Gameplay
The player controls Wario through 25 levels. The main goal is to find a key and use it to open a treasure chest of the same color. There are four treasure chests in each world.
Unlike Wario Land II, the levels are not played in a fixed order. They appear on a large map and are unlocked one by one. Some treasures affect other worlds or unlock new areas.
Some paths are blocked until Wario completes a minigame. These minigames are golf games in which Wario must get the ball into the hole within a certain number of shots. They cost coins to play.
After each level, the game changes between day and night. This is important because some treasures can only be collected at a certain time.
Wario cannot be hurt by enemies. Unlike in the previous game, touching an enemy does not make him lose coins.
At the start of the game, Wario has lost his memory after the plane crash. He can only perform basic actions such as jumping and charging. He must relearn other abilities, including his stomp attack, swimming, and throwing enemies and objects.
Each level also contains eight Music Coins. Collecting them colors parts of a small golf course. Collecting all of the Music Coins unlocks another golf course in a bonus game. The bonus game becomes available after Wario finds eight crayons as treasures.
