‘The Retro Play Show’ #30: “Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3” (Part 1)

Since I recently did a full playthrough of Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, I thought about the game’s “sequel” and covering it not long after. But, calling Super Mario Land 3 a sequel is a bit of a stretch. Sure, the game technically takes place after the events of the second title, but Wario is the star of the game (serving as its anti-hero) and Mario doesn’t even show up until the very end. In a way, I guess it is kind of like the complicated naming structure behind the Wonder Boy and Monster World titles, though we shouldn’t even get started on that discussion here!

This game may technically be billed as the third Super Mario Land game, but it really is the first entry in the very fun Wario Land series. This game not only marks the first time that Wario is a playable character, but it is a game that really stands the test of time very well. Wario essentially sets out to steal a statue of Princess Toadstool from the Brown Sugar Pirates, accumulating as much wealth as he can along the way. The game has tons of hidden secrets, optional levels, and hidden treasures to locate to add to his pool of coins at the game’s conclusion.

If people end up liking this playthrough, I may take a look at playing some of the other Wario-related games! 🙂

Jessica Brown

Retro Games and Technology Editor. She'll beat pretty much every Mega Man game without breaking a sweat.