History VideoGame / WarioLand3

** Zig-Zagged regarding the main plot. Wario's [[ExcusePlot primary quest]] is to collect five {{Magic Music}} Boxes at the behest of a hidden figure, with the promise that he may keep all the treasure he finds on the way. Wario's treasure hunt is therefore both completely incidental to the story and completely necessary to the gameplay.

* TheFaceOfTheSun: Taiyo is a small sun with a face.

* ShoutOut: One of the treasures is a Pokémon Pikachu.
* SinisterSentientSun: In the Vast Plains and the Colossal Hole lives the Taiyo, a small but mean sun enemy that flies around the sky during daytime, trying to set Wario on fire. It's name even means "Sun" in japanese.

* ChainOfDeals: The whole game is this. You can't just search directly for the music boxes; first you have to cut down the tree blocking your way to two other levels, find overalls so you can ground pound to reach certain treasures, collect a seed so you can make beanstalks to reach higher areas, and so on...

* BalloonBelly: Helio. He has an air pump inside him, and you defeat him by making him cough it up and pumping it until he pops. Appropriately, Helio looks like a literal balloon.
** There's also the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Fat Wario]] status effect: if the hero eats an apple or a doughnut, his already-large gut bloats to a much bigger size.

While Wario is riding in his airplane over some forest its engine randomly explodes, causing him to crash in the middle of said woods. While looking through the first cave he sees for help he finds a music box just lying about, only to be warped inside when he picks it up. There he wakes up and meets a hidden figure, who tells him about how the figure's powers had been taken from it and put in five music boxes scattered around, promising to help Wario return to his world if he returns these music boxes to the hidden figure. Wario agrees and immediately sets off in search for them.

* BookEnds:
** The final boss is fought in The Temple, the first “level” of the game.
** Also, the last music box — the last treasure before the final boss — is the last treasure of the first level.

* WeirdSun[=/=]WeirdMoon: Not only do the sun and moon have faces, they have cognizance and can spit fireballs or electric sparks at Wario.

* AccidentalHero: Wario just wanted to leave the music box; he wasn’t planning to defeat any villains wanting to TakeOverTheWorld until [[spoiler:Rudy was freed and attacked him]].

* AlwaysNight: The East side, [[spoiler:at least until you collect the two sun fragments.]]

* BalloonBelly: Yellowbelly. He has an air pump inside him, and you defeat him by making him cough it up and pumping it until he pops. Appropriately, Yellowbelly looks like a literal balloon.

* TheFaceOfTheSun: Not only do the sun and moon have faces, they have cognizance and can spit fireballs or electric sparks at Wario.

* GameBreakingBug: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with a glitch that can occur in "The Pool of Rain" (it won't ruin the whole game, but it'll force you to reset); for some reason, if you play the game on an emulator and use save states, you won't able to climb all the way up the beanstalk into another area once it pops up. Resetting the game and not using save states before you finish the level remedies it, thankfully.

* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:Every enemy and boss except Mad Scienstein and the final boss, Rudy the Clown. They are actually the citizens of the Music Box world who sealed Rudy away using the Music Boxes sometime before your arrival, but got cursed into monstrous forms just before he was sealed. The reason they attack you is because they fear his revival and didn't think you were strong enough to defeat him, but once he is defeated for good and they are returned to normal, they have no problem letting you keep all the treasure you collected and sending you back to your own world]].

* LostWoods: N1 Out of the Woods and E7 Forest of Fear. The former is definitely more friendly than the latter, which is also a [[BigBoosHaunt Big Boo's Haunt]].

* NighInvulnerability: No matter how much he gets hit by enemies, Wario can never die. [[spoiler:(Except for when he gets crushed by final boss Rudy's hands.)]]

* NonStandardGameOver: [[spoiler:[[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in the battle against Rudy, as it's the ''only'' way to reach the GameOver screen. It's PlayedForLaughs more than anything, though, as you just return to the world map afterwards.]]

* RemixedLevel: Every level. Certain treasures change a certain level’s landscape, granting access to treasures previously inaccessible.

* SecretLevel: Arguably Above the Clouds, The Warped Void, and Forest of Fear, since it’s unlikely you’ll find these levels before beating the game.

* SpringJump: Bouncy Wario, which you become if you’re hit by a Hammer-bot or certain bosses.

* StoryOverwrite: The game saves after beating the final boss; but when you resume your save, Wario is back in the music box, despite leaving before. [[spoiler:Rudy is also back in his {{seal|edEvilInACan}}, and you cannot fight him again until all the treasures are collected. Until then, he can only tell you the next treasure to collect.]]

* TacticalSuicideBoss: A few bosses. But the most notable is Yellowbelly, who for some reason just so happens to drop the pump that fills him with air and causes him to blow up.

* UniqueEnemy: The Red Froggy in The Peaceful Village, the pink-and-blue umbrella Para-Goom in A Town in Chaos, and the red Omodonmeka in The Warped Void, all of which there is only one in the entire game (With said Para-Goom also appearing in the tutorial videos for certain moves).

* WeirdMoon: Not only do the sun and moon have faces, they have cognizance and can spit fireballs or electric sparks at Wario.

--> [[spoiler:A hidden figure]]: [[spoiler:Now I can rule this world and the outer one as well!!]]

** These appear in W1 The Desert Ruins[[note]]during the day only; they and the quicksand are gone at night[[/note]] and S4 The Steep Canyon. They reach out in an attempt to grab Wario and pull him into the quicksand/rapids.

* GiantHandsOfDoom: These appear in The Desert Ruins (In the Day) and The Steep Canyon. Their reach out in an attempt to grab Wario and pull him into the quicksand/rapids.

* BalloonBelly: Yellowbelly. He has an air pump inside him, and you defeat him by making him cough it up and pumping it until he pops.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-warioland3_7363.jpg]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Not even a potential, but a guarantee: The game's programmed so that all sprites literally explode when opening a chest. Well, to get to the red chest in E1 The Stagnant Swamp, you have to ride a turtle to get to the chest, and he's pretty much guaranteed to stay there when you open it, [[WhatTheHellHero meaning you pretty much have to blow up the poor turtle who took the time to help you get there in the first place.]]

%%* BackgroundBoss: [[spoiler:Rudy.]]
* BagOfSpilling: The game begins with Wario unable to do most of his Wario things, such as shaking the stage with his GroundPound, performing high jumps or even the series staple of ground pounding. Said abilities are recovered progressively by finding certain treasures. To sweeten the deal, Wario also claims power-ups that boost him beyond his original abilities, like the Frog Prince's Gloves, which allow Wario to swim against currents.

* InterfaceScrew: Wario can become dizzy if hit by a pink bird in S1 The Grasslands.

* BagOfSpilling: The game begins with Wario unable to do most of his Wario things, such as shaking the stage with his GroundPound, performing high jumps or, you know... THE SERIES'S STAPLE OF ''BREAKING BLOCKS BY JUMPING UNDER THEM''! Said abilities are recovered progressively by finding certain treasures. To sweeten the deal, Wario also claims power-ups that boost him beyond his original abilities, like the Frog Prince's Gloves, which allow Wario to swim against currents.

* JumpScare: A few of the bosses, but most notably the red chest portion of E1 The Stagnant Swamp. If you've played the game before, that alone should tell you what you need to know, but if you haven't: [[spoiler:You go down a pipe to the swamp portion of the level, leading you to a rapid current and a turtle, who ferries you across the current on its back (as in ''Wario Land II''). Everything is nice, happy, and peaceful until you reach an area heavy on vines, when a menacing black shadowy figure appears in the water, causing the turtle to faint into the water, forcing you to jump up on the vine. You climb up a few ways and then without warning '''[[EldritchAbomination A HUGE SALAMANDER-TYPE THING]] JUMPS OUT FROM THE WATER MAKING A HORRENDOUS NOISE AND STARTS CLIMBING TOWARDS YOU WHILE THE BOSS MUSIC KICKS IN!''']][[note]]More specifically, this is the level's boss, named "Muddee."[[/note]] As demonstrated [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RCRoVUV8IpE#t=71s here]]. [[spoiler:(Note that this particular player scurries up the vine quickly as the turtle is dropping so as to avoid the boss' appearance.)]]

The third game in the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' series (not counting ''VideoGame/VirtualBoyWarioLand''), released in 2000 for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor.

* OneHitKill: There is exactly ''one'' example of this in the game: [[spoiler:Rudy's hands.]]

* RiverOfInsanity: N4, Bank Of The Wild River and S4, The Steep Canyon.
* RuinsForRuinsSake: W1, Desert Ruins.

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: E2, The Frigid Sea.

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Wario only agrees to find the music boxes and free the hidden figure when offered freedom and any treasure he finds along the way. [[spoiler:Played twice over when the figure, Rudy, is freed, reveals his plan to take over both the music box world and the outer world, and tries to kill Wario. Wario defeats him in self-defence, not only saving both worlds, but also lifting Rudy's curse on the music box world's inhabitants, who give Wario the rewards Rudy originally promised him.]]

* RiverOfInsanity: N4 Bank Of The Wild River and S4 The Steep Canyon.
* RuinsForRuinsSake: W1 Desert Ruins.

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: E2 The Frigid Sea.

* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler:At the end of the game, you learn that the hidden figure is this, whose power was sealed within the five music boxes. Your goal in the game is to deliver them to him after he tricked you into thinking he was good.]]
* SealedGoodInACan: [[spoiler:Subverted; as stated above, the hidden figure is actually evil.]]

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:The GameOver screen that appears when Rudy grabs you in the FinalBoss fight.]]

* BalloonBelly[=/=]PopGoesTheHuman: Yellowbelly. He has an air pump inside him, and you defeat him by making him cough it up and pumping it until he pops.

* {{Metroidvania}}: Arguably. Although this game is divided into levels, the progression is nonlinear, often requiring you to go back to earlier levels to continue.

* MonsterClown: [[spoiler:Rudy, the final boss, looks a lot like a clown, hence why he has been called "[[FanNickname Rudy the Clown]]" in {{fanon}}.]]