Anybody who has ever owned an NES and shopped for games has probably noticed one teeny-tiny thing: Nintendo has stopped making NES games. And anybody capable of logic can surmise that, if Nintendo has stopped making NES games, then there must therefore be a last NES game. Wario's Woods happens to be that last NES game, having been released in December of 1994 in the United States. Thankfully, for those of us allergic to 8-bit sound and graphics, a SNES version of Wario's Woods was released at the same time as the NES version. And even more thankfully, for those of us not allergic to 8-bit sound and graphics, the NES version has been re-released a few times, on Animal Crossing for GameCube and Virtual Console for Wii, making obtaining this unknown classic much easier.
But I digress, what is Wario's Woods? Surprisingly, unlike most games with Wario in the title, you do not play as Wario; Wario is, in fact, the antagonist, having taken over some kind of forest. And only one person, the game's protagonist, is capable of restoring justice and defeating Wario. That protagonist, obviously, is... Toad. Yes. Toad. And if this plot is beginning to seem a little thin, don't fret; also unlike most games with Wario in the title, Wario's Woods is a puzzle game, so it requires no plot.
The player controls Toad in a playfield filled with colored monsters and bombs. The D-pad moves Toad left and right; Toad can even run up to the top of a stack of any height, and fall from any distance without getting hurt. In the NES version, pressing A or B allows Toad to pick up or set down the objects on the playfield, which is the primary fashion of rearranging them to form lines. A picks up the entire stack in front of Toad, no matter how tall that stack is (since Super Mario Bros. 2 showed that Toad is clearly the strongest Mario character ever) or sets down the entire stack he is holding, while B picks up a single object or sets down the bottom object in the stack Toad is holding. Toad can pick up objects even when running up a stack, but cannot run up a stack while holding something. Additionally, pressing Up on the D-Pad allows Toad to escape to the top of the stack he is holding, and by holding Down and pressing A or B, Toad can kick a single object in front of him; it will launch forward until it hits something or it begins to fall. The SNES version's controls are identical, except you may also use Y to kick and X to escape to the top of a stack. (A secondary control scheme changes the functions of the A, B, and Y buttons.)
Like most puzzle games, the player is greatly discouraged from merely rearranging the objects in whatever random fashion he pleases. The goal is to eliminate all the monsters from the playfield; this is done by creating a line of three identically colored objects in a row across, down, or diagonally, including at least one bomb (since monsters do not spontaneously combust), to make that line disappear. In addition, it is advantageous to create a line of five or more objects, which causes a diamond to appear. The diamond functions identically to a bomb, so two monsters and a diamond in a row can disappear, but additionally when the diamond explodes, all monsters of that color, whether they're lined up or not, disappear along with it. (In the NES version, the diamonds are somehow too heavy for even Toad to move, but in the SNES version, he lifts them with ease.) It is also advantageous, for various reasons, to create chain reactions, where the objects above a cleared line fall and themselves become part of a line and disappear.
Wario's Woods features several play modes. The Lesson mode illustrates the rules, making this complex game much more easily tractable for beginners. The player is put in a situation, and instructions are shown on how to handle it. There are lessons on all of the basic button functions, as well as on advanced techniques such as diamonds and chain reactions. The NES version even features a training mode, which is a simplified version of the actual game. In this mode, the player not only gets to put their newly learned skills to use, but they also get a brief glimpse of all the different kinds of monsters that appear in the game; in addition to the monsters that can be cleared in any direction (which are thankfully the most common by far), there are more frustrating monsters that can only be cleared diagonally, that need to be bombed twice to disappear (changing color the first time), and monsters that flicker rapidly when bombed, and must be bombed again before they stop flickering to disappear.
The Round Game is one of the main modes of play. Toad must clear 99 stages (by defeating all of the monsters) to defeat Wario and restore peace to the woods. Each level starts with only monsters in the playfield, but a fairy at the top of the screen creates bombs that Toad can use to clear the stage. These bombs descend slowly to the ground; pressing Down on the D-pad speeds up their fall. However, there is yet another cruel element of challenge that I haven't mentioned: Birdo (for some reason) appears in the upper-right corner while you're playing. Beneath her, a meter gradually fills up, giving the player only about 30 seconds to play under these conditions. When the meter has filled up, Birdo and the fairy are replaced by Wario and Pidgit, and the game becomes much more evil, as both monsters and bombs now fall from the top of the screen, and Wario has a tendency to lower the ceiling on you. If the playfield fills up completely, Toad loses; obviously, a lowered ceiling increases this jeopardy. But if Toad makes a diagonal line or a line of four or more objects, the ceiling goes back up. Wario has an additional evil trick in the SNES version; sometimes an egg will be dropped on the playfield. If this egg is cracked by force (such as by Toad picking it up and dropping it), a monster will come out. However, after a few seconds, if Toad doesn't crack the egg, the egg will hatch anyway, and an additional row of monsters will appear at the top of the playfield. Thankfully, like Birdo, Wario has his own meter, and will leave after 30 seconds.
This introduces the biggest advantage of chain reactions: when Birdo is on the screen, making a chain reaction empties the meter, extending her stay. If Wario is on the screen, then a chain reaction will fill the meter, forcing him to leave sooner. In late rounds with 50+ monsters to deal with, making chain reactions is essential to keeping Wario off the screen long enough to clear the monsters, and in fact a skilled player can clear the entire round without Wario appearing once by constantly making chain reactions. This is important in the Round Game, where gold coins fall from the top of the screen after a round is beaten; the fewer times the game switches from Birdo to Wario or vice versa, the more coins the player stands to get. Collecting 30 coins on the NES version or 50 coins on the SNES version earns the player a continue, allowing Toad to start a round over if he loses. Otherwise, the player can only continue from rounds that are a multiple of 5.
In the NES version, there are two versions of Round Game: Round Game B replaces rounds 9, 19, 29, etc. with a boss fight. There is no time meter during these rounds, and the box where Birdo or Wario would be now shows the boss' hit points; instead of merely eradicating monsters (in fact the field starts completely devoid of them), you must form lines that line up with the boss character to deplete these hit points. The bosses mostly stand still, creating monsters in random locations and doing other things, but occasionally disappear and reappear elsewhere. In addition to losing when the playing field is full, it is completely possible to lose because the boss teleported to Toad's location (what is known in a first-person shooter as a "telefrag").
Next is Time Race, which plays identically to Round Game, for the most part. The player chooses Easy, Medium, or Hard, and can play 2 through 5 rounds. The goal is no longer merely to beat the rounds, but to do so as quickly as possible. The game saves personal records, and there are target times to beat as well, but doing so is very difficult.
And then there is Versus Mode, where two players race to clear their playing fields (or fill up their opponent's). Wario and Birdo are no longer here (although the fairy and Pidgit still remain), and Wario's ceiling-lowering (and, on the SNES, egg-dropping) no longer occur by themselves; instead, they are now attacks triggered by one player against the other. Clearing a line of four or more objects lowers your opponent's ceiling, while clearing two intersecting lines (a "breakfast") gives your opponent an egg in the SNES version. Clearing a diamond transforms all of your opponent's bombs into monsters. Chain reactions become even more important, as in addition to their normal effects on the time meter, they add entire columns of monsters to the opponent's playing field (and in the NES version, they adversely affect the opponent's time meter, forcing the fairy out and keeping Pidgit in). If you don't have a friend, don't sweat it; the SNES version has a Versus Com mode, where you fight a series of computer opponents. But if you do have a friend, the SNES version has four save files for keeping track of the win-loss records of four different pairs of opponents.
Finally, there's the options mode, where you can erase some or all of your data, change player names (for both single player and the SNES Versus Mode), change the sound from stereo to monoaural or vice versa (in the SNES version), change the control scheme (in the SNES version), and view your records in Time Race. That's about it for Wario's Woods, gameplay-wise. Now I'll actually give my opinion on this game (using a 1-7 scale, 7 being best).
Story: 2 (both
versions)
At least they
bothered to write one. But only a cretin plays a puzzle game for its story.
:)
Graphics: 5 (NES),
6 (SNES)
Obviously, the
NES graphics are nowhere near Wii level, but they are a great step up from
the first NES game Super Mario Bros, and despite their simplicity, are
very lush and forest-y. The graphics of the game itself are very functional;
the many different colors are easy to distinguish, and the objects are
large and easy to see as well, so you will strain your brain without straining
your eyes. The SNES graphics are far superior in terms of detail and lushness,
and just look better. There are new graphics accompanying the menu screen
as well, such as Toad running past a stopwatch for Time Race, and Toad
playing Wario's Woods on a TV for Lesson mode. Round Game even has 5 different
backgrounds instead of just one, making for more variety. I had to dock
a point, though, because the game graphics are so detailed that cyan objects
and blue objects start to look almost identical after a long marathon of
playing.
Music: 6 (NES),
6.5 (SNES)
Surprisingly,
the two games have very dissimilar soundtracks. Only two songs are shared
between the two; thankfully, the Versus mode theme is one of them. While
the SNES version has deeper harmony and builds up to a more dramatic crescendo
in the middle of the song (owing largely to more realistic instrumentation),
both renditions of the song invariably put me in a competitive mood, which
is what a versus mode theme should do. Wario's theme music in the one-player
modes is the other shared song (although a different theme is used in Round
Game in the NES version). Especially in the SNES version, this rockin'
song reeks of pure evil, and serves to accentuate the pain of having Wario
wreak havoc on your screen. Other than the rock music that accompanies
Wario at this and other points in the game, the soundtrack has a calm forest-y
feel. Nonetheless, the Time Race themes are more exciting than the Round
Game themes. In other words, the music is very appropriate in this game.
My biggest gripe is that in the hidden harder version of Versus Com, the
awesome versus theme is replaced by a more annoying melody (although presumably
this was done to amp up the difficulty XD).
Sound Effects:
5 (both versions)
Not much to say.
The sound effects complement the action, and that's it. In the NES version's
Versus mode, short ditties from Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World
play when the players execute chain reaction attacks on each other, which
is a nice touch. The voice samples the Toads use in the SNES version might
be a detractor for some people, but they're not to me, personally.
Gameplay: 4.7
(NES), 5 (SNES)
Wario's Woods
is a fantastic game when you get into it, but its complexity makes it a
lot more difficult for the layperson to learn. The Lesson mode really helps
with this, though. Once you get into the game, you really get into it.
The Versus mode, in my experience, is perfect for gatherings of people;
an expert can start with significantly more monsters on the field than
a beginner, and the game becomes fair, exciting, and fun for both players,
and for all watchers. Really, the game is very deep and strategic, but
it's difficult at first to truly appreciate it, and that's the only reason
I've docked points. Also, the NES version loses a little because it's a
little limited compared to the SNES version, and the starting monster layouts
are a little blander, IMO.
Difficulty: 5
(both)
This game's very
difficult to learn, and that causes me to dock some points. For a layperson,
this game may be slightly too difficult to be worth playing. However, no
matter how good you get at the game, it is never too easy. Especially with
monsters you need to bomb diagonally or twice, Wario's Woods is always
a challenge.
Controls: 5.5
(NES), 6 (SNES)
A bit difficult
to learn, but once learned, they are never forgotten, and relatively intuitive.
The NES version seems to be touchier about my attempts to escape to the
top of a stack.
Replayability:
6 (both)
Assuming you
actually get into the game, it's quite replayable. Getting new records
in Time Race is always a good challenge, and the other modes are replayable
simply because they're fun (especially Versus another player) . Actually,
I'm trying to see how far I can get in Round Game without Wario appearing
once. It's a tough challenge!
Fun Factor!: 6
(both)
Again, assuming
you get into the game, you'll really get into it, especially in Versus
mode, but the other modes are great ways to pass the time as well.
Overall: 6 (both)
I absolutely
love this game, but your mileage may vary, especially if you're not very
keen on complicated puzzle games such as this.
Recommendation:
Hey, it only
costs 500 points on the Wii Shop Channel. Of course, even 500 points are
a total waste if spent on a game you play for just a few minutes and then
hate because it's too hard. You might stay away from this game if it looks
too hard... but then again, you might like it. I dunno. Only you can decide.
But as for me, I love the game with a passion, and I think lots of puzzle
game fans will, too. :)
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