The team at 1Up.com has gone ahead and imported the Japanese version of the upcoming Wario: Master of Disguise for the Nintendo DS in order to check out what North America will be playing come March, elaborating on those touch screen abilities at long last.  It seems that this latest Wario adventure is part traditional platformer and part Kirby Canvas Curse in terms of stylus action.

Wario quickly puts the touch screen through its paces; as per usual, transformation is his greatest weapon. Unlike previous adventures, though, it's not collisions with bad guys that allow Wario to change shapes but rather a magic wand that he swipes from an elderly magician. (No one ever said Wario was nice.) The wand enables seven different transformations acquired gradually over the course of the quest. Changing forms is simply a matter of drawing the appropriate symbol over Wario; there's no magic meter to worry about, no limited allocation of points or consumables. It's possible to change at any time, provided you can scribble the necessary symbol in the heat of the moment.

I'm still looking forward to this one, although there's one issue on which I can no longer remain silent.  I alluded to this the last time I wrote something about Master of Disguise, but now I'm just going to outright ask you all for your opinion on the matter: doesn't it look like Wario stole Darkwing Duck's mask?  Check out the purple mask attached to the game's Japanese logo up there.  Doesn't it look just a little too familiar?  Hmm?