Wario’s Woods
Wario’s Woods is a puzzle game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the mid 1994. It was one of the last officially licensed games released for the NES, as it came out extremely late in the NES’ life span, and right in the middle of the SNES’. It’s a little unusual that Nintendo decided to release two nearly simultaneous versions of the game like this, though it wasn’t totally unprecedented back then. Sometimes companies would release stripped down versions of their new games on older systems, for the folks that didn’t make the upgrade. Both versions of the game contain the same type of gameplay, but the NES version has far less going for it in terms of extra bells and whistles. As such, the SNES version is the clear winner, and that’s the version this review will focus on. Wario’s Woods is a very interesting puzzle game. It came out at a time when Tetris clones were a dime-a-dozen, and while it follows a similar structure, it contains some very original mechanics. The game may not be the best in the genre, but it’s one of the most unique.
The story to this game is pretty unusual, just like everything else about it. Despite being in the game’s title, Wario isn’t the good guy in this game. Wario originated in Super Mario Land 2 as an antagonist, but he eventually got his own series in which he was the protagonist. That’s not the case here, as Wario is the bad guy in Wario’s Woods. The game takes place in a peaceful location known as Peaceful Woods, except Wario claims the woods for himself by placing a wicked spell on its inhabitants. All the creatures that lived in the woods were now under the control of Wario, and he uses them to try and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. So it’s obviously up to Mario, the Italian plumber hero of the Mushroom Kingdom to save the day, right? Wrong. For whatever reason, Mario is nowhere to be found. Instead, it’s all up to Toad, a mushroom fellow first playable in Super Mario Bros. 2. Toad is an unlikely hero, as he is usually a minor character in most of the Mario games. Toad is not alone on his adventure to thwart Wario, however. A fairy named Wanda will aid Toad in his quest with magic. It gets weirder. Birdo, a regular boss from Super Mario Bros. 2, will also be helping Toad, but only by providing moral support. Wario’s Woods certainly has a strange premise for a Mario game, though I guess it can’t be classified as such, since Mario isn’t even in the game.
Most puzzle games of this sort are based on the Tetris formula of blocks that slowly fall from the top of the screen and need to be manipulated in some way to clear them out. This game follows a similar formula, except instead of controlling the blocks with a cursor, you do so with Toad. Toad is controlled as if you were playing a side-scrolling game, and you’re supposed to use him to arrange the falling objects. Toad can pick up and carry objects above his head, either individually or entire stacks, and he can put them down just about anywhere. He’s also able to kick objects around, like the kick power-up in Bomberman. Speaking of Bomberman, the objects that fall down in Wario’s Woods are not blocks, but rather bombs and enemies. The objective in Wario’s Woods is to pair the bombs and enemies of the same color to destroy them, eventually exterminating all the enemies in a given stage. You don’t need to destroy all of the bombs, as they are merely there to facilitate the destruction of enemies. The bare minimum to destroy stuff is a three chain, where three things of the same color are matched up vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. You need to include at least one bomb per chain, otherwise nothing will happen. Like in any puzzle game of this type, bigger chains of explosions can be created to your benefit, provided you do some clever planning. The way you have to account for Toad’s position adds a very interesting element to the gameplay not seen in other Tetris clones.
In the SNES version of the game, you have a fair amount of modes to choose from. The first main mode of the game is Round Mode. Round Mode is the standard mode of the game, where clearing out all enemies attains you victory and enables you to move onto the next round. A basic mechanic of this mode is that Birdo and Wario show up to provide helpful and harmful effects. When Birdo is present, you’ll have the friendly fairy from the game’s story helping you from the top of the screen by dropping bombs, but she goes away when Wario shows up. Wario will sic a nasty sparrow on you that creates more enemies, which impedes your way to victory. Also, Wario will occasionally hit the side of the stage to make the massive Thwomp at the top go down a bit, giving you less room to work with. A timer determines whether Birdo or Wario appears. It’s possible to alter this timer by getting big chains; doing so keeps Birdo around longer and makes Wario retreat faster. Each round is harder than the last, culminating in the game’s greatest challenge. As you progress into the later rounds, you will start encountering enemies that can’t be easily blown up like the standard foes. For example, there’s a specific type of enemy that can only be blown up diagonally, making it far more difficult to eliminate these guys. This is by far the longest mode, being that it consists of over 100 rounds.
Versus Mode is the real McCoy in Wario’s Woods. This one follows most of the same rules as the standard mode, but pits you against another opponent in a bombastic battle. Winning a match comes down to exterminating all the vermin on your side of the arena before your opponent does. Three wins are required before you beat a given opponent for good. There are lots of different stages with plenty of opponents to face in this mode, so you’ll be at it for a long while. What makes this mode more exciting than the standard one is that you can hinder your opponent by getting chains. The same can also be done to you. Something that really helps in getting a massive chain is to bomb four or more things at once; doing that will make a gem appear. Matching the gem with three other objects of the same color will annihilate all monsters of that color, usually causing lots of chains in addition to helping you clear things out. Getting chains will do stuff like lower the Thwomp on your opponent’s side, or cause a row of monsters to appear, adding to their workload. You can also play Versus Mode with a human opponent for some competitive two player action. Overall, the Versus Mode makes this game worth its while.
Wario’s Woods is a one-of-a-kind game. Sure, there are a ton of Tetris clones out there, many of which came out around the same era as this game, but Wario’s Woods does something completely different from those other imitators. It’s also got great graphics, music, and polished controls, if you’re playing the SNES version. The NES version isn’t anywhere near as good, but it’s still serviceable. Mechanically, Wario’s Woods is very deep and engaging. It’s one of the most complex games of its type, while still being simple enough to be approachable. All in all, Wario’s Woods is one of the better Tetris clones out there, in addition to being one of the more interesting. If you like games like Tetris Attack, then you should give Wario’s Woods a try.
