Wario's Woods (Nintendo Entertainment System)

This article is about the Famicom and NES version. For the SNES version, see Wario's Woods (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). For the location it takes place in, see Wario's Woods (location).

Wario's Woods
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer	Nintendo (no specific division), Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Family Computer, Nintendo Entertainment System, Virtual Console (Wii, 3DS, Wii U), Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online
Release date	Famicom/NES: Template:Release Virtual Console (Wii): Template:Release Virtual Console (3DS): Template:Release Virtual Console (Wii U): Template:Release Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online: Template:Release[?]
Language(s)	English (United States) Japanese
Genre	Puzzle
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Kids to Adults ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Three years and older
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Format	NES: Game Pak Wii: Digital download Wii U: Digital download Nintendo Switch: Digital download Nintendo 3DS: Digital download
Input	NES: NES Controller Wii: Wii Remote (horizontal) Classic Controller Nintendo GameCube Controller Wii U: Wii U GamePad Wii Remote (horizontal) Classic Controller Wii U Pro Controller Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Joy-Con (horizontal) Nintendo Switch Pro Controller NES Controller Nintendo 3DS: Gamepad
Serial code(s)	HVC-UW (Japan)

Wario's Woods is a puzzle game that released for the Family Computer and Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. It is also one of the many playable games in Animal Crossing for the Nintendo GameCube; it can be obtained through using interacting with an islander using the game's Animal Island mode on the Game Boy Advance.

This version is notable for being not only the last first-party game produced for the console, but the last game with Nintendo's official license to be released for the platform in North America. As a result of its late release, it was the only game in the NES library at the time to have an official rating by the ESRB, being rated K-A for Kids to Adults. The game is known for being one of only two games that have Toad as the main starring protagonist (the other being Kinopio Live for the Satellaview), though Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker's main character is Captain Toad, a similar character. Wario's Woods was released to the Wii Virtual Console on November 19, 2006 in America, and December 7-12, 2006 in the PAL regions and Japan. Wario's Woods was later released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console and Wii U Virtual Console in 2013, where it received the E for Everyone rating, and was made available to Nintendo Switch Online members from December 12, 2018.

Story

The story from the instruction booklet:

The Peaceful Woods were once a friendly home for sprites and gentle creatures. Since the invasion of Wario and his band of monsters, though, this quiet community has been turned upside-down. Now, it is Wario's Woods and peaceful creatures are not welcome.

Toad, the Mushroom Kingdom hero, has made his way to Wario's Woods in order to quiet the sinister lout and win the woods back for the sprites. The sprites can create bombs. It's Toad's job to take the bombs and line them up with the enemies of the woods so that the enemies go down in defeat.

If Toad clears enough monster-packed sections of the forest, he'll go up against the mighty Wario himself.

Gameplay

A gameplay screenshot from Wario's Woods

The game plays similarly to drop-down puzzle games such as Tetris. Toad is the main hero, and Birdo and a Sprite help Toad by giving him encouragement and bombs to destroy the monsters, respectively. A time bar is displayed below Birdo, and if it fills up completely, Wario replaces Birdo and turns the Sprite into a Pidgit, which throws more monsters at Toad, while a Thwomp drops bombs in the Sprite's place. Wario has his own time bar, and occasionally performs a body slam attack on the side of his box to make the Thwomp descend; however, destroying monsters or bombs in specific ways will cause the Thwomp to rise back upward. When his own timer fills up, Wario leaves while Birdo and the Sprite return. This cycle repeats for the rest of the round. The player wins by destroying all monsters on the field, while any remaining bombs will disappear automatically; the player loses if the field fills up with monsters and bombs to the point that Toad can no longer move.

Several types of monsters appear in the game. Fuzzes, Spuds, and Squeaks can be cleared with a bomb at a minimum of 3 in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally; Beakers and Scrams can only be cleared diagonally; Dovos will change color after one bomb and require a second bomb of their new color before they are cleared; Spooks merely start flashing when they are attacked with a bomb, and they must be cleared with a second bomb while they flash for a limited time.

If the player destroys 5 or more bombs/monsters in a row, a diamond will appear which can be used as a bomb to clear all monsters of that color. Monsters can also be destroyed in chain reactions that affect the timer, allowing Birdo and the Sprite to stay longer or causing Wario and Pidgit to exit early.

Game modes

The main menu has five options: Round Game (type A and B), Time Race, VS, Lesson Mode, and Option.

Round Game

Round Game types A and B are played solo on a 7-column wide field. A Gold Coin bonus is available at the start of each round, but it can only be earned in full if Wario does not appear at all; every time Wario enters or leaves, the bonus is reduced by 20% of the starting amount, with no bonus awarded at all if Wario appears three times in the round. After the round is won, Toad must manually collect the bonus Coins that fall from the top of the screen, and they only remain on the ground for a few seconds before disappearing. For every 30 Gold Coins collected, the player earns a Continue, which may be used to retry the same round if lost. The player is also allowed to continue at any out of every 5th round by selecting that round number from the menu.

Round Game type B features a boss battle at the 9th of every 10 rounds. The Sprite is present for the entire round, and the boss will throw monsters at Toad while occasionally using special attacks or teleporting to different parts of the field. Each boss has a health meter where Birdo or Wario are normally shown, and there is no timer during the round. To reduce its health, Toad must attack the boss by linking it as part of any line of monsters/bombs that he destroys. The round is won when the boss is defeated, even if there are still any monsters on the field; the round is lost if the boss reappears on top of Toad or if the field fills up completely.

Time Race

Like the Round Game, the Time Race is played solo on a 7-column wide field. The player is given the choice of Easy, Normal, or Hard courses, with sets of 2 to 5 rounds offered in each mode. The player attempts to complete the set in the best time, and there is no additional penalty when Birdo or Wario appears.

After a set is completed, if the player achieves a new best time, it is entered into the Player Records. When all sets are completed in any mode, the combined time is entered into the All-Time Records, listing time rankings from Gold, Silver, and Bronze down to 7th place. The player's rank is then added to a Technical Rank Certification with all three course difficulties.

VS

This mode requires two players and may only be played with another human player. Before starting, players are given the choice of which two types of monsters appear on the field, and each player is also allowed to select their own difficulty individually.

Players occupy their own 6-column wide fields and have their own timers that determine if a Sprite or Pidgit will be present. As Wario does not appear, players can force their opponent's Thwomp to descend by destroying 4 or more bombs/monsters in a row. In addition to affecting the player's own timer, chain reactions will fill an entire column with monsters on the opponent's field, while using a diamond will turn all of the opponent's bombs into monsters. The player to clear their own field wins the round, though they can also win by default if their opponent is no longer able to move. The first player to win 3 rounds will win the match.

Lesson Mode

This gives the player the options to Learn Moves or Practice the game. The player can learn moves such as pressing the A or B buttons to grab monsters or bombs, climbing, and pressing A and down to kick.

In Practice mode, the Sprite will drop bombs so that Toad can clear any monsters on the field, though the Sprite may temporarily stop so that the field does not fill up. Each round uses a different type of monster so that the player can learn how they are cleared. Practice mode has 12 rounds in total.

Cutscenes

Toad encountering a regular sized Wario in a cutscene.

Toad encountering a larger Wario in a later cutscene.

In the Round Game modes, the game takes on a story mode sequence with cutscenes being frequently encountered throughout the game. These cutscenes take place before every 10th round, and they are scenes of Wario taunting Toad as the hero gets closer to defeating Wario. In most of these cutscenes, Wario often calls Toad insulting names such as "'Shroom", in order to discourage him from keeping up with his victory. Wario also appears to grow in size throughout the game, alluding to an increase in his powers. In the final round levels, Wario can be seen at a gargantuan size, although it is revealed that he was just inflating himself with an air pump. In the end, Toad can finally be seen chasing Wario out of the woods.

Characters

Protagonists

• Toad
• Green Toad (Player 2 in VS mode)
• Sprite
• Birdo

Antagonists

• Wario
• Thwomp
• Pidgit

Bosses

• Fauster
• Boom
• Mad
• Goro
• Seizer
• Drago
• Fake Wario

Enemies

• Fuzz
• Spud
• Squeak
• Beaker
• Scram
• Spook
• Dovo

Staff

Main article: List of Wario's Woods staff

Wario's Woods was co-developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Nintendo's Kenji Miki was the producer and director, while programming was handled by Intelligent Systems' Hiroyuki Yukami, Hironobu Suzuki, and Makoto Katayama. Soichiro Tomita, Masahiro Iimura, and Naotaka Ohnishi designed the graphics while the music was written by Shinobu Amayake and Soyo Oka.

Quotes

Main article: List of Wario's Woods quotes

Gallery

Main article: Gallery:Wario's Woods

References to other games

• Super Mario Bros. 2: Toad carries and throws his opponents in a similar way to this game. Additionally, his superhuman strength also originated from this game. Enemies such as the Spud resemble various items from this game. Wario's Woods also marks Birdo's Super Mario franchise reappearance since this game.
• Mario & Wario: The Sprites of the Peaceful Woods may be a reference to the exotic fairy Wanda of Yōsei no Mori.

References in later games

• Mario Superstar Baseball: Both Toad and Wario share bad chemistry with each other in the game, which might be a reference to the events of Wario's Woods. Oddly, the two share neutral chemistry in the sequel.
• WarioWare: Smooth Moves: The microgame Super Nostalgic Entertainment System involves the player placing a cartridge of Wario's Woods correctly into a Famicom in the Japanese version.
• NES Remix 2: Several challenges are based off of this version.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ワリオの森[?] Wario no Mori	Wario's Woods

Trivia

• In his sprites, Wario's cap and shirt are purple and white respectively instead of the correct yellow. This is due to the console's palette and color limitations. On the game cover, his cap and shirt are still yellow.
• The Family Computer, PAL NES, and SNES versions all have different soundtracks.
• A mode noticeably inspired by Wario's Woods called "Blob Blast", featuring familiar bombs and stylus controls, appears in Brain Age: Concentration Training. This is a similar homage to the Dr. Mario-influenced Virus Buster mode appearing in previous Brain Age games.

External links

• Official Japanese webpage