Wario's Woods (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Wario's Woods is a puzzle game for the Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1994. It is the last first-party game to have been released for the system and, having been released late into the console's lifespan, is the only Nintendo Entertainment System game that has an ESRB certificate. Wario's Woods is a part of the Wario franchise, although it stars Toad as the main protagonist and Wario as the main villain. The game has an alternate version for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which released around the same time, so it is not a reissue.

Wario's Woods has been ported a few times. It was first reissued in 2001, being a part of Doubutsu no Mori+ as well as its two variations, Animal Crossing and Doubutsu no Mori e+. In these games, Wario's Woods is a furniture item that can be obtained from Animal Island. In 2006, Wario's Woods was released for the Wii Virtual Console. Since this release, the ESRB updated their K-A rating for Wario's Woods to an E rating, and the game also received two additional ratings, including a 3+ from PEGI and a G from the ACB. In 2013, Wario's Woods was ported to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. Later on, that same year, the game was ported to the Wii U Virtual Console. In 2018, Wario's Woods was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online.

Gameplay
Wario's Woods features gameplay similar to Tetris. Toad is the main hero, and Birdo and a Sprite would help Toad by giving him encouragement and bombs to destroy the monsters (respectively). If Toad took too long to complete a level, the rascal Wario would replace Birdo and replace the Sprite with a Pidgit. The Pidgit would then throw more monsters as well as bombs at Toad. Wario would body slam the side of his box to make the Thwomp ceiling descend, destroying enemies would make the ceiling rise up again. Many enemies unique to this game appear. Along with them were several mini-bosses who would attempt to block Toad's path from getting to Wario.

At the end, Wario himself appears to fight against Toad alone, inexplicably at a gargantuan size. Eventually, Toad defeats him, causing him to shrink back to his original size and therefore his powers were also reduced (it was also revealed that Wario had in fact used an airpump to inflate himself to a much bigger size in order to battle Toad). Toad then proceeds onward by chasing the antagonist out of the Woods.

Game modes
There are five game modes: Round Game, Time Race, VS, Lesson, and Option. Round Game is the basic game with 100 levels (this is much like the story mode of the game, featuring the bosses and events within the game). The levels increase in difficulty as the player progresses, starting with more monsters and more kinds of monsters. It also has an A and B game mode. Time Race has three levels of difficulty and has players racing against the clock. VS is the two player mode (the second player has the option of choosing a green Toad as their character). Lesson teaches the game basics. The Option menu gives the options such as name change (of the player), data clear, and rankings.

Cutscenes
In the Round Mode of Wario's Woods, the game takes on a story mode sequence with cutscenes being frequently encountered throughout the game. These cutscenes often take place after every 10 rounds, 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" to discourage him. Wario also appears to grow in size throughout the game; thus, showing his powers increasing. In the final round levels, Wario can be seen to be in a gargantuan size (though 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.

Protagonists

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

Antagonists

 * Wario
 * Thwomp
 * Pidgit

Enemies

 * Fuzz
 * Spud
 * Squeak
 * Beaker
 * Scram
 * Spook
 * Dovo

Bosses

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

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 game employed two different sets of graphic designers and musicians, for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System versions respectively, although a few sprites and compositions have noticeable similarities.

Soichiro Tomita, Masahiro Iimura, and Naotaka Ohnishi designed the graphics. The music was composed by Shinobu Amayake and Soyo Oka.

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 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: In the Japanese version, the microgame Super Nostalgic Entertainment System involves the player placing a cartridge of Wario's Woods in a Family Computer. International versions instead feature the Super Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game.
 * NES Remix 2: Wario's Woods is one of several Nintendo Entertainment System games to have its own set of challenges.

Trivia

 * Wario's cap and shirt are purple and white respectively due to the console's palette and color limitations. Both his cap and shirt are yellow on the box art as well as in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
 * This is Wario's only appearance in a Nintendo Entertainment System game.
 * The North American and European versions of the game feature 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.