Wario's Woods (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)

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

Wario's Woods
SNES box art For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer	Nintendo (no specific division), Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Satellaview
Release date	SNES: December 10, 1994[?] 1995[?] Satellaview: April 23, 1995[?]
Language(s)	SNES: English (United States) Satellaview: Japanese
Genre	Puzzle
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Kids to Adults ACB: - General
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Format	Super NES: Game Pak
Input	Super NES: Super NES Controller
Serial code(s)	SNS-65-USA

Wario's Woods is a puzzle game released for the SNES in 1994. 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 SNES's Japan-only Satellaview add-on), though Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker's main character is Captain Toad, a similar character.

Story

The story from the instruction booklet:

The Peaceful Woods was once the friendly home of sprites and other gentle forest creatures. Wario and his band of monsters invaded, though, and spoiled the serenity of the woods. The quiet, woodlands community has now been turned upside-down by these horrifying events. Wario has now named the woods after himself, and peaceful creatures are not welcome. Toad, the Mushroom Kingdom hero, has decided to travel to Wario's Woods and put an end to Wario's evil reign of terror. Toad knows that, with the sprites^[sic] help, he will be able to rid the forest of Mario's twisted nemesis. Thankfully, the sprites are able to create bombs. It's Toad's job to line up the bombs with the enemies of the woods, thus defeating those evil creatures. By clearing more and more of the woods, Toad steps ever close to the ultimate challenge of facing Wario.

Gameplay

The SNES version of Wario's Woods

The game plays almost identically to the NES version. Toad is the main hero, and Birdo and a Sprite help Toad by giving him encouragement and bombs to destroy the monsters, respectively. If Toad takes too long to complete a level, Wario replaces Birdo and turns the Sprite into a Pidgit, which throws more monsters at Toad while a Thwomp drops bombs. Wario occasionally performs a body slam attack on the side of his box to make the Thwomp ceiling descend; however, destroying enemies may cause the Thwomp to rise back upward. Like the NES version, Toad can clear 5 monsters/bombs in a row to create diamonds, and he can set off chain reactions that allow Birdo and Sprite to stay or force Wario and Pidgit to leave.

Pidgit may randomly drop a spotted egg (resembling a Yoshi's Egg) onto the field which hatches into a monster when it lands, and it will sometimes generate a complete row of that monster which falls from the top of the screen. The color and type of monster will match any of the remaining monster or bomb colors that are on the field as soon as the egg appears.

Game modes

The SNES menu of Wario's Woods.

This main menu has six options: VS COM, VS 2P, Round Game, Time Race, Lesson, and Option. Most are the same as their NES counterparts, but more robust.

VS 2P and VS COM

VS 2P is the same as VS mode on the NES. Both players occupy their own fields and have their own timers, and a player can force their opponent's Thwomp to descend or add more monsters by using diamonds or setting off chain reactions. The first to win 3 rounds wins the match.

The exclusive VS COM essentially follows the same rules as VS 2P, but is played against the computer. It allows the player to play on three possible difficulty settings against computer-controlled opponents, who are new characters original to this game, such as Katsini, the first opponent. Bosses are made the focus of VS COM, with the bosses and settings varying from each level in the game. The level settings in order are the same woods used for VS 2P mode, followed by a grassy clifftop, an underwater cave, a badland pass, and finally Wario's castle. Like in the NES version, they attempt to stop Toad's attempt to save the Sprites' forest. Upon defeating all the bosses within VS COM, Toad meets Wario himself, and the two duel against each other in the game's final stage.

Cutscenes in VS COM mode consist of the interactions between Toad and each of the opponents that he encounters throughout his adventure, including Wario at the end of the game. Their interactions are all based on their respective personalities, and each opponent often taunts Toad before beginning their battles. If Toad loses against an opponent, they also make fun of and insult him, often causing his emotions to change as depicted by his appearance in each of the cutscenes.

Round Game

When the player selects a round number from the Round Game menu, or before every 20th round, there is a cutscene of Wario flying over the woods in his airplane as Toad advances, after which the round begins. A Gold Coin bonus is available at the start of each round, but it is reduced by 20% of the starting amount every time Wario enters or leaves. After the round is won, Toad must manually collect the bonus Coins that fall from the top of the screen before they disappear, and the threshold for earning a Continue in the Round Game is now 50 Gold Coins.

The settings for the Round Game are the starting woods from rounds 1-19, a badland pass from rounds 20-39, a crystal forest from rounds 40-59, a nighttime forest from rounds 60-79, and Wario's castle from rounds 80-99. If the player defeats Wario and advances to round 100, the setting reverts to the starting woods.

In the end, Toad bombs Wario's castle, causing it and his airplane to be destroyed, sending him falling to the ground. Wario's defeat allows the creatures of the woods to return to living in peace.

• 

  Round Game before the level begins

• 

  Ice area (mid-game)

• 

  Wario's Castle, the last location

Time Race

Time Race mode gives the player the option to play Easy, Normal, or Hard courses, with sets of 2 to 5 rounds in each mode. The player's best times are entered into the Player Records, and 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 course difficulties.

Lesson

Lesson mode offers lessons for the player to learn how to use the A, B, X, and Y buttons in the game, how to make a diamond appear, how to form a chain reaction, and other miscellaneous techniques. Each lesson is divided into 9 examples, and the player may return to the menu by pressing the Start button.

Characters

Toad facing off against Katsini, one of the mini-bosses from the SNES version

Protagonists

• Toad
• Green Toad (Player 2 in VS mode)
• Sprite
• Birdo
• Abata (Satellaview version only)

Antagonists

• Wario
• Thwomp
• Pidgit

Bosses

• Katsini
• Galrog
• Harley Q
• SamSpook
• Sven
• Parrotor
• Mssr Boo
• Aqualea
• Razor
• Tad Rock
• Thak
• Lizardon
• Sarissa
• Mangylox
• Dedar
• Carlton
• Harry H

Enemies

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

Satellaview versions

Title screen of Wario no Mori Bakushō Version

Menu screen of Wario no Mori Bakushō Version

Unlike International releases, Wario's Woods was never released as a Super Famicom cartridge. However, three variations were exclusively released for the Satellaview add-on:

• Wario no Mori Bakushō Version (ワリオの森 爆笑バージョン, lit. "Wario's Woods Burst of Laughter Version") is a version where many of the character graphics are replaced with caricatures of Japanese celebrities. Satebô, one of the two mascots of the Satellaview, is also featured on the title screen, but does not appear in the gameplay itself.
• Wario no Mori Futatabi (ワリオの森 再び, lit. "Wario's Woods Again") is a version that lacks the edited graphics, making it more similar to the English release. However, there are also other removals, such as the round-game-style Single Player mode and Story Mode Dialog. Catherine (Birdo) was also replaced by the female avatar from the Satellaview hub, BS-X それは名前を盗まれた街の物語 (BS-X : The Story of The Town Whose Name Was Stolen).
• Wario no Mori Event Version (ワリオの森 イベントバージョン, lit. "Wario's Woods Event Version") is a version based on Wario no Mori Bakushō Version. Two versions of this variation exist: the first was broadcasted on May 18, 1995, and the second on September 3, 1995.

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.

The graphics were designed by Naotaka Ohnishi and newcomer Ryota Kawade, who later in his career became a director for the Paper Mario series. The music was written by Hiroaki Suga and Tadashi Ikegami. The red Toad was voiced by Robin Krouse, a gameplay counselor for Nintendo at the time, and the green Toad was voiced by Michael Kelbaugh, the current CEO of Retro Studios. They also provided the voice samples for Kirby's Avalanche, another puzzle game released for the SNES.

Quotes

Main article: List of Wario's Woods quotes

Gallery

Main article: Gallery:Wario's Woods

• 

  Toad

• 

  Wario

• 

  Birdo

• 

  Katsini

• 

  Carlton

• 

  Harry H

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 SNES.

Names in other languages

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

Trivia

• The PAL NES, NTSC NES, and SNES versions all have different soundtracks.
• The SNES instruction booklet uses Birdo's Japanese name, Catherine.
• 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

• ROM dump of Wario no Mori Futabi