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
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
Genre	Puzzle
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Kids to Adults
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Input	Super NES: Super NES Controller

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 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. 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, as well as bombs. Wario occasionally performs a body slam attack on the side of his box to make the Thwomp ceiling descend; however, destroying enemies causes the ceiling to rise back upward. Many enemies unique to this game appear, as well as several mini-bosses who attempt to block Toad's path from getting to Wario.

In the end, Toad bombs Wario's castle, causing it and him 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.

Game modes

The SNES menu of Wario's Woods.

This version has six game modes: VS COM, VS 2P, Round Game, Time Race, Lesson, and Option. Most are the same as their NES counterparts, but more robust. Round Game adds an overworld map with different locations, such as underground caverns and a castle, and VS 2P is essentially the same as the NES VS. The exclusive VS COM 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 removed from Round Game and are instead made the focus of VS COM, with the bosses varying from each level in the game (ie. aquatic characters are the bosses of the underwater levels, while the more powerful characters are located in the 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.

Round Game

• 

  Round Game before the level begins

• 

  Ice area (mid-game)

• 

  Wario's Castle, the last location

Cutscenes

Cutscenes largely 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.

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.

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
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