Wario: Master of Disguise

Last updated
Wario: Master of Disguise
Wariods.jpg
European cover art
Developer(s) Suzak
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Yutaka Hirata
Azusa Tajima
Akira Kinashi
Producer(s) Masahiro Yonezawa
Hitoshi Yamagami
Writer(s) Saiko Takahori
Daisuke Ike
Composer(s) Kenji Hikita
Series Wario
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: January 18, 2007
  • NA: March 5, 2007
  • AU: May 17, 2007 [1]
  • EU: June 1, 2007
Genre(s) Platforming, Metroidvania [2]
Mode(s) Single-player

Wario: Master of Disguise [lower-alpha 1] is a platform game developed by Suzak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The game was released on January 18, 2007 in Japan, and on March 5 in North America. [3] Its Japanese title, Phantom Thief Wario the Seven, refers to the fact that he has seven "forms" (other than his normal "Thief" form). The game was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in PAL regions and Japan in 2015 and North America in 2016.

Contents

Gameplay

Wario: Master of Disguise has the player access new areas of the map after unlocking new items and abilities, similar to a metroidvania. [4] The player maneuvers Wario with either the directional pad or the A, B, X and Y buttons. All other actions are controlled by the touch-screen. To advance through levels, the player is required to take advantage of various different forms of Wario. Like Wario Land 4 , Wario: Master of Disguise features health as opposed to the invulnerability found in Wario Land II and 3 .

Plot

This game starts out with Wario sitting back in house, watching his television. As he flips through the channels, he comes upon a show about a thief, Silver Zephyr, who can wield various disguises. Jealous of this character, Wario quickly creates the Telmet, a helmet that allows him to enter the TV show. He steals the thief's disguise changing wand, Goodstyle, and starts looting the ocean liner that the Silver Zephyr had been about to clear out. The Silver Zephyr, now known as his regular identity, Count Cannoli, gives chase, and eventually catches up with Wario, only to be defeated. He attempts to make a deal with Wario, in an attempt to retrieve Goodstyle, but then breaks the pact when he discovers that a piece of the Wishstone, an ancient tablet that supposedly grants wishes, is being carried by the ship. Wario gets to it first, and decides to track down the rest of the five pieces. Later in some ice caves, he meets a third thief named Carpaccio who is also seeking the Wishstone.

Before entering a volcano, Wario meets a girl named Tiaramisu who really is a demon named Terrormisu sealed inside the Wishstone, but she acts like an ally at first, even helping Wario defeat a boss. In the final episode, Wario finds out about her real nature and defeats her with help from Cannoli and Carpaccio. Finally, Wario finds out that Goodstyle is actually the first of all the count Cannolis. Goodstyle grants Wario's wish for all the treasures the Cannoli clan have. But when he leaves the show, Wario does not find the money and treasures because the Telmet only teleported him out. Wario then resolves to re-enter the television to get them back. What happens afterward is never revealed.

Reception

Wario: Master of Disguise has received mixed responses among critics. GameSpot reviewer opined that while it is a passable puzzler, it lacks polish, and the touch screen controls were not very necessary, and thus gave it a 6.1. [16]

According to Craig Harris of IGN, the game has an "uncomfortably strange" story and plays more like a third-party game rather than a first-party due to "its clunky and inconsistent gameplay but also in its inconsistent visual style." However he praised the levels saying they have "some creative moments that add a bit of challenge and variety" though criticised the minigames, saying they were "terribly uncreative." [17]

Mathew Kumar of Eurogamer, gave the game a 4/10, criticising the controls for being "unsuitable" for the level design as well as the prominent use of touch screen. He also criticised the pacing and dialogue of the game observing, "the plot drags on for an interminable amount of time during levels, with characters waffling on (and on) about their motivation, or making very weak fart jokes. Even Wario's stolen wand won't shut up! You can, at least, skip the majority of these scenes, but as in some cases you require information from them to solve puzzles, you really do have to sit through them." and concluded, "Despite some obvious effort, Wario: Master of Disguise is just utterly tedious in every respect and an absolute chore to play." [18]

Jon Wahlgren, of Nintendo Life gave a negative review on the game giving it a 3/10 rating ridiculed its visuals saying it is "a fairly ugly game and lacks much of the charm of the Wario Land series. Wario himself and his various guises are appealing enough, but the environments are generic, bland and just plain boring to look at." claiming, "The whole production just feels cheap and makes you wonder how in the world this game was published by Nintendo." and concluded "Master of Disguise is a victim of focusing too heavily on the DS's feature set. It tries too hard to be a touchscreen showpiece and in the meantime forgets to make the platforming fun. What we're left with feels like a half-baked minigame collection with an underwhelming game taped to it, all marred terribly by poor controls." [19]

The Official Nintendo Magazine gave a score of 68%, stating it had "Inaccurate touch-screen controls, repetitive mini-games and endless cut-scenes hamper otherwise enjoyable disguise-switching antics." and that it was a game for hardcore Wario fans only. [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Phantom Thief Wario the Seven (怪盗ワリオ・ザ・セブン, Kaitō Wario the Seven)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wario</span> Video game character

Wario is a character in Nintendo's Mario video game series that was designed as an arch-rival to Mario. Wario first appeared as the main antagonist and final boss in the 1992 Game Boy game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. His name is a portmanteau of the name Mario and the Japanese word warui, meaning "bad". Hiroji Kiyotake designed Wario and Charles Martinet voiced the character from 1993 to 2023, as well as other characters in the series, including Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi.

<i>Super Mario 64 DS</i> 2004 video game

Super Mario 64 DS is a 2004 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was a launch game for the DS. Super Mario 64 DS is a remake of the 1996 Nintendo 64 game Super Mario 64, with new graphics, characters, collectibles, a multiplayer mode, and several extra minigames. As with the original, the plot centers on rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser. Unlike the original, Yoshi is the first playable character, with Mario, Luigi, and Wario being unlockable characters in early phases of the game.

<i>WarioWare: Touched!</i> 2004 video game

WarioWare: Touched! is a minigame compilation party video game released by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The fourth installment of the WarioWare series, and the first of three on the Nintendo DS, the game involves rapidly completing "microgames" — simple minigames lasting extremely short periods of time — as quickly as possible. The microgames are exclusively controlled with the Nintendo DS's touchscreen and microphone.

<i>Nintendogs</i> 2005 real-time pet simulation video game

Nintendogs is a real-time pet simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was released in Japan, and was later released in: North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and other regions. It was originally released in three different versions: Dachshund & Friends, Lab & Friends and Chihuahua & Friends. It has been re-released twice, first as a bundled release with a special edition Nintendo DS with a new version called Nintendogs: Best Friends and later as Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends.

<i>Trauma Center: Under the Knife</i> 2005 video game

Trauma Center: Under the Knife is a simulation video game developed by Atlus for the Nintendo DS. The debut entry in the Trauma Center series, it was published in Japan and North America by Atlus in 2005, and by Nintendo in Europe in 2006. Set in a near future where medical science can cure previously incurable diseases, the world's population panics when a new manmade disease called GUILT begins to spread. Doctor Derek Stiles, a surgeon possessing a mystical "Healing Touch", works with the medical group Caduceus to find a cure to GUILT. The gameplay combines surgery-based simulation relying on the DS's touchscreen controls with a story told as a visual novel.

<i>Tetris DS</i> 2006 video game

Tetris DS is a puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Nintendo DS on March 20, 2006, in North America, April 13, 2006, in Australia, April 21, 2006, in Europe, and April 27, 2006, in Japan. An installment of the Tetris franchise, the game supports up to ten players locally, and supported online multiplayer of up to four players using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection prior to its discontinuation.

<i>Crash Boom Bang!</i> 2006 video game

Crash Boom Bang!, known in Japan as Crash Bandicoot Festival, is a party video game developed by Dimps and published by Vivendi Universal Games for the Nintendo DS. It was released in Japan in July 2006, North America and Europe in October 2006 and Australia in November 2006; the international releases were published under the Sierra Entertainment brand.

<i>Yoshis Island DS</i> 2006 video game

Yoshi's Island DS, known in Japan as Yoshi Island DS, is a 2006 platform game developed by Artoon and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was released in North America and Australia in November 2006, in Europe in December 2006, and in Japan in March 2007. It is a sequel to the 1995 SNES game, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Announced at Nintendo's E3 press conference in May 2006, the game was well received by critics, scoring an average of 81% on Metacritic's aggregate. The game was originally to be titled Yoshi's Island 2, though its name was changed one month before its North American release. In April and May 2015, the game was made available for the Wii U via the Virtual Console service, shortly after a Nintendo Direct presentation.

<i>WarioWare: Smooth Moves</i> 2006 video game

WarioWare: Smooth Moves is a party video game developed by Nintendo SPD and Intelligent Systems. The game was published by Nintendo for its Wii video game system in Japan in December 2006, and in Europe, North America, and Australia in January 2007. It is the fifth game in the WarioWare series of games, and the only game in the series to be physically released for the Wii. Like its predecessors, WarioWare: Smooth Moves is built around a collection of microgames that last about five seconds each, and which require that the player hold the Wii Remote in specific positions. The game offers the microgames to the player in rapid succession, by first instructing the player to hold the Wii Remote in a specific manner, and then showing them the microgame. The microgames are divided into several stages, each of which loosely connects the microgames with the help of a story. Additionally, this was the first spin-off Mario game to be released for the console.

<i>Rafa Nadal Tennis</i> 2007 video game

Rafa Nadal Tennis is a sports video game, developed by Virtual Toys and published by Codemasters. It was released for the Nintendo DS on June 30, 2007. The game features tennis athlete Rafael Nadal on the cover and primarily focuses on the sport of tennis.

<i>Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare</i> (Nintendo DS) 2007 video game

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter video game in the Call of Duty franchise, developed specifically for the Nintendo DS. It was released by Activision in November 2007. The game features many elements of gameplay typical to the series, including vehicular missions and the usage of iron sights.

<i>Wario</i> (series) Video game series

Wario is a video game series, a spin-off of the Mario franchise. It comprises various video games created by Nintendo, starring the character Wario. The series began with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, the first game to feature Wario as a playable character. The Wario series includes mostly platforming video games and minigame compilations, but also includes other genres.

<i>Rhythm Heaven</i> 2008 rhythm video game

Rhythm Heaven, Known as Rhythm Tengoku Gold in Japan, Rhythm Paradise in Europe, and Rhythm World in Korea, is a rhythm video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the second game in the Rhythm Heaven series and the first one released worldwide, following the Japan-only Game Boy Advance title Rhythm Tengoku, and was succeeded by Rhythm Heaven Fever for the Wii and Rhythm Heaven Megamix for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was released in Japan on July 31, 2008, in North America on April 5, 2009, in Europe on May 1, 2009, and in Australia on June 4, 2009.

<i>WarioWare D.I.Y.</i> 2009 video game

WarioWare D.I.Y., known as WarioWare: Do It Yourself in the PAL region, is a minigame compilation and game creation system by Nintendo SPD and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the seventh title in the WarioWare series and the last to be developed for the Nintendo DS family of systems. Formally revealed at Nintendo's conference in October 2008, the game was released in Japan on April 29, 2009. It was released in 2010 in North America, Europe, and Australia respectively and was accompanied by a separate WiiWare title, WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase.

<i>WarioWare: Snapped!</i> 2008 video game

WarioWare: Snapped! is a minigame compilation party video game developed by Nintendo SPD Group No.1 and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare digital distribution service, and is part of the WarioWare series of video games. It is the sixth game in the series.

<i>Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games</i> 2009 video game

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is a 2009 sports and party game developed by Sega. Like its predecessor, it was published by Nintendo for Japan and Korea and by Sega in the Western world. The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through exclusive license International Sports Multimedia. The game is the third official crossover title to feature characters from both Mario and Sonic's respective universes, the first and second being the game's predecessor Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Super Smash Bros. Brawl respectively. It was released on the Wii and the Nintendo DS in October 2009, and is the first official video game of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

<i>Guitar Hero: On Tour</i> 2008 video game series

Guitar Hero: On Tour is a series of music video games based on the Guitar Hero series for the Nintendo DS handheld game system. The series is developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. Three games in the series have been released since June 2008: Guitar Hero: On Tour, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, and Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits.

<i>Game & Wario</i> 2013 video game

Game & Wario is a 2013 party video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published for the Wii U console, named after LCD Game & Watch titles. It is the eighth installment in the WarioWare series and part of the larger Mario franchise. The story stars Wario and his friends, who take advantage of a newly released video game console with two separate screens by making games for monetary gain. Game & Wario consists of 16 minigames that exclusively utilize the Wii U GamePad and its functions. Additional modes and collectibles are also unlockable. The majority of the minigames are single-player, although some are designed for multiplayer only.

<i>WarioWare Gold</i> 2018 video game

WarioWare Gold is a minigame compilation developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS family of video game consoles. The ninth installment in the WarioWare series, it was released in PAL regions in July 2018, and in North America and Japan the following month. The game's plot follows the greedy Wario who has organized a gaming tournament for a large cash prize, with the ultimate goal of claiming the money for himself. Meanwhile, various other WarioWare characters deal with other problems which play out in the form of short stories.

References

  1. ↑ Archived May 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Tay, Kelvin (July 2, 2007). "Wario: Master of Disguise". Thunderbolt Games. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016. [I]f you are familiar with the 2D Metroid and modern Castlevania games, MOD essentially takes a leaf out of their books.
  3. ↑ "New Releasedates for North America | Nintendo-x2.com". Ds-x2.com. 2006-11-17. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
  4. ↑ MacReady, Melody (2021-09-27). "10 Best Wario Games, Ranked". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 2023-01-02. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  5. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise reviews". GameRankings. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise 1UP Review". Archived from the original on 2010-01-05.
  8. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise Eurogamer Review". Eurogamer.net. 14 March 2007. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "Wario Master of Disguise". Game Informer . Archived from the original on 2007-10-30.
  10. ↑ Provo, Frank (2007-03-05). "Wario: Master of Disguise for DS Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
  11. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise Gametrailers Review". Archived from the original on 2009-01-05.
  12. ↑ "IGN: Wario: Master of Disguise Review". Ds.ign.com. 2 March 2007. Archived from the original on 2010-04-17. Retrieved 2012-09-04.
  13. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise for Nintendo DS". Nintendo Life. 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2007.
  15. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise ONM Review". Archived from the original on 2014-10-31.
  16. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise Review, Wario: Master of Disguise DS Review - GameSpot.com". 2011-05-25. Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  17. ↑ Harris, Craig (2007-03-02). "Wario: Master of Disguise Review". IGN. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  18. ↑ "Wario: Master of Disguise". Eurogamer.net. 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  19. ↑ "Review: Wario: Master of Disguise (DS)". Nintendo Life. 2010-03-05. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  20. ↑ "DS Review: Wario: Master of Disguise - Official Nintendo Magazine". 2014-10-31. Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.