The second Wario Land homage of recent years tries to outdo Pizza Tower in terms of overly angry protagonists that destroy everything in their path.
It’s 17 years since Nintendo released a new Wario Land game and even longer since the series’ heyday on the Game Boy. Every indication is that the franchise is on a permanent hiatus, but what might bring it back is the sudden rash of indie imitators. Well, we say rash. The first one was 2023’s Pizza Tower and this is the second, but that’s still two more than we would’ve ever expected.
We’re not sure where this sudden interest, in this seemingly forgotten franchise, has come from but it’s perfectly welcome; not necessarily for the sake of nostalgia but simply because Pizza Tower was a great game and you can never have enough of those.
If you’re not familiar with the Wario Land series, the first one was actually Super Mario Land 3. It deviated from regular Mario platformers by focusing on defeating enemies, and destroying obstacles, by barging through them at high speed. Antonblast takes most of its cues from Wario Land 4 on the Game Boy Advance, but you absolutely don’t need to have played that game to appreciate it.
‘Dynamite’ Anton looks more like Yosemite Sam than Wario and has a similar temperament, although you can also play as his roommate Annie if you prefer. The story is some nonsense about trying to defeat Satan, who is upset that Anton is redder than him, but naturally none of that matters in the slightest.
Pizza Tower was certainly not a clone of any of the Wario Land games – not least because it also had a fair bit in common with Sonic The Hedgehog – but Antonblast sticks closer to the original Nintendo template. Anton’s shoulder barge is straight out of Wario Land and used to both build up momentum when running and to defeat enemies and smash through objects.
The game seems simplistic when you first start but there’s an impressive amount of nuance to the controls, once you get the hang of them – which admittedly takes some time. It’s not just the barge that creates momentum but jumping and using Anton’s hammer (or Annie’s mace) at just the right time, to bounce off enemies or perform a ground pound that sends you flying back into the air.
Sometimes this is used more for platforming and sometimes more for combat, as you perform a sliding attack when running sufficiently fast or create a huge shockwave when you purposefully fall from a tall enough height. These techniques are often essential for discovering secrets or when going for a time attack or combo high score.
Your goal is to get to one end of the level, set off a bomb, and then quickly retrace your steps and avoid the ensuing explosion. The return journey is usually more difficult, but it often sees the game at its madcap best, as all attempt at precision platforming is abandoned and you destroy everything in your path in a panicked attempt to reach safety – since you’re never able to take quite the same route you did the first time round.
There are lots of stage specific gimmicks too, including riding on a swordfish, turning into a Tasmanian Devil style whirlwind, and smashing through the level as a pinball. It’s a shame the game is relatively short, at eight hours or less, but that’s a worthy sacrifice for the constant stream of strange new ideas – especially as it’s very far from being a full price game.
And besides, there’s additional time attack and combo chain modes that unlock once you beat a level, with the latter being especially entertaining as you try to maintain a destruction combo by ensuring your every step smashes or blows up something. Both modes highlight the clever level design and make it clear that there’s many different ways to complete each map.
The game also has boss fights, but these are rather peculiar as they almost seem to have come from a different game. Anton still has all his regular moves but apart from the final battle none of them rely on momentum or platforming. There is an impressive amount of variety for the set pieces, from wrestling matches to a fight with an enemy tower in the far distance, but it does all seem a bit disconnected from the main action and some of them go on a bit too long.
Like Pizza Tower, Antonblast has a very distinctive art style, as if it’s all been drawn with low resolution marker pens. This doesn’t make for very good screenshots but it’s often impressive in motion, particularly during boss battles and cut scenes or when the screen is filled with explosions and debris – which is most of the time. The sound effects are great too and just as effective at maintaining the atmosphere of a 2000s era Nickelodeon cartoon.
If we had to pick between the two, we’d say that Pizza Tower was the overall better game, but it’s close and Antonblast is the one that’s most similar to Wario Land. If Nintendo is going to be inspired to make a new game, then they should absolutely get Summitsphere to do it. Not only does Antonblast channel the gameplay and spirt of the originals, but it adds plenty of its own unique madness too.
Antonblast review summary
In Short: Two indie Wario Land homages in as many years is a strange but very welcome coincidence, as this is almost as good as Pizza Tower – while still being very much its own game.
Pros: A great extension of Wario Land 4, with good level design, clever power-up gimmicks, and enjoyable alternative modes. Fun art style and sound effects.
Cons: A surprisingly steep learning curve and while the boss battles are well designed they seem very divorced from the rest of the game. Quite short.
Score: 8/10
Formats: Nintendo Switch (reviewed) and PC
Price: £17.99
Publisher: Summitsphere
Developer: Summitsphere
Release Date: 13th December 2024
Age Rating: 12
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