Wario: Master of Disguise is a 2D side-scrolling game for the Nintendo DS. As the title suggests, it stars Wario, but it has no direct relation to Wario Land, WarioWare, or Wario World.note After all, in Wario World, Wario had a castle of gold, and in this game, he lives in a typical house.One day, Wario was lounging on his sofa, watching TV, when a show called "The Silver Zephyr" came on. It was a show about a man named Count Cannoli who used his magic wand, Goodstyle, to transform into the eponymous master thief. After seeing him transform, Wario decided that he wanted in on the action, so he invented the Telmet, a device that allowed him to venture into the TV. Upon entering the TV, he landed right on Cannoli's head, causing him to drop Goodstyle. Wario, of course, being Wario, took Goodstyle for himself. Goodstyle proceeded to dub Wario his new master, and gave him his very own thief outfit.Wario soon learns about the Wishstone, an artifact that, supposedly, can grant any wish. However, it was split into 5 pieces, which were then hidden in separate places. With this in mind, Wario makes it his goal to obtain the Wishstone pieces and recreate the Wishstone. However, this quest does not come without obstructions: Cannoli does not particularly enjoy having his wand stolen from him and will stop at nothing to get it back. If that wasn't enough, the Corrupt Corporate Executive Carpaccio also wants the Wishstone pieces, so needless to say, Wario has his work cut out for him.The gameplay consists of traversing several different locations, beating up enemies and searching for treasure. The treasure chests require the player to win minigames to open, and consist of one of several different types of items, depending on the chest's color. Red chests contain treasures, which merely exist for the sake of 100% Completion. Purple chests contain area maps or important quest items. Green chests either contain Vita Mighties, which boost Wario's max health, or Guise Gems, which give him new disguises, each of which has its own special powers.
"These golden tools were developed for a king. But since gold is one of the world's softest metals, they're pretty much useless. Fun to look at, though."
Black and Grey Morality: When Wario's your hero, you know that the opposition will have to be so much worse.
Cannoli and Carpaccio both fall under gray, as while they're both unabashed thieves, Carpaccio has been secretly working toward the defeat of Terrormisu alongside the Pharaoh, and while Cannoli is clueless for most of the game he helps out Wario at the end. Terrormisu is the only really black morality character in the game.
Chekhov's Exhibit: In the museum, Goodstyle stops a few times to comment on the exhibits, which at first seem pointless to Wario. However, later in the level, Wario must solve riddles involving said exhibits.
Easter Egg: On the title screen, touching one of the knobs on Wario's TV toggles the appearance of a hidden Nintendo logo.
Enter Solution Here: The third episode had an interesting variation: Wario had to answer sphinx riddles in at least three different places to complete the level; the solution to each riddle would be the name of an object in the museum's various display cases, which Goodstyle would read the names of when you reached the room. Getting the question wrong resulted in either being set back or killed.
Everything Trying to Kill You: This game's enemy selection includes demonic kitchen utensils, disgruntled cruise ship employees, pissed off statues, killer plants, enraged seagulls, and even treasure chests.
Final Exam Boss: Two of them. The Carpaccio race tests how you can use the moves for platforming purposes and Terrormisu, while not requiring as many powers as Carpaccio, tests a lot of abilities for battling.
"This magic fishing pole will catch a fish every time you dip it in the water! But only crappie. Which actually taste better than they sound."note Note that crappie is an actual type of fish.
Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Ka Bloom! is the only boss in the game with abolutely no connection to the plot whatsoever. Poobah is very important in the game's backstory and the Barfatronic Lavachomper and Stuffy the 64th both have ties to Carpaccio.
Guide Dang It: You can use Arty Wario to hinder Carpaccio in he race. Good luck figuring that out.
One-Winged Angel: Carpaccio developed a morphing technology that lets him turn into Head Honcho Carpaccio, an enormous blue head resembling the Snow Globe and Blow Globe enemies. Notably, he only uses this form in the first battle against him—the second time, he challenges Wario to a Racing Mini Game instead of a fight.
Pals With Jesus: Carpaccio has been working alongside the ancient immortal Pharaoh in a friendly manner for quite some time now.
Paper-Thin Disguise: No matter which disguise Wario is wearing, it's still obviously Wario. Then again, he never tries to fool anyone in the first place, he is merely wearing the disguises for their powers.
Phantom Thief: Count Cannoli (The Silver Zephyr), but at the beginning of the game, Wario steals his magic wand, Goodstyle, and becomes a Phantom Thief himself (The Purple Wind). The game's Japanese title, Kaitou Wario the Seven, really spells this out — kaitou is Japanese for phantom thief, and the "seven" part suggests two classic examples, Lupin the Third and the Fiend of Twenty Faces (seven being how many costumes Wario has, besides the basic thief).
Slobs Versus Snobs: Wario's rivalry with Cannoli and Carpaccio has some shades of this.
Super Drowning Skills: Enemies will not go in the water unless they are water enemies. At least not willingly. However, in Sneezemore Cave, there is a segment with a Mr. Cheeky running around on top of breakable ice platforms above a body of water. It is possible to break these platforms by hitting them from below. By doing this, the Mr. Cheeky can be dropped into the water, which kills him instantly.
Toilet Humour: Prevalent. Certain enemies fart at you, Wario's constantly making crude jokes about his thief name, and poop appears outright in several minigames and when you mess up a painting as Arty Wario.
Unique Enemy: There are eight enemies that only show up once each: Spoonatic, Slaughterfork, Jack the Knife, Stankulus, Tooty Kamen, Blamses, Mellow Kitty, and Stuffy the 5th.
Walk, Don't Swim: Wario simply walks in water unless he's wearing the Captain Wario disguise.
Womb Level: At the end of Sneezemore Cave, Carpaccio transforms himself into a giant head. After that, he inhales Wario. Wario must then fight him from the inside. Subversion, however, in that in his transformed state Carpaccio is made of snow and ice rather than flesh, not to mention his "real" face possibly being on the inside of the snow monster.
Would Hit a Girl: Wario has no issues with beating the living crap out of Terrormisu.
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