The process for obtaining the rewards is relatively straightforward. Players who have the appropriate membership tiers for Nintendo Switch Online need only boot up Wario Land 3 and Wario Land 4 to make the different icons available to unlock with Platinum Points. Every icon that players want to receive will cost 10 Platinum Points each, unlocked for purchase through this limited-time “Play to Unlock” event during August.
Platinum Points are the currency accumulated on a player’s My Nintendo account when they complete various missions. If a player doesn’t have sufficient Platinum Points and still wants to unlock the icons, then additional effort will be required on their part to access these event-exclusive Wario-related icons.
Nintendo Switch Online rewards are permanent additions to a player’s account, even if they later cancel their membership and go back to playing their Nintendo Switch products as a free user. Unfortunately, some of these icon rewards require players to have the enhanced “Expansion Pack” version of the membership service to access the Game Boy Advance app and Wario Land 4, so those who still need to upgrade to get these icons won’t be able to get them completely for free.
The standard tier of Nintendo membership costs $19.99 per year, while the Expansion Pack upgraded membership costs $49.99 per year. A free trial is offered to new members, but it only covers the standard membership, not the Expansion Pack membership. While the Expansion Pack version is quite a bump in price, it grants access to additional Nintendo Classics game apps, including:
Those paying for the standard subscription tier still have access to NES, SNES, and Game Boy through the Nintendo Classic apps. Wario Land 3 was originally released on the Game Boy Color in 2000, and Wario Land 4 was released on the Game Boy Advance a year later in 2001.
Unfortunately, it has been quite some time since the last Wario Land-related game. The last release, Wario Land: Shake It!, was released in 2008 on the Wii. The WarioWare games have essentially replaced the Wario Land in terms of stand-alone Wario titles. Wario Land 4 was brought to Nintendo Switch Online just in February, so it’s clear that Wario is currently on Nintendo’s mind. Here’s hoping that for Wario fans’ sake, a new series title or rerelease is also one of those things on the company’s mind for the future.
