Games > SNES > Mario and Wario
There have been some fierce rivalries: Tom and Jerry, Popeye and Bluto, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In the Mushroom World, one of the biggest rival teams is the duo of Mario and Wario (Bowser has taken a break, somehow). Since the days of Super Mario Land 2, Mario and Wario have become rivals when Bowser is not conquering the Mushroom Kingdom and capturing their princess. Once upon a time, the two have somehow got themselves in a video game. In fact, their names are in the title: Mario and Wario. Of course, Luigi, Yoshi, and Peach have made appearances, so it's not all about Mario and Wario. Yes, it's a bland title, and the game is even more bland.
Mario and Wario takes place all over the Mushroom Kingdom, where Mario, Yoshi, and Peach are searching for a lost Luigi. Meanwhile, Wario is dumping buckets on the heads of our favorite heroes, and needs Luigi's help in removing the buckets. Of course, they would have to find Luigi. This is where a fairy named Wanda comes in. Players would control Wanda using the Super Nintendo peripheral, the mouse. That's right, the mouse that is used in such games as Mario Paint is also used in this game. The objective is to click on missing blocks to make blocks appear, bash rocky blocks, or defeat baddies in order for a player to reach Luigi. Sometimes, you can earn coins by clicking on coin blocks. You can also collect stars in each level; four of these will earn an extra life. Be careful, there will be a lot of obstacles to avoid like the defeatable baddies and the undefeatable spikes (those spikes are everywhere). So, yeah, there's a lot of strategy and action involved, especially when the mouse gets a little finicky.
As I have said, the heroes travel all over the Mushroom Kingdom; they will visit places like forests, grasslands, fiery volcanoes, under the waters, frozen tundras. In each world, there are ten areas, plus one bonus area to rack up enough coins for an extra life (yes, 100 coins equal one extra life). Unfortunately, each of the worlds have the same, unanimated (if not minimally animated) background, which brings out the minimal excitement in this game. The sprites are all (if I may use an anime term) "chibi-fied", which is somewhat cute, except Yoshi looks like a weird version of Barney (you know, that Purple Dinosaur on PBS), constructed by a novice costume designer, making a child's costume for Halloween.
Music is kind of 50-50. Practically every sound is like it was played with the pipe organs found in the circus. While some of the songs match the setting of their respective stages, others were relatively the same. Even worse was that you would hear the song all the time throughout the stage. The only song I ever liked was the introduction of each stage where Wario flies with his plane, dropping a bucket on the player's head, especially when you get to hear Wario's laugh.
Don't worry if you have never heard of this game, let alone play it. The game was only available in Japan. Besides, you haven't really missed too much. The game was practically unfinished; while the gameplay was fun and progressively challenging, the game itself would be just as interesting if it had no soundtrack (maybe some voice) and a simple, one-colored background. When it comes to looks, I expect better for a Super Nintendo game. At least, the artists should provide a more diverse, more animated background. It also wouldn't hurt to provide a diverse soundtrack in each world. I would give a thumbs-up on the innovation in the overall gameplay (I know I have said it, but I had to stress that opinion). I wouldn't stress on finding this rare, Japanese gem, especially if you had to pay a lot of money. However, if you manage to find this game turned on someone's television, I'd suggest giving it a try, just to say you've played an interesting, yet super-simple, game.
