Wario Land is a series of games where Wario collects treasure by ramming and stomping his way through. The history of these games is pretty interesting in that they evolved from the somewhat drab Super Mario Land games for the Game Boy. Wario was the main boss of Super Mario Land 2, the star of SML3, and he just took over the series completely from that point on, and Wario went on to develop a very unique and entertaining franchise of his own.
The third game is the least linear of the Wario games thus far. Trapped in a tiny land inside a music box, Wario must literally run back and forth between stages collecting treasures, until he eventually finds the five Music Boxes that will help get him out of there.
The game contains 25 stages, and each stage contains 4 treasures. Among these treasures is the 5 music boxes, but you can't just run out and get them right away, of course. There are obstacles to overcome... Not all the stages are available at first, some treasures are blocked with seemingly no way to get to them, and Wario doesn't even know all his moves (I guess he forgot them all after Wario Land 2...). The only way to pass these obstacles is to find the treasures that will help you do it.
Of the 100 treasures in the game, 48 are needed to finish the game, including the 5 music boxes, 9 treasures that give Wario new moves and powers, and the remaining treasures unlock and/or alter stages. It should be noted that to open the treasure boxes, you need a key of the same color, so the mission for every stage is to find the key of a certain color, and then find the treasure box of the same color.
I'll say right now this Time Attack can be improved. I think that as long as it's still entertaining, and demonstrates play that clearly can't possibly be done by a human, it is submittable. I know some people disagree, but I don't wanna start any arguments. =3 The fact is, I won't be making an improved version of this, because this will be my last Time Attack... at least for a while. That's why I'm submitting this. That's also why these notes are kinda long... If anyone else wants to try to make an improved run, I hope the notes will help out.
Strategies:
DASHING - The biggest hurdle... figuring out if the dash will actually speed you up or not. This move will make Wario run faster, but there is a pause at the beginning and a pause at the end. The dash is extended if Wario jumps during it.
I thought I had this figured out after playing through the early levels twice, but I really didn't. If you pay close attention to this video, you'll notice that I don't dash QUITE as much in later stages. This is because I have come to the ultimate conclusion that dashing should only be done IF YOU NEED TO JUMP. Dashing helps Wario jump faster and further. Regular jumping has a bit of a lull toward the end of the jump which dashing eliminates. There are a lot of instances where dashing helps Wario avoid enemies or avoid jumping more than necessary, all of which help in a Time Attack.
When walking in a straight line, it's best to just walk. Wario doesn't walk THAT slow, and because of the pauses, dashing actually slows him down by a few frames, even if he jumps during it.
I thought I had this figured out after playing through the early levels twice, but I really didn't. If you pay close attention to this video, you'll notice that I don't dash QUITE as much in later stages. This is because I have come to the ultimate conclusion that dashing should only be done IF YOU NEED TO JUMP. Dashing helps Wario jump faster and further. Regular jumping has a bit of a lull toward the end of the jump which dashing eliminates. There are a lot of instances where dashing helps Wario avoid enemies or avoid jumping more than necessary, all of which help in a Time Attack.
When walking in a straight line, it's best to just walk. Wario doesn't walk THAT slow, and because of the pauses, dashing actually slows him down by a few frames, even if he jumps during it.
RAMMING/BREAKING BLOCKS - Until he gets the "Garlic" upgrade, the fastest way for Wario to break blocks is to actually walk up right next to them and do the dash. The blocks will break right away. If you start a dash while further away from the blocks, you have the pause to deal with.
I didn't figure this out until later in the run. Look closely, and you'll see when! It's fun!
I didn't figure this out until later in the run. Look closely, and you'll see when! It's fun!
RAMMING THE STOVE - An extention of the above observation, there are a few instances where Wario has to knock around stoves to reach certain doors and ledges. Like with block-breaking, it's best to walk up next to the stove and then dash to move it over. But there's an additional quirk: the stove is nudges over a random distance after you ram it. Sometimes it moves the length of a couple blocks, and sometimes it barely moves at all.
This randomness depends on when you hit the stove, thus in a Time Attack, if you ram the stove and it goes only a tiny distance, it's best to load the state, wait another frame, and try it again!
This randomness depends on when you hit the stove, thus in a Time Attack, if you ram the stove and it goes only a tiny distance, it's best to load the state, wait another frame, and try it again!
GOLF MINIGAME - Two notes about the golf minigame:
-it's the only thing in the game you need money for, and when going the optimal path, you only need to play it twice. Thus, going out of the way to collect coins in this game is not necessary.
-very easy luck manipulation is involved. The course randomly changes every few frames before you enter the pipe, so it's simple to use save-stating to help get the course where you can get a hole-in-one.
-it's the only thing in the game you need money for, and when going the optimal path, you only need to play it twice. Thus, going out of the way to collect coins in this game is not necessary.
-very easy luck manipulation is involved. The course randomly changes every few frames before you enter the pipe, so it's simple to use save-stating to help get the course where you can get a hole-in-one.
STAGE ORDER - For an optimal run, the stage order is mostly linear (despite how it looks), However, there are some moments where 2 or 3 treasures are combined to unlock access to the next one, and these are the moments where I had some freedom in stage order. When this came up, I'd consider which stages are faster to complete if it's day or night. You'll notice the day/night shift when watching the run; it'll create different effects in certain stages, such as the small blue arrow-nose enemies being asleep at night... among other things. If the time of day has no significant effect on either stage, I'll just go with what requires less movements on the map.
My stage order:
Yellow Music Box: N1 Gray, N3 Gray, N2 Gray, W1 Red, W1 Gray, W2 Gray, N1 Red, W3 Gray, W4 Gray, S1 Gray
Blue Music Box: S2 Gray, W3 Red, N3 Green, S3 Gray, W3 Green, E1 Gray, S1 Green, N2 Red, E2 Gray, W4 Red
Green Music Box: N4 Gray, N5 Gray, S4 Gray, N5 Red, W2 Blue, S4 Red, E1 Red, E4 Gray, W6 Gray, S3 Red, N6 Gray
Red Music Box: S5 Gray, S2 Blue, E2 Green, E3 Gray, W1 Blue, N6 Green, E4 Green, E1 Green
Gold Music Box: W5 Gray, S5 Green, E1 Blue, N1 Green, N4 Green, S3 Green, E6 Gray, E3 Green, N1 Blue
Yellow Music Box: N1 Gray, N3 Gray, N2 Gray, W1 Red, W1 Gray, W2 Gray, N1 Red, W3 Gray, W4 Gray, S1 Gray
Blue Music Box: S2 Gray, W3 Red, N3 Green, S3 Gray, W3 Green, E1 Gray, S1 Green, N2 Red, E2 Gray, W4 Red
Green Music Box: N4 Gray, N5 Gray, S4 Gray, N5 Red, W2 Blue, S4 Red, E1 Red, E4 Gray, W6 Gray, S3 Red, N6 Gray
Red Music Box: S5 Gray, S2 Blue, E2 Green, E3 Gray, W1 Blue, N6 Green, E4 Green, E1 Green
Gold Music Box: W5 Gray, S5 Green, E1 Blue, N1 Green, N4 Green, S3 Green, E6 Gray, E3 Green, N1 Blue
BETWEEN LEVELS - The transition scenes in WL3 are a little awkward. You'll notice a lot of cutscenes can't be skipped. Most of the "Results" screens after completing a stage can be, though.
The optimal way to get around after completing a stage is to turn on autofire-A as soon as Wario opens the treasure box. Go through all the screens, then after the "Game saved" window fades out, switch from autofire-A to autofire-B to skip the upcoming day/night animation (this seems to be the only thing in the game the B button lets you skip, for some reason...). Disable autofire, move to the next stage (if it's on a different part of the map, it's always faster to hit Select and use the "Change Maps" option, even if you're in a stage on the very edge of the map), then autofire-A to enter the stage.
The optimal way to get around after completing a stage is to turn on autofire-A as soon as Wario opens the treasure box. Go through all the screens, then after the "Game saved" window fades out, switch from autofire-A to autofire-B to skip the upcoming day/night animation (this seems to be the only thing in the game the B button lets you skip, for some reason...). Disable autofire, move to the next stage (if it's on a different part of the map, it's always faster to hit Select and use the "Change Maps" option, even if you're in a stage on the very edge of the map), then autofire-A to enter the stage.
BOSS STRATEGIES (only including bosses who strategies may not be clear just from watching the video)
The Daruma (first boss): you can't tell by watching the video, but you have to wait until a part of him flashes before you can ram it. As you can see, it can be rammed shortly before it actually starts flashing. The part that flashes is random, but you can affect which part it is by moving around.
The Rabbit: quickly stomping on him is easy. After that, you have to kick him in the net past the "goalie" turtle. He bounces up and down while in ball form, and the length and angle he travels when hit depends on how far from the ground he is and whether you're dashing or just walking into him.
The Salamander: this is a creepy-looking boss (he actually looks more like a mutant beaver thing). Every part of him is vulberable to a butt-stomp except the spiky part. He hides in the water after every hit, and won't jump out until you're directly above him.
The Mouse Fish: You have to feed him three peices of cheese to defeat him, and when you knock the cheese in the water, he will chase after it, but the cheese has to be well-placed or else he'll miss it. It's worth noting that if you fall in the water and he starts chasing after you, he won't eat the cheese. Even if he ends up next to it, he'll just move right through it. In my game, I jumped in the water at the beginning to affect his movement, so he'll reach the first peice faster.
The Spider: Moving around affects the movement of the web shots, so try to make the first one land so you can pick it up and throw it at him right away.
The Rabbit: quickly stomping on him is easy. After that, you have to kick him in the net past the "goalie" turtle. He bounces up and down while in ball form, and the length and angle he travels when hit depends on how far from the ground he is and whether you're dashing or just walking into him.
The Salamander: this is a creepy-looking boss (he actually looks more like a mutant beaver thing). Every part of him is vulberable to a butt-stomp except the spiky part. He hides in the water after every hit, and won't jump out until you're directly above him.
The Mouse Fish: You have to feed him three peices of cheese to defeat him, and when you knock the cheese in the water, he will chase after it, but the cheese has to be well-placed or else he'll miss it. It's worth noting that if you fall in the water and he starts chasing after you, he won't eat the cheese. Even if he ends up next to it, he'll just move right through it. In my game, I jumped in the water at the beginning to affect his movement, so he'll reach the first peice faster.
The Spider: Moving around affects the movement of the web shots, so try to make the first one land so you can pick it up and throw it at him right away.
ODDS N' ENDS
-Jumping while on fire will make the effect last longer, and most cases, it shouldn't be done more than necessary. I regret to say that I didn't figure this out until late in the movie. =(
-Another move I think I should have done more is the dash-duck. That is, starting a dash, and then ducking. This causes Wario to move forward quickly while in a crouching position. There's a pause at the end, but I'm still sure it could have sped up some moments where I had to duck under objects.
-You'll notice when I hunt the Red treasure in W3, I exit the game and Continue. This is done to get around a bug which prevents me from climbing the ladder all he way. I'm not sure what causes it, but I don't think it's a big deal; the game lets you continue exactly where you left off. Funny thing... usually the bug happens in the final stage (the Blue treasure in N1) too, but it didn't in this video. *shrugs* well, whatever.
-Another move I think I should have done more is the dash-duck. That is, starting a dash, and then ducking. This causes Wario to move forward quickly while in a crouching position. There's a pause at the end, but I'm still sure it could have sped up some moments where I had to duck under objects.
-You'll notice when I hunt the Red treasure in W3, I exit the game and Continue. This is done to get around a bug which prevents me from climbing the ladder all he way. I'm not sure what causes it, but I don't think it's a big deal; the game lets you continue exactly where you left off. Funny thing... usually the bug happens in the final stage (the Blue treasure in N1) too, but it didn't in this video. *shrugs* well, whatever.
Well, that's it. Hope you enjoy my last time attack. Unforunately, time attacks aren't something I can spend time on anymore. =(
EDIT:
Sorry... almost forgot:
Sorry... almost forgot:
- used VBA 1.7.2 (new8)
- quit+restart used once to bypass a bug
- aims for fastest completing time by completing minimum amount of tasks
Also, I'm surprised the movie was this long (I wasn't even aware it was over an hour until I submitted it!) It's a pity a lot of the length is due to cutscenes. =/