The Story
A true tour de force worthy o’ Hemingway. Wario’s riding his personal plane that rich people always have o’er an unnamed forest when the usual inconvenience happens: his engine spontaneously combusts, causing him to
crash in said forest. The game shows off Wario’s invincibility by having him bounce ’way from the vanishing debris harmlessly.
There he returns to his feet & looks both ways, presumably in search for a mechanic to help him rebuild his plane. He soon elects to search the cave to his right—where mechanics usually dwell.
But ’stead he finds a music box there, just sitting on a pedastal—the most logical thing to happen in this story so far. Ne’er one to let treasure lie uncollected, he grabs it, only to be warped inside by some unnamed
magic.
Inside we find Wario fast asleep, only to be awoken e’en mo’ quickly to find some giant face peering in @ him. Said face, called in-game “A hidden figure,” ’splains the rest in a glorious poem worthy o’ Longfellow:
Are you aware, Wario ?
This world is in the music box
you were peering into.
I was the god that protected this world.
But one day, a wicked being sealed away my
power, and took control of this world.
Wario,
I want you to find the 5 music boxes needed to
break the hidden seal and recover my powers.
If you find them, I’ll send you back to
your own world.
Of course, all the treasure you find is
yours to keep!
Will you help me ?
Wario gives the hidden figure a thumbs up & jogs on his way to the o’erworld map.
The Goal
Like most Wario Land games, the goal is to collect treasure.
Chests & Keys
In this case, the treasure are certain items found in the gray, red, green, & blue chest
found in every level,
unlocked by keys o’ matching color.
Touch a key to collect it,
Then touch a matching chest to collect its treasure (& be kicked out o’ the level).
’Pon returning to the level, already-opened chests will be replaced with chest doors, which will exit the level without getting a treasure, but will allow you to get a reward for
collecting all 8 music coins or will allow you to complete a Time Attack challenge.
But unlike in other games, wherein the treasures are collected on the way to the goal, in this game the treasures are the goals.
As the story stated, the primary goal is to find the 5 music boxes ’mong all the treasures you collect &, after that, return to “The Temple.”
However, one needs to collect all 100 treasures (4 treasures per 25 levels) to get 100%.
Coins
Defeating enemies & breaking blocks sometimes causes coins to fall out. You can collect up to 999 total.
In addition to regular coins, which give 1 coin, there are rare gray, red, green, &
blue coins that give 10 coins.
The color one gets for these rare colors indicate the treasure to which one is nearest.
Coins are only used to play minigames.
Music Coins
The game also has 8 music coins in each level.
Collect all 8 in a single playthrough o’ that level, & you will fill in a piece o’ a painting corresponding to that level.