Wario Land II (Europe / SGB Enhanced / GB Compatible)
Game Boy Color
🇬🇧
Reviewed in 1998
88
✪ Reviewed on September 19, 2024
82
Wario Land 2 on GBC is an inventive and unique platformer. Wario is invincible but damage transforms him. Creative transformation puzzles and plenty of secret levels. One of the best GBC platformers.
Your verdict
Category
Platformer1 player3+
Description
Wario explores treasure-filled stages and faces Captain Syrup's minions in this sequel in the European version. Published by Nintendo, released in Europe in January 1998. Invincible Wario using damage to progress, hidden treasures, multiple endings based on completed sections. European version.
Wario Land II review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
The Western edition foregrounds its serial structure: a progress map links chapters that branch according to how a level is finished, and every fork is marked by a drawn vignette. The settings, from the overrun castle to the pirate ships, are built from repeated tiles yet peopled with details that point out where something can be broken.
It is the jingles that structure the listening: a few notes signal a transformation, others the finding of a treasure, and the level theme systematically fades during those interruptions. The pieces themselves are built on little material, a whistled melody and minimal accompaniment, so that the slightest change of scoring is audible.
European localization of Japanese Wario Land 2, set apart by the Roman-numeral II branding and the dual-mode pressing that lets the cartridge run on a monochrome Game Boy as well. That technical flexibility, inherited from the GB-to-GBC transition, is a central argument for collectors focused on hinge cartridges between the two Nintendo handheld generations, more than on the print volume itself.
Is Wario Land II still worth playing in 2026?
Wario Land 2 dared a design break rare among platformers, namely Wario can no longer die, and the hits he takes transform him into a zombie, a flame or a ball, every state opening new paths. The idea turns each level into a physical puzzle without smothering the arcade feel. The Game Boy Color version adds carefully applied color throughout. The pacing still holds up against modern platformers, and the inventiveness of the Nintendo R&D1 team still feels strikingly singular today.
