up the process.

Smash Attack

Tier 1

-Heightened Smash Attack

Smash Attacking from raised platform will allow Wario to break thick block and defeat some enemies. While this technique is indeed needed at times for the player to progress, it’s rarely mandatory and is instead relegated to secret areas or defeating optional enemies.

Tier 2

-Quake Control

When the player Smash Attacks the ground, the whole level tremors. During the tremor enemies either flip over (weak enemies) or bounce on the spot (strong enemies) and loose projectiles bounce around. The player can use the quake to their advantage, by using the quake to catch strong enemies off guard or to cut their animation, once they’re in this sort of “stun” period, the player can quickly beat them. The player can also use the quake to send enemies bouncing towards a hazard. The quake can further be used to navigate loose projectiles closer to the player.

Pick up

Tier 1

-Charge Throw

The charge throw adds a charge to the regular throw giving Wario the power to throw the projectile horizontally in a straight line. Without a charge the player can only throw the projectile forwards slightly. Often blocks or other obstacles are arranged in a straight line facilitating use of the charge throw.

-Jumping Toss

Instead of charging a throw to send a projectile upwards, the player can jump and toss a projectile into the air. When tossing anything directly upwards, the trajectory will slant to whichever side Wario is facing. For a more direct upwards throw, jumping and then throwing an enemy upwards lacks any skewed trajectory.

Tier 2

-Using held enemies as shields

When holding an enemy, any other enemies that attempt to attack Wario and end up hitting the held enemy reflect back, with the held enemy falling out of Wario’s hand. It is therefore possible to use the held enemy to deflect enemy attacks.

Tier 3

-Throwing Enemies Off-screen

The off-screen area, such as through a door way into another room, is basically a black hole. Whatever enters this area can’t come back. The player can easily discard enemies by tossing them into this area. It’s worth noting that tossing an enemy a blocks length out of the room will usually see them walk back into the room, the dead hole starts a little later on.

Attack

Tier 1

-Crouch Sliding

Tier 2

-Animation Cancelling (air and ground)

Either during an attack on the ground or an attack jump in the air the player can press in the opposite direction that Wario is facing and cut the animation dead. If the player is in the air they’ll fall to the ground after the cut. Animation cancelling gives the player more control over the Attack mechanic. For example, the player attacks and some obstacles appears in their way, they can cancel the animation and save themselves right on the spot. Alternatively, the player can use animation cancelling to control when exactly their jump will end, giving them much better accuracy for landing jumps safely.

Dash Attack

Tier 1

-Attack Cancelling

-Jump Cancelling

Before any charge is built up for the Dash Attack, the player can cancel out of the attack. These cancels are quick cancelations of the animation.

-Soft Slide

-Slides

The soft slide is a slide that occurs before any charge is visibly shown as being built up, while a slide is a slide that occurs after Wario stops the Dash Attack after glowing. Both slides are otherwise identical. The slide is a counter balance to the general effectiveness of the Dash Attack mechanic. It is a hinderance more than anything else.

-Inertia Jump

A mixture of a jump and cancelation move which uses the built up inertia of the charge to freely jump without the otherwise mandatory skid.

-Walkout

A cancelation move for the full charge.

As we can see, each mechanic has a varying degree of nuance. I’m still not perfectly sure if everything I’ve listed here correctly counts as nuance, but we have an overall structure to work with. I’ll be further discussing nuance in the next article before tying it all together with my analysis of the attack mechanics and through that a summary of the game system’s core characteristics as defined by the interplay, dynamics, nuance and so on.

Tier 3

-Slide Cancelling

The player can cancel the slide by using the environment to cut the slide animation. For example, sliding at the edge of a platform or sliding into a wall.

• 1) introduction
• 2) a non-fail take on the game idea in its most minimalist form, restricted practice
• 3) a more established, more sophisticated take on the game idea, freer practice
• 4) an open ended problem take on the game idea
• 5) post-fold dash back to the exit, the final exam

Let’s take the level Big Board as an example. The game idea for this level is the board game. For more on this please refer to the level analysis.

Introduction

The first room is just an introduction that serves to familiarise the player with the visual context of the level as well as reacquaint them with the basic mechanics. The latter is necessary for every level as the game is broken up into levels and between finishing one level and starting another, the player may wish to stop playing the game. In which case, the first room warms the player back into the gameplay after the interim. Furthermore, the first room can also be interpreted as a cool down from the post-fold sprint of the prior level.

It’s also critical that the first room informs the player about the visual context of each level. Unlike, say, Super Mario Bros. where the same core building blocks are used to construct the levels, in Wario Land 4 the ground, enemies and visual appearance of the blocks can change from level to level. This means that each level needs a point of reference to inform the player of the differences and the best place to do that is at the start of the level.

We can see in the first room of Big Board that the blocks are unique in appearance with their split between blue and yellow and the cracks which indicate that they’re of normal thickness. The Toy Car is also present. Notice how the arrangement also facilitates jumping and attacking, the basic mechanics of the game.

A Non-Fail Take on the Game Idea

Next, the unique and interesting premise that defines the character and challenges for the level, the game idea, debuts. It is absolutely pivotal to future gameplay that the player understands the game idea, thus the arrangements of these rooms are tightly focused and straight to the point. Often lock and key checks will be put in place to ensure that the player must, to some degree, engage with the game idea in order to advance. The game idea is only present in its most simplest, minimal state so as not to distract the player with any irrelevancies.

In our example, the second room features a dice roll switch that will advance the player’s progress along the board. To clear this room the player needs to jump over the wall using the outlined platform. To activate the outline platform they need to flick the switch. No matter if the player rolls a low or a high number, the initial 12 squares all activate the platform, so the player wins every time. This is a failsafe to ensure that the player ends up learning what they need to know.

A More Sophisticated Take on the Game Idea

The initial steps generally operate in single room values. That is, you only need to have one room for an introduction or an example of the game idea. The more sophisticated takes on the game idea operate on a sliding scale across multiple room, the number depending on the nature of the game idea. I have chosen 4 rooms to demonstrate this point.

The images show how the game idea develops over multiple rooms. Fire blocks, blocks in the wall, thick blocks and unit-high passages over water are all locks which require keys, keys being somehow related to the specific squares the player can land on on the board. Keys and locks facilitate puzzles and puzzles stress knowledge skills regarding the application of the mechanics. So, puzzles, in turn, establish the game idea by testing the player’s knowledge and adaption skills. The examples showcase different permutations of puzzles using the game idea.

These rooms are also less restrictive than the initial room. The player is given the choice of participating in the puzzles or not. There’s leeway for the player to approach the problem (because of the fact that it is a puzzle) and leeway for their execution. Take the first room, the player needs to first deduce a way to solve the problem by gathering clues (fire blocks, fire transformation on board, dice, path to the fire blocks) and then execute on the clues (move Flaming Wario to the fire blocks). The deduction and execution processes require experimentation, so the player has more flexibility.

An Open-ended Problem

The freer practice comes to a head with an open-ended problem, the freest of all free practice. Now that the player understands the game idea and relevant knowledge, and can adapt their knowledge to problem solving, the game can remove most of the scaffolding that assisted the player’s learning of such things.

As with the example, open-ended problems offer more avenues to play. We can see in the example that there are 3 areas which the player can spring up to as Bouncy Wario. One of them is a waste (left), the other offers a clue (middle) and one leads to the reward (right). The trick is that there are only 2 dice roll switches, meaning that at most the player can only transform 2 times. For each player, the experience may be different. For example, some players will spring up into the reward area on their first go, while others will fail and try again, possible landing on a transformation block or not the second time around; then again other players might just avoid the puzzle altogether. Whatever the case, the player’s experience can fork out into different paths. Compare this to the Introduction where every player can only advance by doing the one specific interaction. By introducing divergence and freedom into the level design, the player’s experience is more personalised. What this personalisation or customisation means is that the player can feel ownership over the game idea as they have used it as a form of expression. This is the height of education.

Just noting a trend too. These rooms tend to, be nature, be the largest rooms in the entire level because they offer greater freedom. What I mean is giving more options to the player in the level design more often than not equates to using more digital real estate. In terms of level design, restriction is expressed through limiting space. Furthermore, the minimal introduction arrangements don’t require much space in any case. What you’ll notice then is how the rooms from the vortex to the frog switch become progressively larger.

Post-Fold Dash

Now that the player has mastered the game idea, they’re tested on their ability to execute on the game effectively. To test the player not only is a timer is added into the mix, but they need to make their way through a series of rooms leading back to the vortex. Sometimes the trek back is through a few entirely new rooms, other times you need to run back through previously passed rooms, it depends on the game idea.

In Big Board the exam is front-loaded into the room with the dice roll switch. In this room the player must continuously roll until they get to the very last square. The trick is that if the player rolls more than the requisite number of squares away from the end block, then they’ll head back in the opposite direction X number of excess squares. In this way, the player needs to, at least once, roll the correct number. After the player has landed on the last square they need to make it back to the portal. The traversal mechanics are a secondary game idea.

Although Big Board isn’t an example of it, post-fold areas will usually include the most sophisticated arrangements in the entire level.

Divergences with this Model

As I mentioned this model is just a guide line, not all levels follow it to a tee, but most generally do. The changes to the model are used to suit the type of game idea present. Maybe some game ideas are larger so they need more tutorial time while other levels are split between several core ideas. Here are a few examples of divergences to the formula:

• Hotel Horror – Hotel Horror is a key exception, eschewing this template completely for an entirely open-ended approach
• Wildflower Fields – The game idea is introduced in the first room
• Monsoon Jungle – One could say that because the player is dropped into the water from the onset that the non-fail take on the game idea replaces the introduction.
• 40 Below Fridge – The introduction is extended
• Crescent Moon Village – The rooms bounce back and forth between the Vampire Bat Wario/Zombie Wario game ideas and the Yurei game idea. Levels with more than one main game idea split the more sophisticated takes on the game idea between the 2 game ideas they have.

So What? Why This Model?

Okay, we have a framework for interpreting the levels which is pretty neat, but what does it all mean? This model of progression is built around the idea of skill and thus through skill mastery. The game teaches the player so that the player can apply and advance their skills until they have reached a sufficient level of mastery that the games requires of them. I’ve called this system a progression system, but it’s more of an embedded education system. The mechanics (tools) and arrangements (problems) and the player (student) are all part of this education system.

Education

Each room is about teaching the player something (game idea) and then testing them on that. They’re guided by the game and the more they play, the less the game handholds them through the challenges. When the player has built up competency, the player is given the opportunity to own what they’re learnt and express themselves with it. This step not only consolidates what the player has learnt so far, but it allows the player truly engage with what they’ve learnt. At last, there’s one final test.

To enjoy a video game, the player needs to understand the rules and properties of the game. The sooner the player can understand the basic rules and ideas of the game, the sooner they can start having fun. It’s not just about the player enjoying the game sooner though, our short attention spans demand quick, snappy tuition, otherwise we’ll likely succumb to boredom and switch the game off. It’s pivotal for games then, as education systems, to convey meaning as quick and cleanly as possible. One way to convey information about a game in this manner is through matching the visual representation of game elements to their functional aspects, also known as form fits function.

Here are some images of enemies from Super Mario Bros. Without using any preexisting knowledge that you might have about the game, I want you to look at these images and tell me somethings about the enemies. When you have some ideas for each enemy, please continue reading.

Spiny Shell

Cheep Cheep

Bullet Bill

Here are some ideas that I came up with off the top of my head about these enemies:

Spiny Shell: It’s upper half is dangerous.

Cheep Cheep: It can fly and swim. Although because of its weight it can’t fly very far.

Bullet Bill: It’s strong and can move fast.

I inferred all of this information just by looking at the images and I suspect that you, the reader, probably grasped just as much. If we frame these images in the context of Mario’s abilities in Super Mario Bros. then our understanding increases. We see that we can’t jump on the Spiny Shell, Cheep Cheeps will be present both underwater and in the air, and the Bullet Bill probably moves in a straight line.

One of the reasons why we understand the examples so well is because of their likeness to things that are already familiar to us such as hedgehogs, fish, birds and bullets. The visual design augments something which we already know about to the function the game wishes to employ. For example, Super Mario Bros. needs a fast moving horizontal obstacle which can move freely through the environment. A bullet is an object which, when fired from a gun, operates in the same way. So when designing the object in the game, leveraging something that the player is already familiar with is useful for both the designers and the players.This is just one technique though. Certain parts of game elements can be exaggerated visually to emphasise their properties or the types of interactions that you can have with it. For example, the Cheep Cheep’s rounded body suggest weight which equates to the Cheep Cheep not being able to jump too far out of the water.

What the examples prove is how functional information is conveyed to the player just by them quickly looking at the game element. This form fits function approach isn’t just evident in Super Mario Bros. Wario Land 4, like all Nintendo games, follows this philosophy of visual design. Let’s look at a few examples. For each example I want you to first look and interpret your own meaning, then read by own “first thing that pops into your head” info bites.

Wario

Just by looking at Wario we can infer that he:

• can’t run or at least he can’t run fast
• is an angry and aggressive character
• is bulky and strong, probably a good fighter

Transformations

Puffy Wario – is functionally similar to a hot air balloon. Rises slowly and can’t easily move horizontally.

Vampire Bat Wario – has small wings and a large head. The small wings need to flap hard to keep the front-heavy heat afloat.

Flaming Wario – the flames are on his back, which still means that he can still run forward. Since he’s on fire and visually looks to be panicking, he’ll likely move around quickly.

Snowman Wario – legs and hands only poke out a bit from the snowball which means that he can’t move around or do much with his hands or body.

Zombie Wario – the properties of a zombie can be inferred. So, he walks slowly and can’t by very physical with attacks.

Flat Wario – the elongated horizontal shape means that he can pass over some horizontal gaps, but the awkward shape also means that he can’t move around very easily. Also, because he’s flat he can move through areas with a low ceiling.

Fat Wario – large weight means that he’d move slower and the downward force from a jump would be larger.

Bubble Wario – Wario appears trapped, so he probably can’t control the bubble very much.

Bouncy Wario – Wario looks like a spring and thus would likely have the same properties as a spring.

Frozen Wario – he’s frozen so he can’t move.

Enemies

Marumen – Marumen have no offensive spots, so they look weak.

Moguramen – Can attack from the front, but doesn’t seem to have any other defences.

Tack Soldier – Falls from the sky and can threaten the player with its bottom spike. The head is a possible weakness.

Iwao – A strong a burly character that uses his strength against Wario.

Beezley – Can fly. Stings the player from above with their stinger.

Menhammer – He’s obviously going to use that hammer to attack Wario.

Level Elements

Push Pencils – The player can only touch the eraser side of the pencil, because the lead side is sharp and sharp things are hazzards.

Platforms – You can see whether or not they are through platforms, non-through platforms or slippery. See here.

Blocks – Based on the colour you can determine the thickness

Previously I broke Wario Land 4′s mechanics into 3 core groups: jumping, horizontal traversal and attacks. The diagram above organises the mechanics under the various headings. The mechanics in blue are those which cannot be done on a whim, they need some other game element in order to function. For example, the player can’t use the throw mechanic without a projectile to throw, nor can the player roll without a slope to roll down. The green text is for mechanics that may or may not “execute properly” as that type of mechanic (attack) is dependent on the context. For example, jumping may or may not attack, as in defeat, an enemy if the jump doesn’t knock the enemy into a hazard. Then again, just stunning the enemy by knocking into them is an attack of sorts. The question is: is an attack which doesn’t defeat the enemy an attack? And therefore: does stunning constitute an attack? The same ideas apply for walking too. The player can walk into an enemy from behind to knock it over which may or may not send the enemy to its death.

The look up mechanic actually has no purpose in the game and is thus separated. I put jump and walk in parenthesis because unlike the other attack mechanics they can’t beat enemies unless the player knocks them into a hazard like water, spikes or lava.

What we can see from the image is just how the attack mechanics permeate into all areas of the game. For now this image is just a neat visual reference. I think that later I’ll change the size of the text to match their presence in the design space.

Example of the Dash Attack used in general gameplay

In my general comparison of the Dash Attack and Attack mechanics, I discussed how the nuanced skid properties of the Dash Attack made it the superior mechanic for advanced level players. Advanced level players being those with a knowledge of the level layouts who are willing to apply their knowledge while at the same time contend with the sophisticated skid properties. While I provided a pretty accurate overview, I’ve now got the tools I need to explain the nuanced mechanic in greater detail with both videos and images too. Let’s start off with this image of a complete Dash Attack with each step of possible interaction. Please not that I made the image artificially using sprites, so it’s not a pixel perfect representation, but neither is it meant to be.

And here is what happens in each section of the animation.

0 – 2 Wario has no charge built up. With no charge there is no skid. The player can cancel the animation of the Dash Attack by walking out of it or by stop pressing buttons altogether and stand still (general cancels), or by jumping (jump cancel). A jump cancel cuts into a standard jump. The lead up has no influence on the cancels at all. So, for example, cutting to a walk will be an uninterrupted transition from one frame of the Dash Attack to the walking animation. Wario can’t break blocks or defeat enemies during these frames.

2 – 3 An invisible charge is built up. The invisible charge animation is the same as the no charge animation (areas 0-2). The difference is that an invisible charge will result in a soft skid. On the ground the skid can’t be cancelled, but it can be cancelled by jump cancelling. The jump cancel cuts into a standard jump, however, if the player holds forward, they can do an “inertia jump”. An inertia jump is a jump that maintains the inertia from the invisible charge. Wario can break blocks and enemies during these frames.

What’s worth noting about 2-3 is that it’s only a very short window of time right before the charge is built. Most players probably wouldn’t even notice this part of the mechanic as the frames appear identical to 0-2. For high level play it’s quite important though as the inertia jump maintains the strengths of the charge (inertia), but without skidding or the complete lack of control of the jump (Jump Dash Attack). Basically, the inertia jump takes all the advantages of the Dash Attack without any of the disadvantages. If the player can nail the narrow time frame for execution, then it’s very useful.

3 – 4 A full charge is built up and maintained. The player cannot cancel at all and ending the dash attack with invariably result in a skid. Wario can break blocks and beat enemies. This phase of the mechanic continues forever until the player hits a wall, lands in water or ends the Attack Dash and skids. Jumping now creates a Dash Attack Jump which is automated until the player lands.

4 – 5 4 is the point where the player ends the Dash Attack. 5 This is where the player ends up after skidding. During this time the player has no control over the mechanic (as opposed to what I suggested before, ahem..), making them vulnerable to enemies and hazards. There are several contextual techniques that can be used to minimise or totally avoid skidding though…

To illustrate the nuances a little more clearly, here is a tabled version of the complexities of the mechanic.

As we can see, the Dash Attack is highly nuanced. From the nuances comes advanced techniques. Most players likely aren’t entirely familiar with such techniques and perhaps only use them every so often. Speed runners and veteran players though would be more familiar with these techniques as they give the player greater control over Wario’s movement at a fast speed. The video below demonstrates all of the emergent techniques of the Dash Attack beginning from sections 0-2 and then onto 2-3 and 3+ alongside the routine parts of the mechanic.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The emergent techniques are Walk Cancelling, Jump Cancelling, Inertia Jumping, Jump Dash Attack, the skid and the Walk Out.

The skid is unique as it can’t be nullified directly by the player’s input, but it can be cancelled in conjunction with other game elements.For example: Jump Dash Attacking onto a platform and skidding at the edge of the platform so that Wario slips off and immediately returns to his neutral state. Skidding into a wall is another example. There are other skid cancelling techniques that I haven’t yet uncovered, but will no doubt discuss later. What’s important to note now is that nullification of the skid has counterpoint with the level elements and the enemies which makes for some truly emergent gameplay.

Contrast these techniques to the Attack Mechanic which only has a single nuanced technique: back cancelling. That is, pressing in the opposite direction during the animation in order to cut it in motion.

To finish, check out the speed run below. I particularly enjoy this video as the speed runner employs the Dash Attack as his/her preferred traversal mechanic and uses the advanced techniques perfectly. Watch it and see how much you can take away from it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now, think of a game that you’ve played which has also been well designed, but too difficult. Did you play that game for very long? If you did, did you really enjoy the game or were you always butting heads with it?

I ask these questions because difficulty is directly tied to engagement. If a game is too easy or too difficult then players can become unengaged and lose interest. There are 2 common approaches to curbing difficulty by game designers. The first is to offer a difficulty select option. The second is to allow the player to scale difficulty through play. Wario Land 4 uses both of these approaches.

Selectable Difficulty

Wario Land 4 has 3 difficulty levels, although most players will only notice the default normal difficulty as it’s the only option available on the first play through. After normal is completed, hard opens up and after hard is super hard. Since the player can’t select the difficulty from the onset, the hard and super hard modes are more of additional options for player’s who’ve finished the game as opposed to a difficulty select option.

The difference between each of the difficulty levels from normal to super hard are:

• more enemies
• less time after the fold
• items in the shop for boss battles are more expensive
• Wario begins the level with less hearts
• jewel piece locations are rearranged to be more difficult to find
• the mini games are more difficult, require faster reaction times

Hard and super hard are considerably more difficult and can be downright frustrating. Levels are oversaturated with enemies. It’s all quite needless. Difficulty modes tend to follow this sort of “unfair” or “cheap” modification to the default difficulty as they more commonly increase punishments which doesn’t always equate to more deeper play. More enemies, for instance, only encourages players to play more conservatively as opposed to engaging more deeply. Resorting the placement of jewel pieces, on the other hand, is a much better approach as it forces the player to be more observant.

Scalable Difficulty

You know how some games end up being highly challenging and engaging for all players despite not having a difficulty select at all? Super Mario Bros, Zelda and Metroid are all great examples of franchises that rely on a single difficulty. So, how is it that these games can be engaging for new and returning veteran players alike? The answer is scalable difficulty.

Each of these games provides a base level challenge which all players must overcome, but they also provide many varied avenues for higher level players to exert themselves too. For example, Super Mario Bros. allows the player to control the speed of the game through the run mechanic, has secret warp zones, a high score and coins; Zelda has collectable heart pieces and trinkets, extra quests and mini games as well as its own secrets; the Metroid games also have collectables, different endings based on time performance and additional log book entries.

Scalable difficulty doesn’t just avoid the sort of artificial tweaks that often comes with selectable difficulty, it also allows players to tailor their play experience (do I run straight ahead or slow down and be careful? Do I get all the hearts or speed run?) and adjust the game’s difficulty in real time. Furthermore, scalable difficult with no difficulty select means that all players experience the some core gameplay and can therefore relate their play experiences with one another more easily.

Wario Land 4 has several devices that allow the player to scale the difficulty to their needs, here are some examples:

Crystals

Here are some screenshots of arrangements of crystals.

Getting the crystals as opposed to just ignoring them is obviously much more challenging. Also notice how crystals are placed in the player’s path. It’s inevitable that just by making your way through the levels you’ll pick up some crystals along the way and thus won’t pick up others. This design sets us up to fall prey to our own completist compulsions. We got a few crystals, but not all of them; the job is half done; we’re responsible for collecting the rest. The crystals are therefore small invitations for the player to use the traversal mechanics in a more sophisticated manner.

Spoils (enemies, blocks, chests)

Every time an enemy is beaten, a block is crushed or a chest opened money will jump out. Just like the crystals, the player acts out their part of adding another potential step to the original interaction and compulsion sets in.

Secret Areas

Finding secret areas requires the player to be more observant whilst they play as well as understand the ways to use Wario’s mechanics to make certain interactions within the environment. Diamonds, music CDs and Purple Puzzle Pipe rooms reward the player’s extra work. Each level contains 2 Purple Puzzle Pipe rooms and a music CD, so player’s are given a structure which they can use to assist them in selecting or ignoring the additional challenges.

Purple Puzzle Pipes

Once the player finds a Purple Puzzle Pipe room they’re presented with an optional puzzle. The player is free to attempt or ignore the puzzles altogether. The puzzles test the players understanding of the game mechanics and core elements.

A Treasure Kitty (overall, stage)

All the wealth accumulated contributes to an overall kitty, while individual levels have their own stage kitty. The treasure kitty is basically a high score tally. On completing a level the kitty for the stage is showed and given a “crown” ranking before it is zapped away into the overall game kitty. The overall kitty then determines the player’s ending. The kitty system is a way of tying all of the rewards together in an easily understood numeric value. This high score system allows the player to see, through the crown rankings, which levels they’ve performed well at and which stages they could gain more kitty from.

Hearts in the kitty

At the end of the stage the number of hearts left also translates into coinage for the kitty. This motivates players to lose as few hearts as possible, grab additional heart pieces in the level and try to maintain full hearts for as long as they can.

Timing in the kitty

Similarly, the amount of time left after the fold translates into coinage encouraging the player to complete the post-fold sprint as quickly as possible. A timer is also used in boss battles where either 1-4 treasure chests are rewarded based on the player’s timed performance. And guess what? That treasure chest goes back into the overall kitty.

This puzzle room uses Skeleton Birds to extend the game idea of Zombie Wario and Skeleton Birds as aids and hinderances ideas found in the level itself. When the player enters the room, all of the pieces of the puzzle are onscreen: the diamond, the lock (row of blocks) and the key (glass ball). The problem is that the key is locked beneath a through platform. The Skeleton Birds are needed first off to help the player get through the platform concealing the green bird spawning the glass balls. After the player nabs a glass ball though, the Skeleton Birds become hazards as they can transform Wario into Zombie Wario which will make Wario drop the glass ball.

Notice how the Skeleton Birds are located where they can aid the player with the first step (being accessible from the upper area), while still being in prime position to later obstruct the player from charge throwing the glass ball? The ball is glass, so as to increase the failure of dropping the projectile. If the ball were just a rock, the player could pick it up from the same spot after transforming, or it could even fall into the water and be require the player leave and reenter to hard reset the puzzle.

After the player breaks the line of blocks they need to crouch jump their way to the diamond.

Crescent Moon Village #2

Similar to the secret room in Mystic Lake. The player needs to throw the prof above the wall so that he lands on the block and breaks it. While the player may not be aware that simply throwing an enemy onto a block can break it, in this arrangement it’s the only way that the player can create an interaction between all pieces. So even if the player doesn’t know what to do, a brute force approach can lead to the solution. From here the player can stand at the end of the platform and lure the Totsumen into the water. This last part draws attention to the counterpoint between the platform, Totsumen and the player, ie the charge attack and how it sends them off platforms and can be used to lure them into certain areas.

Arabian Night #1

Another puzzles based on deactivating platforms suspending enemies above water. The interesting thing about this room is how the player needs to wade through the enemies first.

Arabian Night #2

Like the room before it, this one is relatively simple. The prof is the key separated from the lock by a large wall. The player needs to throw the prof on top of the wall and smash attack the ground so that the prof bounces over to the other side. The blue platforms on either side of the raised area suggest that something could move across here. It’s a clue designed to persuade the player to move the prof by throwing him into the upper area. This layout brings out the technique of using a quake to displace enemies and projectiles.

Fiery Cavern #1

This puzzle makes use of height, Hammermen and the Bouncy Wario transformation. The purple switch is the lock and the Hammermen helps turn Wario into the key. The layout has the pipe and diamond on either side of a vertical chamber where the action takes place. Entering this chamber from a unit high entrance way the player can only begin the puzzle by flicking the green switch and falling down to the bottom of the chamber. The switch not only drops the floor it activates the floor at the bottom of the chamber and lets the Menhammer at the bottom come out from it’s cage. As Wario hits the bottom, the Menhammer will be primed to attack Wario and transform him. The player can then spring up to a secret switch at the top of the chamber. If the player hits the green block then the puzzle resets and if they choose to take the stairs after the transformation ends they return to the middle area with nothing to do. The player is locked into discovering the purple switch or otherwise they can’t progress, exploration is required to advance. This aspect of the puzzle gets the player to consider what the camera doesn’t show them as opposed to assuming nothing or a ceiling present where they can’t see. With the purple block cleared the player can reset the puzzle by slamming into the green block and nab the diamond. If the player misses the purple switch they’ll fly back up under the floor and then fall all the way back down landing on the other side.

Fiery Cavern #2

This puzzle consists of a series of small steps using the prof, each area you charge throw the prof into, you subsequently visit yourself. In this regard the player always knows where to go and thus the puzzle flows quite nicely. In the outer edge the player needs to clear a row of blocks, move through and then use the prof to activate a switch which will open up a bridge. In the inner area, you can throw the prof back out to a switch in the outer area and open the gate holding the diamond. The second switch has a line of blocks in front of it because if it didn’t the player could just crouch jump in and collect the diamond. Also, the second blue platform just under the pipe is one unit off from lining up with the initial switch, another safeguard. The bursts of lava play into the level’s game idea.

Hotel Horror #1

This room introduces new special pads which warp the player back to the centre of the room. In this room there are 2 diamonds, one above and one below the centre area. To the left and right of the centre area are platforms leading to either a Menhammer or a Ringosuki. Both the left and right sides are surrounded by these transporting pads. To solve the puzzle all the player needs to do is transform, step in a pad and then use their special transformation ability to reach the upper or lower diamond. The pads are only used in this room and the puzzle itself doesn’t use them to great effect. It’s a bit like the Hotel Horror level in general, a bit of a throwaway.

Hotel Horror #2

In this room the player needs to use the Yukiotoko’s breath to slide into the Harimenzetto. The player can do this by standing next to the Yukiotoko, jumping to catch it’s breath or transporting it to the area down below. The player could even use the height of the area with the Yukiotoko to do a heightened smash attack and then run over to the left hand side to individually take them all out. The green through platforms are located so as to facilitate a timing element. The player needs to wait until the Yukiotoko is to their right before they can jump up and be transformed, otherwise they’ll slide off to the left.

This puzzle is all about associating matching game elements. If the player notices the thick block in the left wall, then from this clue they can visualise the solution. To break the block, the player needs a straight path to run across. By activating and deactiving the switches in rapid succession the blocks can fall and land on the platform below to create a path to break the thick block. The arrangement (gaps between blocks, line of crystals) draws the player’s attention to the way Wario can run across small gaps without falling through.

Toy Block Tower #2

This room is another step by step puzzle. The red circle is the key and height is the lock. The goal is to get the red circle down into the area near the diamond to cut the height difference and jump to nab the diamond. Going left and tampering around won’t do much as the player doesn’t have the leeway to break the thick blocks. First the player needs to push the red block down to the area below, leverage the block for a heightened smash attack to break the thick block on the left. With the space opened up the player can Dash Attack the thick block on the right which in turn opens up room for the player to push the red circle through. Each action facilitates the next which makes the gameplay in this room flow nicely.

Big Board #1

This puzzle requires the player to change the environment in order to facilitate a path to the goal which is locked by a floor of spikes. To do this the player needs use the glass balls to charge throw and break the lines of small blocks which will release the Toy Cars. The player can then use the Toy Cars as a bridge and stomp jump on them to reach the heart refill. The first part of this puzzle requires puzzle solving skills while the second is focused on execution.

This puzzle is quite an easy one as all elements are in close proximity and the player should already be associating projectiles (of any kind) with lines of horizontal blocks. With everything readily accessible to the player, it should be easy to piece two and two together.

Like some other puzzle rooms, this room is not designed to challenge the player so much as subtly introduce them to some of the nuances of the game. After finishing this room, here is what the player learns.

• Enemies, or at least Toy Cars, can walk on spikes
• Glass balls can hit blocks and not smash
• The stomp jump has greater height than a regular jump

Big Board #2

This second puzzle room in Big Board is unique as it’s the only one in the entire game situated after the fold. What this means is that unlike every other puzzle room, there’s a timer hanging over the player as they solve the puzzle. The time constraint influences the design of the puzzle room. For example: the puzzle is simple, relies on execution instead of puzzle solving and can be completed in few moves.

The player only needs to smash attack the ground to send the prof bouncing out from the spiked area. From here it’s just a matter of tossing the prof so that he lands on the switch. The blocks act as a guide for the player to model their trajectory on.

The prof is layered behind the spikes. Entering the room the player can see this much. When throwing the prof, he lands on a back layer instead of hitting the spikes verifying our observation. Thus the player learns that spike balls are on separate layers to other enemies.

Doodle Woods #1

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This room uses the roll mechanic to test the player’s reaction skills. Exiting the room from the left will see the player enter again from the right hand side. The player starts off at the top and must deactivate the switches to remove the bridges so that they can reach the bottom floor where the diamond is locked away. The player begins on the slope and rolls their way down, jumping to deactivate switches as they go. As rolling is faster than walking, the player’s ability to react quickly is central to this design. This aspect is emphasised as the switch is placed after the player reenters the room, isolating the action. The result of their action, whether or not they hit the switch, is then immediately displayed as the bridge of switch blocks will either disappear letting the player move down to the next area or stay still and loop back around for another shot. After the player gets the diamond, the puzzle room folds and the player must repeat the procedure, but this time activating all of the deactive platforms so as to head back up again.

The passage preceding the upper slope is used to catch players trying to crouch their way through the puzzle. The dip just before each bridge reinforces that the player needs to travel downwards.

Doodle Woods #2

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This room plays around with the camera and concealing to facilitate short term memory puzzles. The room has 3 individual puzzles built on the same design. The player starts off on a green platform. When they are on the left of that platform the camera does not advance forwards so as to centre Wario as it normally would. Instead, the player can walk right to the edge of the screen. When the player walks to the right of the green platform, the camera automatically pans to the right, positioning Wario to the left. In this view a series of blue platforms raised above spikes are revealed. The camera needs to be directed as otherwise the player wouldn’t be able to see all the platforms at the same time. As the player jumps to the first platform a wall of blocks appear on a top layer that cover the platforms.

This facilitates a sort of “look, cover, write, check” style of play. The player stands on the green platform, looks at the arrangement of platforms and tries to remember their position, the game covers the platforms, the player jumps from platform to platform (write) and the player then moves on to the next exercise. If the player forgets where a platform is located and misses the jump, they land on the spikes and can try again. Like “look, cover, write, check” this puzzle room tests short term memory skills. After the 3 puzzles, the player can roll right under the puzzles to return back to the start.

The covering of the platforms has holes so that the player can still judge their jumps. Also notice how the crystals are arranged in a straight line? They’re indiscriminately placed so that the player can’t cheat and rely on them to cheat the process.

Domino Row #1

This room is designed to teach above anything else. Some Harimen and Harimenzetto are suspended above a channel of water by blocks. The player can use the prof as a projectile to break the row of blocks and drop the enemies into the water where they’ll perish and drop coins for the player. These coins will funnel down into the lower area along with the prof. The layout demonstrates through interaction how land enemies perish when they touch water. The spikes on their own separate layer aspect is also reinforced.

Domino Row #2

Similar to the prior puzzle room, this one is designed to inform the player of Wario’s large hit box and fall back. The switches in the walls activate the platforms which help Wario up to the top where the diamond is located. Not all the platforms are long enough to support the Dash Attack, so the regular Attack is preferred. The idea is that the player attacks the switches and lands back on the platform just activated, elevating him up the floors.

The player won’t necessarily have the height to hit the switches dead-on, but will in any case thanks to Wario’s tall hit box. Also, after attacking Wario will fall back onto the platform, brining attention to the fact that he bounces back roughly one block after hitting something.

This room is a good example of a simple arrangement broken into 2 steps. The prof needs to be taken upstairs and charge thrown at the switch which activates a platform Wario can roll across in ball-form to access the diamond. The switch is used to add another step to the process of rolling down the hill. The only thing that the player needs to be cautious of is how to approach the prof. In order to avoid knocking the prof into the water, the player should wait for him to walk to the right and knock from the right so he bounces up the slope. Players don’t know that there’s a pool of water just to the prof’s left so it’s easy for them to move towards the prof and then accidentally bump him into the water. Also, some players may see the slope and slide without prior investigation. The limited length of the edge creates the aforementioned dilemmas and thus facilitates careful, methodical play.

The Curious Factory #2

If the first puzzle was a simple arrangement broken into 2 steps, than this second puzzle room is a more sophisticated arrangement of 4 steps, being:

1. Avoid the presser and charge throw the rock into the gap
2. Get squashed and float down into the lower gap
3. Transform back, nab the rock and charge throw it to break a path to the diamond
4. Go back around, float down into the first gap to the second to get the diamond

If the player fails steps 2 and 3 then they can try again, but steps 1 and 2, where failing means losing the rock to a pool of water, requires the player to leave and re-enter the room.

Step 1 is a test of timing and speedy execution. When the presser hits the ground, it will cause a quake that makes Wario bounce on the spot, the rock bounce around haphazardly and, if Wario is holding the rock, the rock to fall out of his hands and bounce around. Therefore it’s easy for the rock to bounce down into the water and force the player to hard reset the puzzle. In order to avoid the effects of the quakes the player needs to act within the limited window of time that the presser is preparing for its next quake. The animation of the presser acts a visual timer the player can read.

Step 2 is all about the nuances of the swinging fall of Flat Wario. The role of the presser changes from an obstruction to an assistant as it helps Wario transform into Flat Wario. To reach the opposite ledge, the player only needs to walk off the edge as Flat Wario and float freely across. Pressing right while floating, which is likely what players would assume they’d have to do, sends the player floating in to early. This aspect of the arrangement subtly demonstrates to the player the way directional inputs affect the swing of the float.

Step 3 may appear relatively simple as all the player has to do is move the rock down to the bottom right area, however with the presser still smashing against the ground and causing tremors it’s not. Where the rock lands keeps it safe from falling into the water before the player has even arrived. After that though the player needs to repeat step one. This time though they can only rely on the timing of the quakes to guide them and not on the animation of the presser. The pool of water which can kill your progress is ironically the same one you needed to transfer back to Wario. Again, we see the reversal of roles in regards to game elements.

The open area in the bottom right of the room under the second platform is where transporting the rock becomes dangerous. If the rock bounces out of the player’s hand from the first platform, the second one down acts as a safety net catching the rock. The third platform is where the player needs to throw from, but anywhere on or under the second platform is dangerous. Not realising how dangerous the lower area can be, the player can easily mess up the puzzle. The arrangement teaches the player to not just be cautious, but to see the world in safe and unsafe areas.

Step 4 is the same as step 2, but it must be repeated twice.

Another tactic in this room is to jump just before a tremor begins so that Wario is in the air and thus unaffected by the tremor when it hits. This tactic isn’t always so easy to pull off when the ceilings in the room are quite low, but it’s still a viable option

The Toxic Landfill #1

In this room there is a series of raised platforms which lead to a diamond at the top with each platform activated by one of 2 switch types. The switch that activates the next platform up is implanted in either the left or right wall. So the player needs to nab a rock from below and charge throw it at the wall on their current platform to create access to the next subsequent platform. This in turn deactivates the platform below the player. After the player throws a rock at a switch, the rock falls down into one of two pools. Meaning that to to activate a switch you must discard a rock. This creates a dilemma where the player can only travel up as many platforms as rocks they have to activate switches. As each leg up loses a rock the player needs to move all of the 4 rocks lying on the ground up with them, discarding a rock with each activation. Spikes are used to prevent the player from simply attacking the blocks to activate them. This room teaches the player to value the stock they can carry with them.

The Toxic Landfill #2

There’s really very little to this room. The player can transform into Fat Wario and beat the Harimenzetto for coins as opposed to a diamond. When the player enters the room they can see the Harimenzetto walking in a pack below the block platform, so they’re obviously going to stay away from the bottom floor. The only logical conclusion is to walk forward in which case the player is presented with a Ringosukī. From here it’s just a bind where nothing will happen until the player becomes Fat Wario and falls/jumps, in which case the Harimenzetto will turn over and Wario can attack or Fat Wario can walk into them.

The construction puts the player in a situation where the game is at a standstill until the player interacts. So, the arrangement facilitates the player learning about how Harimenzetto can only be turned over (and thus beaten) with a hard quake from a raised smash attack or a Fat Wario jump. The great thing about this example is that the room is apt for players “stumbling upon” the answer; walking forward to explore, accidentally turning into Fat Wario, jumping to escape and witnessing the effect.

40 Below Fridge #1

This is a really elegant example of tuition. The diamond is protected by 2 layers of switch platforms and the switches to deactive these barriers are on the other side of a wall. The green bird spits out glass balls that have the identical properties to rocks with the exception that they smash and break when hitting something. The player needs to throw the ball so that it lands between the 2 switches and deactivates them both. The player can’t throw the ball to hit the pink, furthermost switch, only the nearer green one or both at once. Switching the green switch only removes one barrier, so the only way the player can get the diamond is to hit the two at once. This requires repeated attempts. With each attempt the player can modify their position relative to the switches and the trajectory of the throw. As such careful throwing is required, the player is tested solely on how they can determine where to stand and how to throw. Anyone can figure out that you need to hit the two switches at once, but determining where and how to throw is the real puzzle at hand. This puzzle may appear execution-based, but determining the relative position and trajectory make it more of a puzzle game. As the player will likely toss multiple projectiles over the barrier onto the switches, the bird reduces clutter.

40 Below Fridge #2

Another elegant piece of tutorial. Getting the diamond obviously requires the player to move in horizontally. Then there’s the fact that the entrance way to the diamond is guarded by spikes, making it impossible to reach. So the player needs continual horizontal movement and invulnerability and this is what the Yukiotoko on the ground offers. Having played some of 40 Below Fridge already, the player will be familiar somewhat with the Yukiotoko and its ice breath that transforms Wario into Frozen Wario. The arrangement teaches the player about the 2 points mentioned above: invulnerability as Frozen Wario and continual horizontal movement.

Key to the arrangement is the fact that as Frozen Wario the player glides from the top of the 2^nd blue platform down into the area with the diamond. This part of the layout demonstrates how as Frozen Wario, Wario will fall, but continue to move horizontally until he hits a wall. So, overall this room teaches the player 3 of the properties of the Frozen Wario transformation.

The platforms are raised above the ground because when carrying the heavy Yukiotoko Wario can only half jump. The platforms are in this way their own separate challenge.

Pinball Zone #1

This room skews more towards the execution side of the scales as opposed to the puzzle-solving side as a test of reaction time. The stone big head spits out fire that activates the Flaming Wario transformation. Flaming Wario is the key and the lock is the fire block sealing off the diamond. As Flaming Wario, Wario is set to automatically run until an unknown time limit expires or he touches walls 3 times. The player needs to ascend the stairs, activating the switches as he goes, in order to reach the fire block in time. The time limit doesn’t allow for mistakes.

The extended horizontal distance of the platforms creates an interval before the player needs to hop up to the platform and hit the switches. The player also needs to be weary of the direction they’re facing when they transform as running away from the first platform will chew up valuable time.

Pinball Zone #2

Entering this room a small block covering a tunnel can be seen and acts to kick start the puzzle. The prof can be found just below and used to break the block. Passing through the second area gives the player a false suggestion as to how to solve the puzzle.

Having just used the charge throw, the action is still in the players mind, so it’s more likely that they’ll think of using this tool to solve the puzzle. Secondly, the two blocks blocking access to the heart refill in the centre suggest that a charge throw is necessary because in the past the charge throw mechanic is often used to clear more than one block at a time. Under this guise, the through platforms on the right lines up with the blocks and appear to be the most logical point to throw from. Yet the barrier is made of solid rock.

Falling and tossing the prof as you fall is the solution. Doing so breaks the first block, from there the player can break the second and head back through to the exit. This room reviews what has been covered in prior rooms, albeit underwater: you can toss a projectile at a block to break it.

Pinball Zone #3

For some reason Pinball Zone has an extra puzzle room in the game. It’s the only level in Wario Land 4 to have 4 puzzle rooms. One can only assume that the developers designed one too many rooms.

Another tutorial-based puzzle which puts the player in a dead lock where learning is the only escape. The player needs to jump out of the water to grab the Ringosuki’s apple which then transforms Wario so that he falls and smash attacks the switch and unleashes the Harimen. The arrangement draws our attention to the way Fat Wario can be used above ground to break objects underwater before transforming back to Wario. This technique is later present in Toxic Landfill.

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For each level in Wario Land 4 there are 2 hidden puzzle rooms containing some sort of bonus, usually a diamond. I’ve called these rooms Purple Pipe Puzzle Rooms because the pipes are coloured purple and the arrangements of game elements test the player’s knowledge skills regarding the properties of the game system. Thus the arrangements are puzzles.

The puzzles are lock and key-based. Quite often Dr. Arewo Stein, a strange professor exploring the pyramid, is the key and obstructions like blocks are the locks. The doctor has all the properties of a typical projectile, but with some off-the-wall flair the series is known for. Most puzzles task the player with manoeuvring the good doctor around the environment to the key hole. If the prof isn’t present then either he’s not needed or a substitute projectile with properties pertinent to the puzzle is present instead (like a glass ball).

Although these levels are puzzle rooms, Wario Land 4 is still a platforming game and the puzzle solving still operates through the action mechanics of Wario. What this means is that there is still an element of execution. For most rooms, once the player figures out the puzzle, implementing the answer is pretty easy. In other rooms though, execution plays a larger part, changing the focus away from tests of knowledge to test of reflex and reaction. Different rooms give different weighting to either execution or puzzle solving. Most lean to the latter, but it all depends heavily on the respective mechanics and the arrangements in play.

By virtue of the puzzle rooms using the game elements and mechanics to create puzzles (tests of knowledge), the puzzles facilitate self realisation/education about various aspects of the game elements and mechanics. Some rooms appear more openly designed to teach by putting the player in a situation where the only way to interact is to then learn something about the game, while others are a bit more subtle.

It is possible to bungle a puzzle. For example, throwing a rock into the water or attacking the enemy you need to help you transform. In these situations the player can do a hard reset of the puzzle room by exiting and reentering the room. Core game elements will be reset with the exception of broken blocks.

Aside from one exception, all the puzzle rooms in the game are present after the fold. This means that the player doesn’t need to worry over a timer. The inclusion of a timer would only encourage the player to brute force their way to a solution and this would lead to greater stress on the game’s mechanics.

Emerald Passage

Palm Tree Paradise #1

Starting off simple, this room is a test of the upwards throw. Players are likely aware that hitting a block from underneath will set it off. After all, Super Mario Bros. has conditioned us to think in this way. As Wario cannot jump to reach the block, he must use the professor as a projectile. The player has the freedom to charge throw or jump and throw.

Palm Tree Paradise #2

The second room is quite a step up from the first, but granted what the player needs to do to access the puzzle room (transforming into Fat Wario and using his weight to break a concealed area), the increased challenge is understandable. The first room is an easily accessible confidence boost for beginning players, the second is the real deal.

To solve the puzzle the player needs to 1) charge throw the professor into the blocks to his right so that he can fall down to the area below 2) run back down and catch him before he falls in the water 3) charge throw him to break the line of blocks filling the entrance to the diamond 4) crouch fall into the gap.

This puzzle requires a knowledge of the relationship between water and projectiles (if the prof falls into the water, he’s pretty useless), a knowledge of how charge throwing can break lines of blocks, knowledge of crouching and the advanced technique of crouching, falling and moving to enter small crevices and the ability to execute on the aforementioned knowledge.

The blue platforms under the prof act to prevent the player accidentally knocking him into the water. The channel that he falls down is designed in conjunction with the platform directly next to the pipe so as to give the player a small window of time to reach the prof before he lands in the drink.

Wildflower Fields #1

The player needs to jump and toss the prof over the walls, down to the area below where he can be used as a means to stomp jump on up to the platform next to the diamond. The first enclosed area makes it easy for the player to realise the solution as the only discrepancy in the environment is the upper right gap. Also, it’s easy for the player to bump into the prof in the first part next to the pipe as the distance between the prof and Wario is so short. The prof will then flip over, already prepping the player for the first step of the puzzle. With the prof flipped over and a gap in the wall which the prof can fit through, the arrangement sets the scene for the player’s interaction.

Wildflower Fields #2

The charge throw is used once again to transport the professor to the lock. The player needs to charge throw the prof up to hit the switches that then creates a floor beneath him. At the very end the player needs to use the prof to remove the block covering the entrance to the diamond.

The layout of this room is quite interesting. The switches are positioned to the right of one another so that the player must throw to the right when throwing at the pink switch. After the prof hits the switch he’ll continue bouncing to the right. On the top most platform of pink switches the prof will end between the switch and the ladder. This creates a small dilemma as the player doesn’t have the space to cleanly jump on the prof and send him on his head without him either falling to the left of the switch or the the right where he can easily fall back below. Landing to the left is an inconvenience to the player as the low ceiling prevents the player from carrying the prof up and around to the top of the pink switch. Falling back below has the consequence of having to unflick the switch and repeat the last step of the puzzle. The arrangement puts the player in a position that is more difficult to manage than it otherwise might seem. The player needs to be careful how they knock the prof over in this tight space as it can mean restarting the puzzle. One approach would be to move the prof to the left of the switch and then knock him so that he ends up just to the right of the switch where he can be picked up easily.

Mystic Lake #1

You enter next to the prof on one side a pool of water. There’s an area on the other side. The diamond is at the bottom of the pool. There’s another layer on top though with a breakable block acting as an access point to the diamond.

Initially it can be a bit confusing as to what you should actually do, but the snorkels worn by the prof act as a clue. The trick is to toss the prof into the pool of water so he lands on the block underwater and breaks it. This puzzle has a simple solution with the only real barrier in the player’s path being the logic of a slow moving object underwater being able to smash a block. Obviously it’s unrealistic, but that’s besides the point. The puzzle has no other possible solution and thus teaches first and foremost.

Mystic Lake #2

This puzzle room is similar to the prior room with the main difference being that the pool is taller and a switch replaces the block. The switch activates a platform while deactivating another one. In order to reach the diamond the player needs to utilise one platform to get to the other. Since they can’t use both platforms at the same time, the player needs to deduce a way around it.

The prof is located right next to a pool of water. The player will notice that at the bottom of the water tank is the switch. Building off the prior puzzle room, throwing the prof into the water will send him to the bottom where he can hit the switch. Because of the height of the water tank and the prof takes time to sink to the bottom, the player has a window of time to run down to the bottom and use one platform to access the ladder before the prof hits the switch and the next platform up is activated.

This arrangement is subtle in it’s education. In fact, the player probably won’t even realised what they’ve learnt. Here’s a list:

• things continue what they are doing even when they’re off screen
• projectiles which hit items break or activate them
• a switch can activate some platforms while deactivating others (give and take)

Monsoon Jungle #1

This time there is no professor. In this room the switch releases the rock suspended above water. The distance between the switch and the rock is the central part of the puzzle. The player needs to figure out how to release the block and grab it before it falls into the water. There’s no way to interrupt this arrangement, so the only mechanic which gives Wario the fast, continuous speed he needs to reach the block is the Dash Attack. The player needs to Dash Attack, hit the switch and then knock the falling rock.

The reason why the corridor is longer than the distance necessary to charge a Dash Attack is to emphasise the horizontal length and thereby encourage the player that they need to 1) use the Dash Attack 2) charge the Dash Attack before they hit the switch. Without a charged Dash Attack, jumping is a normal jump. Because of the low ceiling and the higher upward curve of a regular jump (as opposed to a lower arc of the Dash Attack jump), jumping (regular) means that Wario will touch the ceiling earlier than he would with the Dash Attack jump and thus the ceiling would impede on the horizontal distance of the jump. On the other hand, the Dash Attack jump has a longer, lower jumping arc, so the player can travel further horizontally before they touch the ceiling. In fact, it’s even hard to tell whether the ceiling affects a charged dash attack. Assuming it does, the Dash Attack jump rises slower and over a longer distance, meaning that the player can travel further horizontally in the same time as they could compared to a jump. This minor difference in distance determines whether or not the player can reach the rock. Thus the ceiling is low and the corridor long.

Monsoon Jungle #2

Again, no prof. The key is the Bow Balloon’s arrow. The lock is the height that the diamond is above the ground. The long corridor separates the key from the lock. The only way to get the diamond is to follow the Bow Balloon’s arrow from the left side of the room to the right. That is suspension, or in other words the fact that other actions continue until finished even if the player can’t see them at times, apparent to the player. The speed of the arrow is equally as fast as Wario’s walking speed too.

The ceiling is low and the corridor long to stress this idea while also ensuring that the player gets it all right. The pool of water and lower ceiling traps prevents the player from literally transporting the Bow Balloon who generates the keys.