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Wai Wai World 2: SOS! Parsley Castle (1991)
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Platform: Nintendo Famicom
Stages: 9
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Japanese Version
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Konami Wai Wai World for the Famicom was the first time that characters from classic Konami games got together, and tried to save the world from an evil menace. Apparently the idea was loved so much that Konami made a sequel, this time ditching the adventure aspects in favor of a more linear action approach. The gameplay is entirely different this time around, but you still control various characters from the Konami universe in pursuit of your goal.
I guess that some princess has been kidnapped, and Parsley Castle is under attack, so it's up to the main character Rick and his video game companions to save the day. At the beginning of the game, you can choose four "configurations" consisting of three Konami heroes. Among these characters are Goemon, Bill (from Contra), Upa (from a Japanese Famicom game and also in various Parodius titles), Fuuma (from another FC game, Getsufuu Maden), and of course, Simon Belmont. When you destroy certain power-up capsules (which float by in Contra-like containers) you can pick with characters to temporarily transform into. You don't sustain damage in this form, but seconds are shaved off the timer - once it hits zero, you're back to Rick. Each characters has their own attacks: Bill has a far-reaching guns that can also shoot upwards, Goemon has his pipes that act as boomerangs, Upa can turn his enemies into clouds to make certain jumps easier, and Simon has his trademark whip (which is very powerful and has a decent range, but is very slow.)
Each level takes place in the heroes games - the Contra level is an alien infested jungle, while the Getsufuu Maden stage is in the bloody underworld. There are even mini shooter games like Twinbee and Gradius that are quite cool. Of course, since this is a Castlevania page, you'll be wanting to know about the Castlevania level, which is right at the end of the game. After crossing the entrance to the castle in a Frogger-like mini-game, you fight through sections that looks mostly like the first levels from Castlevania 1 and 3. Various CV tunes are played here too, with the boss being a coffin with legs and one of those spring-out punching gloves. There are other little neat touches, like the Ebisumaru (a hero from the Goemon games, in case you aren't aware) statue on the collapsing bridge, and the penguins in the stained glass windows. Nice touches.
Overall Konami World 2 is a very fun, especially the two-player action, the shooting games and all of the references to other Konami titles. If there's any downfall, it's that it's a bit too easy - as a whole, the game's a piece of cake. But otherwise, it's another one of those great Famicom games that would've been awesome in America, but just never came to be.
Wai Wai World Artwork
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Castlevania Games - Wai Wai World 2: SOS! Parsley Castle
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