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Nintendo seems to have a rather clever knack of turning its characters into almost household names... after all, who hasn't heard of Mario? Now Mario's arch-nemesis Wario looks to be on the road to fame too in this, has third title for the Game Boy Color.

Wario Land and Wario Land 2 were both great games which showed that regardless of how lousy Nintendo seems to be at marketing its products, the folk there certainly makes some cracking games! It would be easy for them to just sit back and rest on their laurels after the last two Wario titles but thankfully, they haven't and Wario Land 3 is bigger, better and even madder than the previous two!

After experiencing a little plane trouble, Wario ends up crash-landing in a mysterious jungle, (crash investigators later put the accident down to 'pilot error'). After wandering around for 'the rest of the afternoon', according to the manual - which translates to roughly two seconds of game time - our moustachioed maniac uncovers a dark cave in which he finds a strange musical box. Being the evil fellow that he obviously is, Wario tries to nick the music box and, as a result, is magically trapped inside it. Here he meets a strange figure who offers to set Wario free if he'll explore the lands inside the box and recover... er, more music boxes (someone at Nintendo obviously has a bit of a thing for them!).

This rather bizarre plot sets the scene for an absolutely humungous 2-D platform adventure with more visual gags than a Looney Tunes cartoon. Wario himself is a very versatile chap who can perform all sorts of different moves, although or some of his abilities he requires a specific object or power that you first have to find. Gameplay is based around a central map screen that you can return to at any time and, as you conquer the various levels, new locations open up.

The game has clearly been designed to last a long time - it is absolutely huge, and every level has sections and areas which can only be reached once Wario has gained the use of a specific ability. This means that you must constantly return to places you've already been if you hope to ever finish the game. On top of that, each level can be visited both in the daytime and at night and the two timescales give a totally different appearance to the stages, with some very different enemies too.

Like the Wario Land games that have come before it, the key to finishing Wario Land 3 is in mastering the fat fellow's various powers. These range from being frozen in ice, through turning into a big ball of string to becoming a vampire with the power to transform into a bat. Because Wario can't actually be killed there's a lot less pressure on the gamer and this means they can relax, explore the levels and experiment with the various effects that different enemies and natural hazards have on Wario - many of them with hilarious results. Great stuff!

This game is so big that it'll keep you going for absolutely ages, but the modular composition of the levels coupled with the autosave feature means that it's still a great game for picking up and playing when you've only got a few minutes to spare - which is what the Game Boy Color is all about!

Graphics 100%
Just fantastic!

Sound 80%
Bouncy tunes that don't grate.

Playability 100%
More fun than you deserve!

Lastability 100%
You won't be able to put it down.

Overall 97%
Even better than Wario Land 2!