Wario The Thief

[nintendoDS]

new japanese Wario game for DS entitled 'Kaitou Wario' which apparently translates as Wario The Thief.
video: http://www.dsparty.nl/nieuws/item/28136/

it's hard to tell much from this initial footage i suppose, but this game looks funny!

[John]

Yeah, it's difficult to work out what's going on from the video, but if this is going to be some form of Wario platformer, it's a day one import purchase for me.

[Rensch]

If this is like Wario Land, this will be great.

[anime5ever]

http://ds.ign.com/articles/744/744108p1.html
Hands On: Kaitou Wario
Another fine DS title in the making.
by Anoop Gantayat
 November 3, 2006 - My two favorite games from Nintendo World weren't on the Wii! That's right, the DS took the honors with two absolute charmers, Kaitou Wario and Chibi Robo.

I first sampled Wario's latest DS outing, his first side-scroller for the system. Kaitou Wario puts you in control of Mario's rival as you solve puzzles and collect treasure chests.

This isn't strictly a platformer. You move Wario left and right and make him jump and duck all with the D-pad. Lefties can opt to use the A, B, X and Y buttons for this functionality. Everything else is done with the stylus. You open treasure chests by tapping on-screen icons. You attack enemies and perform special skills by pointing at your intended target.

To get through a stage, you have to make use of Wario's transformation abilities. The demo included, in addition to the standard Thief Wario, Space Wario, Graffiti Wario and Dinosaur Wario. You change into these new forms by drawing a shape around your character. Dinosaur Wario is a caret, Thief Wario is a check, Space Wario is a circle, and so-forth.

All Warios have different abilities. Thief Wario moves and jumps faster than the other Warios and he attacks by directly charging at enemies. Space Wario shoots lasers and has floaty jumps. Graffiti Wario can draw doors and crates, with the player being responsible for actually drawing the shape in the desired location. Dinosaur Wario breathes fire.

Progressing through the demo stage required full use of the various Warios. Space Wario's lasers were used to blast platforms down from the ceiling and to take out pesky birds who didn't appear to be too fond of Wario. Graffiti Wario's drawing abilities were used to create new platforms in order to leap over tall obstacles.

On top of the side-scrolling segments, Kaito Wario includes mini games, which you must clear in order to get the contents of treasure boxes. I was able to find just two in the demo, a simple picture puzzle game and a more action-oriented game where you tap with the stylus in order to exterminate incoming cockroaches.

The Nintendo World demo left me wanting to get cozy with the clever stages Nintendo will undoubtedly come up with for the final version. The wait will be long, sadly, as Kaitou Wario isn't expected to hit Japan until February of 2007
sounds odd!?

[John]

Sounds very interesting, especially with all the new transformations. February can't come soon enough, this is going to be my first import for a while it seems.

[Rensch]

This game is gonna be lots of fun for sure.

[nintendoDS]

nicely found. that description does make it sound really cool. i eagerly await more info!
that's assuming its released in this country. nintendo's track record of releasing japanese things in the west is pretty great with the DS. i also hope they localise that insane-looking tingle RPG.

[John]

Looks like this is due out in America on 5th March and will be called Wario: Master of Disguise (not sure if this is the final title).

Horrible name, but I'm still intrigued to find out more.

[nintendoDS]

official site is up.

[John]

Looks interesting enough for me to import it. I hadn't realised this is coming out on 18th January, I had better order a copy from somewhere!

[nintendoDS]

might i recommend http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code-j/section-games/pid-1004581395/

[John]

I've never ordered from there before, will probably just end up ordering from Play-Asia as I've been very happy with their service in the past.

[John]

My copy of Kaito Wario should arrive tomorrow, can't wait to play it as it's been so long since the last Wario game. Expect some form of impressions soon.

[John]

Ok, my copy arrived today, here are my initial impressions based on a couple of hours of play...

Firstly, the box art is probably the best I've seen on a DS game so far. It's hard to tell on these photos, but everything shown as gold is done with metallic foil.





Onto the gameplay; it all seems rather disappointing and bland at first. Initially the game plays like a very generic platformer with a bunch of leftover Wario Ware minigames tacked on. Fortunately, once you've gained a few disguise abilities, things get a lot better. So far Wario's able to put on a spacesuit and shoot laser beams, turn into an artist and draw blocks & doors and turn into a scientist and see invisible doors and platforms. Each level I've played so far requires use of all of the abilities I have gained so far, some need to be used in quick succession in order to move forward and get to the next room and adds a puzzle-solving twist to the gameplay.

Touch screen functionality has been incorporated very well here, as all of Wario's disguises are activated through simple gestures with the stylus. You move Wario around on screen with you left hand on the dpad, which is also used to make him jump and crouch. Your right hand is constantly holding the stylus to chance disguises, fire laser beams or simply dash into enemies. From what I've played so far, Kaito seems about on-par with Kirby's Canvas Curse in terms of great implementation of the touch screen in a traditional style game.

Levels seem to be quite replayable so far. As with previous Wario Land games, areas in the earlier levels must be revisited once new powers are gained in order to find hidden treasures.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the game so far. One thing I will mention is that it's surprisingly text heavy for a platformer. So far I've not had too many problems, but some levels have had me confused for 15-20 minutes, as I couldn’t read the instructions. Apparently there are some parts that require you to read and answer questions in Japanese, so you'll need some GameFAQs assistance if you're planning on importing. I would recommend waiting for the English release though as I'm sure to be missing out on some things with the amount of text I've seen so far.

I've post some updated impressions once I've played through some more levels in a few days.

[nintendoDS]

yes, that box art is hell of sweet. The game sounds kool, but I'll wait til a UK/US release before considering it. Anyway I have zero cashola at the moment thanks to my extravagant purchase (see 'hand over the receipt people' thread in Anything Goes forum) which has brought a sudden halt to my Gameboy and DS purchasing schedule