Desert Ruins
- This article is about the level in Wario Land 3. For the stadium in Mario Strikers: Battle League, see Desert Ruin.
| Level | |
|---|---|
| Desert Ruins | |
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| Game | Wario Land 3 |
| << Directory of levels >> | |
Desert Ruins, also known as The Western Ruins[1], is a structure found in Wario Land 3 of the Wario Land series. It serves as the first of six levels found at the west side of the music box world. This level is accessible after Wario finds the Blue and Green Tablets in The Peaceful Village and The Vast Plain, causing the door to open up the path to the Desert Ruins.
The Desert Ruins are a big structure located in the center of a nameless desert. The level is mainly composed of two building on opposite sides themed after the moon to the west and the sun to the east, two big pools of quicksand, and an underground tunnel that lies beneath them. Both buildings have huge gates which only open during a specific time of the day: the western temple opens at night and the eastern temple opens at day. Both of these gates are breakable if the Super Smash power-up is acquired, through the Garlic of the Tower of Revival. The level of quicksand changes depending on the time of the day. At night, the level is almost free of quicksand, with the only exception being a small underground puddle. During daytime, the pools are filled with quicksand to the brim. The boss found in this level is Yellow Belly.
Treasures
Gray Chest: Top Half of Scroll
The Top Half of Scroll[2] is located in the sun temple in the Gray Chest. This treasure is accessible during the daytime as the door to the temple is blocked during nighttime, since the player do not have the Super Smash to break the gate during this point of the game. On the way to the right to the sun temple, the narrow platforms have Sand Hands occasionally emerging, where they will pull Wario into the quicksand, requiring jumping through the platforms again if that were to happen. In the building before the gate, there is a room with several Spearheads and a Gray key in a narrow gap accessible from high up. This narrow gap requires jumping while crouching to access.
Within the temple, the door leading to the Gray Chest requires travelling downwards through the ladders and breakable blocks, while avoiding the Spear-bots and Hammer-bots, the latter impeding progress by triggering Bouncy Wario to cause him to move away from the door. From the door in the room with the Gray Chest, the chest is on the other side of the open pillar.
The Top Half of Scroll is one part of two treasures, and if both this and The Bottom Half of Scroll are collected, both of them are combined and then the cyclone is subsided, rendering the The Volcano's Base accessible.
Red Chest: Bottom Half of Scroll
The Bottom Half of Scroll[2] is found at the Desert Ruins, and is located in the moon temple in the Red Chest. This treasure is accessible during the nighttime as the door to the temple is blocked during daytime, since the player do not have the Super Smash to break the gate during this point of the game. Unlike daytime, the quicksand is absent on the surface, and thus no Sand Hands are present to pull Wario down. In the building before the gate, there are two Doughnuteers on the way to the Red Key. The square blocks next to the moon-patterned block in the upper level is breakable, though at this point of the game only Fat Wario can break it.
Within the temple, the door leading to the Red Chest is three ladders up. On the way, there are a Para-Goom, three Beam Robotas, and three Silkies. The Beam Robota immobilizes Wario while the Silkies will set Wario back, impeding progress to the chest. From the door in the room with the Red Chest, the chest is on the other side of the open pillar.
The Bottom Half of Scroll is one part of two treasures, and if both this and The Top Half of Scroll are collected, both of them are combined and then the cyclone is subsided, rendering the The Volcano's Base accessible.
Green Chest: Crayon (pink)
The Crayon[3] is the treasure of the Green Chest. It is located at the moon temple on the left side from the beginning. This treasure is accessible after finding the Head Smash Helmet from The Frigid Sea. If the Super Smash isn't obtained, the room can only be visited at night as the moon gate can't be broken otherwise. Within the moon temple at the highest platform climbable by ladders, the breakable block is visible. The block next to it is also breakable. In the floor above those breakable blocks, there is a Golf Minigame room that requires completing in order to open the way to the chest. To the left of that room, there are two sets of breakable blocks. The floor below the nearest set of breakable blocks is also breakable, which leads to the Green Key. Alternatively, the Green Key can also be collected by breaking the block next to the room leading to the Red Chest.
To get to the Green Chest, the block next to the entrance to the moon temple needs to be broken. It can only be broken with Ball o' String Wario triggered by one of the Silkies. To the left of this block, there is a gate that requires the Golf Minigame needs to be cleared. After both obstacles are dealt with, there is a ladder leading to the Green Chest, where three Beam Robota are next to. They impede progress since Wario will fall from the ladder if their beams strike him.
Once the crayon has been collected, it flies to a hill on the north side of the world. A building resembling a tower can be found there, complete with a door and a sign that reads "GAME". The scene is initially monochrome, but gains another color for each crayon Wario manages to find. There are seven crayons in total hidden throughout the game, and once Wario finds all of them, he will be able to play the Golf Minigame found there. The pink crayon colors the bricks on the building itself.
Blue Chest: Bottom Half of Sun Medallion
The Bottom Half of Sun Medallion[4] is located at the moon temple. In order to access it, the Super Jump Slam Overalls from the Castle of Illusions is needed, which is used to execute a Smash Attack on the blocks next to the temple's entrance to reveal a floor beneath it. There is a door on that floor that leads to a room with Kobatto and light rays shining through the windows. In order to obtain the Blue Key, Vampire Wario needs to be triggered by Kobatto so that he can fly to the top where the key is, while avoiding the rays of light since they turn Wario back to normal.
The door leading to the Blue Chest requires finding a switch so that the platform towards the door is pushed out to be able to enter it. This switch is located in a room beneath where the Kobatto is, revealed by breaking the fifth block on the floor, and then breaking the blocks towards the left. In this room, there is a Hammer-Bot that requires throwing a barrel at it to bring it down, and it is required to trigger Bouncy Wario so that Wario can reach the platform near the switch. The switch is blocked by breakable blocks. After toggling the platforms with the switch, Vampire Wario must be triggered again to fly to that platform since the ladder leading to the room is blocked off from one of the blocks.
In this room, Wario will drop and the boss battle with Yellow Belly commences. It will opens the battle by swooping down at Wario, trying to stab him with one of his two pointy weapons. If Wario gets stung, Puffy Wario is triggered and float out of the battle towards the pipe. The pipe leads to the platform to the boss room, and if that happens because the boss is not defeated, the boss has to be restarted. To damage Yellow Belly, Wario must use a Smash Attack on its head, causing an air pump to drop. Stepping on this pump causes the boss to inflate and speed up its attacks in the next phase. After three pumps have been stepped on, Yellow Belly explodes and the screen reveals a hole below, leading to the Blue Chest.
The Sun Medallion, which is formed from this half and the one from Sea Turtle Rocks, affects the east part of the world. Initially, the east side is trapped in an eternal night that cannot be toggled by the Day or Night Spell. After completing the Sun Medallion, new paths are accessible in The Colossal Hole, The Frigid Sea, and the Castle of Illusions during the daytime. Respectively, the owls rest on the ground (this event is plays in the cutscene) so that Wario can grab them more easily, the frozen waterfall flows so that Wario can pass through it, and light breaks through the windows so that one of the thin platforms leading to a new area can be stepped on by turning Zombie Wario back to normal.
Musical Coins
| Location | Description |
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In the sun temple where the room to the Gray Chest is, there is a Musical Coin three levels below the entrance. If visiting the level at night, the Super Smash is required to break the gate. |
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In the sun temple where the room to the Gray Chest is, the Musical Coin is at the bottom-most level. It can be accessed by breaking the block on the floor to the left of the entrance to the Gray Chest. |
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In the sun temple where the room to the Gray Chest is, the Musical Coin is at the top-most level. It can be accessed by using a Hammer-bot to trigger Bouncy Wario, and then breaking the top-right block at the ceiling from where the entrance it. To the left, there is the Musical Coin and a pillar blocking it. That pillar can be broken by throwing a Spear-bot at it. |
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The Musical Coin is underground, which can only be reached by breaking the blocks below the entrance to the moon temple during the day (the gate to reach the entrance can be broken with a Super Smash during the day) since the quicksand prevents Wario from using a Dash Attack or a Smash Attack. The quicksand is absent at night so Wario can also break the blocks underneath the platforms to the left from the entrance. To the right below the ladder, Wario has to crawl past a narrow passageway to reach two breakable pillars, and past them is where the Musical Coin is. |
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From where the previous Musical Coin is, there are two breakable blocks to the right. The Musical Coin is past those two blocks. At night, there are breakable blocks above this Musical Coin that can be broken with a Smash Attack to reach it. |
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In the moon temple, there is an unstructured block on the floor to the right of the entrance. In the floor below, there are three pillars that can only be thrown by throwing an enemy on them. The Musical Coin is to the left of the last of the three pillars. |
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In the room where the blue key is, a Musical Coin is below the light that is second from the top. |
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In the room where the blue key is, there is a secret entrance that is reachable by breaking the fifth block on the floor, and then breaking the blocks towards the left. In this room, there is a Hammer-Bot that requires throwing a barrel at it to bring it down, and it is required to trigger Bouncy Wario so that Wario can reach the Musical Coin at the top-right. |
Enemies
- Sand Hand (6), (day only)
- Spearhead (9)
- Spear-bot (3)
- Hammer-bot (7)
- Doughnuteer (2)
- Para-Goom (3)
- Beam Robota (6)
- Silky (3)
- Kobatto (1)
Reaction abilities in this level
- Ball o' String Wario (via Silky)
- Bouncy Wario (via Hammer-bot)
- Fat Wario (via Doughnuteer)
- Puffy Wario (via Yellow Belly)
- Vampire Wario (via Kobatto)
Gallery
The exteriors of Desert Ruins at day.
The exteriors of Desert Ruins at night.
Inside one of the temples.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 砂漠の遺跡 Sabaku no Iseki |
Desert Ruins |
References
- ^ Nintendo Power Volume 133, page 64.
- ^ a b Brady, Matthew K., Nathan Beittenmiller, Debra McBride, and David Cassady. Game Boy Game Secrets, 2001 Edition Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Page 90.
- ^ Brady, Matthew K., Nathan Beittenmiller, Debra McBride, and David Cassady. Game Boy Game Secrets, 2001 Edition Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Page 93.
- ^ Brady, Matthew K., Nathan Beittenmiller, Debra McBride, and David Cassady. Game Boy Game Secrets, 2001 Edition Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Page 95.
