Review Information
Game Reviewed Wario Land: Legends of 6 Crystals (Demo 1), by Radel999
Review Author Cap'n Coconuts
Created Aug 9 2014, 7:22 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview
Okay, this is one of the funniest "bad" games I have ever played on MFGG. I found it even funnier than Paper Mario World, but not as funny as MUSHROOM PANCAKES (though that game is actually pretty good).

I can't make up my mind on what it tried to be. Is it a troll game designed to offend bronies but somehow riled up people who had nothing to do with the show? Is it a joke game meant to be laughed at by a wide demographic? Is it a satire of anti-bronies? Is it just an off-beat crossover made by a clueless individual who had no idea people would get so worked up about it? Who knows!

DISCLAIMER: Cap'n Coconuts is not a brony, has never watched the show, and only knows anything about it due to cultural osmosis. I'm not sure why I am writing a disclaimer but for some reason it feels like something I should do.
 
Pros + Hilarious
+ Actually fun to play, its faults and potential to offend notwithstanding
+ Great chiptune music
 
Cons - Wonky physics
- World-class graphics clashing
- Possibly a troll game
 
Impressions
Gameplay
7 / 10
It's a relatively simple platformer where you go from point A on the left to point B on the right, with the occasional pit or enemy in the way. Almost all of your enemies are ponies (cheep cheeps appear in water for some odd reason). You've got a few power-ups for this job: your default "Punch" ability (why the iconic shoulder charge is called that is beyond me), a flying ability, bombs thrown in a low arc, and fireballs thrown straight to the left or right (why they don't bounce is beyond me). There could be more but either I didn't find them or I don't remember them. None of these stack, so you can't plow into ponies if you have bombs or vice versa.

Level design is a bit skewed as far as difficulty is concerned, and is flawed in some aspects. Level 1 has gems that can only be accessed with the ground pound. The game tells you how to do this after you've passed those gems, and by then those gems are inaccessible unless you kill yourself. Starting with level 2 the game starts expecting you to perform precise jumps. This happens even more so in level 3, where precise jumps are combined with vines which might give you problems based on how you deal with those wonky physics.

Speaking of which, let's talk about those physics. When approaching a wall there is about 16 pixels of space between him and the wall where he is pushed back if he tries to get any closer. When moving at full speed in either horizontal direction and changing direction, you will then move full speed in the new direction (e.g. you run left and press right; suddenly you go right at full speed without decelerating first). This can jeopardize precise jumps as you might slightly exceed the length of the jump and then accidentally over-correct yourself going the opposite direction while trying to land on a small platform.

What redeems this game is that the plot and the concept are absolutely hilarious. Ponies are evil and wreck Wario's plane for absolutely no reason. Some random character named Kia explains the problem in terrible English (excuse me; all the English in this game is terrible), takes Wario to a portal to Equestria, and gets kidnapped by a dark recolor of Princess Celestia. I'm not sure where the 6 crystals come into the plot as all I remember finding from killing Applejack was a Happy Tree Friend.

I want to say this game isn't very good but the humor value makes it very difficult for me not to like it, let alone hate it.
 
Graphics
4 / 10
An 8-bit looking background combined with 16-bit SMB1 combined with 16-bit SMB3 blocks combined with recolored WL2 Wario combined with ponies that are apparently cut from the show footage and resized.

This is not exactly pretty. On closer inspection, it looks like a lot of things were resized. Some of them aren't pixel-perfect and some of them have blurred colors.

The background scrolls 1:1 with the SMB1 grass while moving on the X axis, but does not move at all on the Y axis. I do not understand why this is the case.

All in all, the game doesn't look absolutely terrible, but heck if it couldn't be a whole lot better.
 
Sound
10 / 10
If there was anything the creator got right in this game, it was the music. The chiptunes are top notch, and actually quite catchy. I noticed at least one was taken from Castlevania (not including the pause sound), but the others I'm clueless about.

I'm struggling to think of anything negative to say in this category, as I love chiptune.
 
Replay
3 / 10
You can farm for score or try to beat all levels without taking damage, I guess? Shame there doesn't seem to be any unlockables or secret content, but then again this is a demo.
 
Final Words
7 / 10
This game is hilarious and fun, even if it might not be for all the right reasons.

Comments
No comments have been left.
Pages: | Last Unread