Lost in Time: Wario Blast
Wario has got to be one of Nintendo’s most versatile characters. Well, next to Mario. And Kirby. Whatever. Wario has played a vast variety of roles. He started his life as the Villain in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, and has since moved on to play a biker, business mogul, dancer, tennis player, and more. Then there was that one time he starred in a Bomberman game.
Wario Blast was released on Game Boy in 1994, and only in America and Europe (sort of). Wario Blast is actually a port of the Japanese Bomberman GB, except with Wartio tossed in instead of Black Bomberman. Really, the Wario connection is little more than cosmetic, but even so, it made the game seem more interesting. Have a look at this insanity.
All in all, there’s not a ton more to say about this game. It’s Bomberman, except it’s also got Wario in it. There’s no fancy cool Wario-esque elements added to the gameplay. It’s jsut a solid portable Bomberman game. Which makes sense, since Wario was just a reskin. Still, it feels like a real missed opportunity. This is a fun pairing for a crossover game, and it would be cool to see someone really take advantage of that someday.
What’s most weird here is that this game hasn’t been ported to anything. It’s not like Nintendo and Hudson don’t have a great relationship. They totally do. It’s madness to me that this game hasn’t found a second life anywhere yet. There’s even history of US exclusive games finding their way to the Virtual Console before, so I can’t imagine what the hold up is. The good news is that the actual cart for this game is very easy to turn up, and rarely goes for more than $10. So Wario fans, grab your bombs, and go blow up some stuff!
