How to Get Wario in Super Mario 64 DS

Getting Wario

Make sure you're already playing as Luigi. To get Wario, you need to have Luigi unlocked. His ability to turn invisible lets you get to where Wario is hidden. If you have not unlocked Luigi, read our article on how to unlock Luigi.

Make sure you've beaten Bowser twice. You can't get Wario until you can get to the second highest floor of the castle, and you can't get there until you've beaten Bowser a second time. When you defeat him, you'll get the key to the upper floors of the castle. The first Bowser level is "Bowser in the Dark World." It's behind the star door on the main floor of the castle. Grab Bowser's tail and throw him into the bombs at the edge of the arena to win! The second Bowser level is "Bowser in the Fire Sea." To get there, you need to fall into the hole in the floor in the same room as the blue portal to Dire, Dire Docks. Once you get the first star in Dire Dire, Docks, the portal will move back, which lets you fall into the hole. Be careful — Bowser has learned a teleportation move and the entire arena will shift from side to side as he jumps around.

Go to the second floor of the castle. From the castle's front lobby, run up the stairs and open the big door with the lock on it. This will lead you straight to the second floor.

Go to the mirror room. On the second floor, look for a door with a star on it, but no number. If you're in the right place, you'll be in a room with several different paintings and a large mirror on one wall. If you're in a cross-shaped room with three copies of the same painting in different sizes, you're in the room for Tiny-Huge Island. Leave and try the other door.

Get the Power Flower. This power-up is in the mirror room with you. Luigi should now be invisible.

Walk through the mirror. You should now be on the other side of it! This is why you needed Luigi — Mario and Yoshi can't get here.

Jump into the Wario portrait. This will take you to a secret area where you can unlock Wario.

Complete the level. This level is fairly short, but you still need to make it to the end to have a shot at unlocking Wario. Use the instructions below to make it through in one piece: Go down the slide to the lower platform, then cross the gap to the next platform. Hop onto the moving metal platform. Hop off onto the ledge. Turn right and go over the gap. You'll be caught by a gust of air and lifted up. Land and cross the two platforms to the ice pillars. Continue until you reach the other side. Climb to the top and go into the hole to reach the boss for this level.

Defeat the boss. The boss for unlocking Wario is Chief Chilly. To beat him, you need to knock him into the water three times. Avoid falling into the water yourself — like lava, it will damage you on contact. Chilly is fought basically the same way you fight the Bullies in the lava level. You can walk up to him and punch him, but this makes it easy for him to hit you. Each time you push him into the water, he gets weaker. If you're confident, you can use the tackle (attack while running) to knock him back far. Once he's hanging off the edge, knock him into the water with a normal punch. Once you have beaten him, grab the key that he drops.

Switch to Wario in the character change room. This is the room downstairs where you originally switched to Luigi for this challenge. Enter the door with a W above it. You'll use the key you got from Chief Chilly. Congratulations! You've unlocked Wario.

Playing as Wario

Know Wario's strengths and weaknesses. Wario is bulkier than the other characters. All that bulk means that he hits harder than the other characters. You may find that you're able to beat enemies quicker and knock them back farther than normal. This strength makes him a good choice for fighting and breaking things that the other characters can't. He moves the fastest when carrying enemies. On the other hand, Wario is less agile than the other characters, meaning that he moves slower than them and doesn't jump as well, making him a bad choice for exploring new places.

Use Wario's metal power by collecting a Power Flower. Wario's special ability is to turn completely metal. This makes him extremely heavy and invincible to enemy attacks. It also makes him sink in water. When he reaches the bottom of a body of water, he'll be able to walk around instead of swimming. For example, you need to make Wario metal for star seven of Jolly Roger Bay. This lets him walk under the water and through the jet stream so that he can reach the star.

Use Wario's moves to your advantage. Wario has a few different moves than other characters that compliment his bulk. Knowing how to use these moves is essential for getting all 150 stars in the game. See below: Press a to give a powerful whack. This allows you to break things other players can't. You can also use Wario's ground pound (done the same way as the other characters) to break things. For instance, you need to do this on star seven of Cool, Cool, Mountain to break the ice on the pond so you can reach the star. He can ground pound posts and signs once rather than two-three times. He is also the only character that can grab signs and throw them. Wario can knock out opponents slightly longer and grab them. Press A to grab an opponent, then use the Touch Screen in a circular pad to swing them around, then press A again to throw them. This only works in VS. Mode.