Games Like Wario Land
Quick Answer
The closest games to Wario Land are Wario Land 4, Wario Land: Shake It, Pizza Tower, Antonblast and Kirby's Adventure. Below are 9 picks with the reason for each — what carries over from Wario Land, and what does not.
What Made Wario Land Work
Wario Land inverted the platformer: Wario cannot really die, so damage becomes a transformation puzzle — set yourself on fire, get flattened, get inflated, and use it to reach somewhere new. It is a puzzle-platformer wearing a Mario costume, and few games have copied it.
The Wario Land series began with Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land on Game Boy in 1994, made by Nintendo R&D1. Wario Land II in 1998 changed the formula: Wario cannot lose a life, and enemy attacks instead transform him — on fire, flattened, frozen, inflated — so getting hit becomes the way to solve puzzles. Treasure-hunting and greed replace rescuing anyone. Fans usually want another platformer that turns damage and transformation into puzzles, with the same cheeky attitude.
9 Games Like Wario Land
1.Wario Land 4
The best in the series, and the transformations are at their most inventive.
Why it fits: Nintendo R&D1's 2001 Game Boy Advance game keeps the transformation puzzles and adds a timed escape at the end of every level.
What is different: Every level ends with a timed escape back to the start once you hit the switch, and Wario has hearts that can run out rather than the near-invincibility of Wario Land II and 3.
Where to play it: Game Boy Advance.
Games like this →2.Wario Land: Shake It
The most beautiful entry, hand-animated throughout.
Why it fits: Good-Feel's 2008 Wii game uses hand-drawn animation and has you shake the Wii Remote to empty coin bags and stun enemies.
What is different: Hand-drawn art on a home console, and you shake the Wii Remote to empty enemies of coins; the transformations are mostly gone.
Where to play it: Wii.
More about this game →3.Pizza Tower
Openly built on Wario Land, and the best platformer of its year.
Why it fits: Tour De Pizza's 2023 PC platformer draws openly on Wario Land, with transformations, speed and an escape sequence at the end of each level.
What is different: Far faster: the whole game is about keeping your speed and combo up, and its scribbled cartoon look is cruder than anything Nintendo made.
Where to play it: PC.
More about this game →4.Antonblast
The other modern Wario Land homage, and very good at it.
Why it fits: Summitsphere's 2024 platformer is another Wario Land homage built on smashing through levels and escaping at speed.
What is different: A modern homage with a demolition-hammer hero; it swaps Wario's transformations for momentum and a noisy score chase.
Where to play it: PC and Switch.
More about this game →5.Kirby's Adventure
Transformation as the core mechanic, in a gentler shape.
Why it fits: HAL Laboratory's 1993 NES game introduced Kirby's Copy Ability, which changes what Kirby can do based on what he swallows.
What is different: Kirby chooses his powers by swallowing enemies instead of having changes forced on him, and the challenge is much lighter.
Where to play it: NES, and in the Switch Online NES library.
More about this game →6.Yoshi's Island
The other Nintendo platformer that changes the rules of the genre.
Why it fits: Nintendo EAD's 1995 SNES game uses egg throwing and transformations into vehicles to change how you play.
What is different: You carry Baby Mario and throw eggs, and each level is scored on stars, red coins and flowers rather than treasure.
Where to play it: SNES, and Game Boy Advance as Super Mario Advance 3.
Games like this →7.Super Mario Land 2
The game Wario came out of, and worth playing.
Why it fits: Nintendo R&D1's 1992 Game Boy game introduced Wario as the villain who steals Mario's castle.
What is different: Mario's game, the one that introduced Wario as the villain; it is a conventional power-up platformer rather than a treasure hunt.
Where to play it: Game Boy.
More about this game →8.Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
Transformation-driven 2D exploration.
Why it fits: WayForward's 2014 platformer uses pirate gear abilities to reach new areas in a 2D adventure.
What is different: A metroidvania with one connected set of islands to revisit, and new moves come from pirate gear rather than enemies transforming you.
Where to play it: 3DS, Wii U, PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.
More about this game →9.Guacamelee 2
Transformations used as platforming puzzles throughout.
Why it fits: DrinkBox Studios' 2018 Metroidvania lets you turn into a chicken to reach small spaces, alongside wrestling-based combat.
What is different: Fighting combos matter as much as the platforming, and you swap between the worlds of the living and the dead instead of changing form.
Where to play it: PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.
More about this game →
Where to Start
Wario Land 4 is the best place to start within the series. For a modern game, Pizza Tower is the standout homage. Wario Land: Shake It is the pick if you want the most beautiful entry.
How We Picked These Games
Every pick either uses transformation or state changes as a platforming mechanic, or shares Wario Land's chaotic, momentum-heavy style. We included the best of the series itself, then Nintendo relatives and the modern indie games openly built on Wario Land.
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How These Picks Match Wario Land
Wario Land is catalogued here as a 2D platformer on the Nintendo Game Boy. All nine picks share at least one of its genre tags — nine platformers and three puzzle games among them.
Going by the "where to play it" notes, four can be played on PC, two can be played on a PlayStation, eight can be played on a Nintendo system and two can be played on an Xbox. Pizza Tower, Antonblast, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and Guacamelee 2 are from small or self-published studios. Wario Land 4, Wario Land: Shake It, Kirby's Adventure, Yoshi's Island and Super Mario Land 2 are, like Wario Land, games a child and an adult can play together.
This list also answers "games like Wario Land 4": six of the picks we wrote for it are on this page, so the two lists are kept as one.
| Game | Genre | Shares with Wario Land | Where to play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wario Land 4 | Platformer, Puzzle, Family | Platformer, Puzzle | Game Boy Advance. |
| Wario Land: Shake It | Platformer, Puzzle, Family | Platformer, Puzzle | Wii. |
| Pizza Tower | Platformer, Arcade, Indie | Platformer | PC. |
| Antonblast | Platformer, Indie | Platformer | PC and Switch. |
| Kirby's Adventure | Platformer, Family, Arcade | Platformer | NES, and in the Switch Online NES library. |
| Yoshi's Island | Platformer, Family, Puzzle | Platformer, Puzzle | SNES, and Game Boy Advance as Super Mario Advance 3. |
| Super Mario Land 2 | Platformer, Family, Arcade | Platformer | Game Boy. |
| Shantae and the Pirate's Curse | Platformer, Adventure, Indie | Platformer | 3DS, Wii U, PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch. |
| Guacamelee 2 | Platformer, Fighting, Indie | Platformer | PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch. |
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