While Virtual Boy Wario Land stands out as the one true marquee game on the Virtual Boy, this Wario-focused platformer is very much at the bottom of the list when it comes to Wario platformers. Retaining the pace and mechanics from the original Wario Land, this plodding-yet-fun adventure puts our treasure-seeking anti-hero on a quest to escape an underground labyrinth filled with ample amounts of secrets and enemies.

Each floor of the labyrinth is represented by a level, and with only 14 total floors, Virtual Boy Wario Land can be beaten in just a few short hours. The levels are completed after a key is found and a door is opened, though hidden treasures are nestled in every nook and cranny to increase Wario’s burgeoning wealth. As is the case in almost all Wario games, finding as much treasure as possible is the ultimate goal, with the ending changing depending on your total capital. To find all the hidden trinkets, you need to make use of Wario’s various power-granting hats. There’s the ground-pounding Bull Hat, the fire-breathing Dragon Hat, and the flight-enabled Eagle Hat. Each power-up grants abilities that are integral for finding all of the secrets. They can’t stack, though, which can get frustrating when you’re trying to uncover everything. Even the crazy end-game fusion of all three doesn’t let you perform Wario’s patented side charge at all.

Every few floors features a boss, all of which also make interesting use of the Virtual Boy’s sense of depth. One boss fires off an attack from the background that requires you to accurately judge the distance to avoid damage. There aren’t many bosses, but they all present a decent challenge and offer up some of the most novel uses of the system’s 3D effects.

The 3D illusion of the Virtual Boy makes up for Virtual Boy Wario Land’s most noteworthy trait. Enemies and obstacles routinely move between planes, and in most levels, you have to jump between the foreground and background to maneuver to the end. The modern games that most feel like Wario Land’s antecedent are Renegade Kid’s Mutant Mudds and Nintendo’s own Kirby Triple Deluxe as they employ a lot of the same 3D tricks. The one bummer here is that Wario Land feels like it just scratches the surface of this design. With very few platformers even following in Wario’s plane-jumping footsteps on 3DS, this Virtual Boy game just serves as a stark reminder of what could have been if the system was better received.

All in all, Virtual Boy Wario Land is a satisfying adventure that is fun even in its brevity. If you ever come across a Virtual Boy, it is a must play, as it is far and away the best game on the system. However, Wario’s long-lost second adventure isn’t quite good enough to be worth the hassle and expense of acquiring a Virtual Boy. If this Wario adventure ambles his way to Virtual Console in the future, it’s a worthy purchase, but just know you’re not getting a transformative experience; you’re just getting a decent Wario platformer with some cool 3D effects.