Tiny Tina's Wonderlands successfully mixes the best aspects of Borderlands games with the tested dynamic of Tina acting as Bunker Master for a Dungeons & Dragons-like tabletop RPG using typical Borderlands humor. This makes for one of the whackiest games in the series, and it also shows with Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' gameplay loop of casting spells and using guns in a fantasy setting. The game's humor is possibly the best the series has ever seen, and that comes from spot-on RPG gags as well as the multitude of references to other franchises.
Borderlands games are no strangers to referencing other franchises through jokes, quests, items, and in other weird ways, such as all the Super Mario Bros. nods across the series. This approach is not only exclusive to video games of course, and Gearbox filled Tiny Tina's Wonderlands with references to things like The Lord of the Rings or Terminator 2 - the former being quoted by Claptrap in a side mission, and the latter appearing in a death sequence for a boss. There are many of these small details that fans of other series will notice, and they make the overall experience more intimate and cozy.
Why Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' References Are Top-Notch
Because Borderlands games have historically been including Super Mario Bros. Easter eggs, from hidden levels to Legendary guns, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands could be no exception. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands players can stomp mushroom enemies similar to Goombas, the famous fungi-like monsters from Super Mario games. Another great example of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' references is the fact that the overworld section of the game allows players to go through tall grass to find random encounters, which many Pokemon fans will immediately pick up on as an allusion to the series' long-standing gimmick.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands also has two particularly well-done side quests that do similar things, one being called "The Ditcher" as a way to pay homage to The Witcher series, and the other being "Little Boys Blue" in reference to the Smurfs. The Ditcher features a demon hunter as its main character, called Gerrit of Trivia, whereas Little Boys Blue sees forest goblins turned rabid by the malevolent Garglesnot through a spell that turns them blue with white clothing. These are immediately noticeable mentions that are not only great ways of slipping in Easter eggs, but also elevate the series' humor.
Furthermore, Star Wars fans will spot the reference to George Lucas' prequel trilogy films in the Maced Wardu Legendary Ward, a nod to the Jedi master Mace Windu. Then, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands doesn't shy away from referencing both the myths of Excalibur and King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table through the Extra-Caliber sword, and in the same quest, the Holey Spell-Nade - which is a callback to the classic Holy Hand Grenade bit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Overall, while Borderlands games have been doing something similar to what Tiny Tina's Wonderlands does for years, all the references in this game seamlessly blend with the story and the game's peculiar wittiness. As such, they are not mere citations of other successful video games, literary works, or movies, but they are in their own way a core part of what makes Tiny Tina's Wonderlands stand out compared to its predecessors.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
