Wario's Woods

Another early spinoff game and a somewhat sequel to Mario & Wario was Wario’s Woods, which starred Toad wandering into a forest only to be tormented and terrorized by Wario hiding out there, having to rely on Birdo and the fairy Wanda to get out.

This stage will recreate the setting of the game, with the action set inside of a giant tree, with walls on either side and platforms made of the enemy blocks of the game that will periodically vanish and reform in new formations.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BUVHRzsC7c

Wanda

Shortly after the debut of the first Mario Kart game, a sequel to Super Mario Land was produced, bringing with it a brand new villain in the form of Mario’s rival and antithesis Wario. Wario’s popularity was immediate, with the character immediately getting a handful of spinoff games, including one wherein he gets a bucket stuck on Mario’s head, blinding the hero and forcing him to rely on the help of a friendly fairy to guide him through a maze to his brother Luigi.

This fairy was named Wanda. She only appeared in two games throughout the series, first in Mario & Wario, and then later in a similar game called Wario’s Woods. She mostly acted basically as your cursor, tapping stage elements or Mario to make sure he didn’t fall into a pit or get stuck or anything like that. In Wario’s Woods, she hung at the top of the stage, creating the bombs used to clear out the stage’s monsters.

In game, Wanda will be light and floaty, her wings allowing her good aerial maneuvers and ability. Her moveset will pull entirely from both Mario & Wario and Wario’s Woods, making her almost the representative for both games in many ways.

Likelihood rating: Probably not

Birdo

Reaching the end of their first level, Mario and friends encounter a strange dinosaur firing eggs from its mouth, that seems to be the guardian of the Eagle Gates that serve as portals to the next level. They would go on to face this creature many times, every time they approached one of said gates.

This is Birdo, or perhaps Birdetta or Catherine, possibly one of video gaming’s first trans characters, if Nintendo ever develops any consistency on the character. Although she would never take up her Subconian role as Eagle Gate guardian again, she would become a staple of the Mario series, cropping up as playable in sporting games, acting as a boss here and there, or simply having random appearances that only loosely tie into the story of the game.

In game, she will be a bit on the heavy and slow side, though only moderately so. Her moves will have a dramatic feminine flair to them, mirroring her typical characterization. Her moves will pull from her egg-shooting first appearance, her various boss fights, and her various musical performances seen in RPGs. She also has wings, according to the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! so those will likely come into play as well.

Likelihood rating: Strong

Toad

 

You have successfully overcome Bowser, using the axe behind him to drop him into the lava below. You head on into the next room, expecting to be rewarded by a kiss from the princess. Instead, you are greeted by a small figure with a mushroom for a head, who says “Thank you, Mario, but our princess is in another castle.”

This is Toad, or more accurately, these are the Toads, the faithful servants and subjects of Princess Peach who inhabit the Mushroom Kingdom. There is one main Toad, a red-spotted one wearing a blue vest, but there have been many others throughout the years, including a blue-spotted one named Buckenberry and a yellow-spotted one named Alagold, as well as the green and purple ones that fill out the Toad Brigade. They have played various roles, from NPCs to referees to playable companions of Mario and Luigi.

In game, they will be small and light, but with surprising strength hearkening back to their appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2. They will be heavy power-up users, frequently being the providers of such in their various games and using them just like the Mario brothers in other games. Most likely, they will make good use of common items not used in Mario and Luigi’s movesets, fully covering all the many items through the Super Mario Bros. history.

Likelihood rating: Strong

Character Sheet: Wanda (Wario Miscellaneous)

WANDA

It's time to cover the Wario characters. We will be making a new roster for Wario, although it will not be populated by the most iconic of Wario characters quite yet. We may also get some new additions to the Mario rosters. Here's who were working with this time around:

1. Mario (Revision)
2. Luigi (Revision)
3. Princess Peach (Revision)
4. Toad (Revision)
5. Wario (Revision)
6. Captain Syrup (Revision)
7. Birdo (Revision)
8. Yoshi (Revision)
9. Wanda
10. Count Cannoli
11. Carpaccio
12. Terrormisu
13. The Shake King

Our new characters for this round will all be fairly obscure, but that's kind of the nature of the Wario series outside of the Wario Ware games. We'll start off with Wanda. Wanda is a small fairy who appears solely in the games Mario & Wario and, depending on who you ask, Wario's Woods. In Mario & Wario, Wanda acts as a guide for Mario, Yoshi, or Peach as they try to get to Luigi to take the bucket off their heads. As part of her help and guidance, she can break blocks in the player's way or create blocks to make new pathways. She can also turn the player around if needed. In the boss fights, she can smack Wario rapidly with her hammer. In Wario's Woods, she floats at the top of the screen and creates the bombs that Toad has to line up with enemies. All in all, I'd say she has plenty to work with, even simply as a gimmick rep if I wanted to.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Hammer Bash
This is based on her attack on Wario, as well as her general ability to break obstacles. She will rapidly smack her opponent with a hammer, similar to Meta Knight's quick-slash attack. It's also possible it could work like Charizard's Rock Smash, and she would produce a block to instantly break into pieces.

Side B: Bucket
This one's more of a gimmick move. She will pull out the bucket used by Wario in Mario & Wario and smack it down onto a player's head that will automatically put them into a dizzy state for a short period.

Up B: Spring
This one's also kind of a gimmick move. Springs pop up frequently in Mario & Wario as a means to get from one platform to another, and this move will work similarly to Sonic's, bouncing Wanda high into the air.

Down B: Bomb
This one is based on Wario's Woods, with Wanda creating a bomb that she simply drops and leaves behind. The bombs will be color-coded to players on the screen and will only explode if the player of that color touches it.

Final Smash: Wario's Woods
This one is based pretty much on the entire game Wario's Woods. A giant tree will take up most of the screen, trapping the players within, while hordes of the little gremlin creatures from said game swarm in, doing minor damage as they do, and filling up the tree more and more until the players are finally forces out the top of the screen.

Entrance: a bucket falls down from above and Wanda pokes her head up out of it.

Taunts: waving her hammer around, flipping over a bucket, twirling around all fairy-like, so on.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, we'll check out Count Cannoli of Wario: Master of Disguise!

Character Sheet: Birdo (Wario Miscellaneous)

BIRDO

It's time to cover the Wario characters. We will be making a new roster for Wario, although it will not be populated by the most iconic of Wario characters quite yet. We may also get some new additions to the Mario rosters. Here's who were working with this time around:

1. Mario (Revision)
2. Luigi (Revision)
3. Princess Peach (Revision)
4. Toad (Revision)
5. Wario (Revision)
6. Captain Syrup (Revision)
7. Birdo (Revision)
8. Yoshi (Revision)
9. Wanda
10. Count Cannoli
11. Carpaccio
12. Terrormisu
13. The Shake King

Birdo makes a . . . random appearance (she does that) in Wario's Woods, doing, well . . . I'm not actually sure. Basically, during boss rounds, Wario sits up in one corner of the screen watching Toad solve the puzzle, and Birdo takes up that spot in non-boss rounds. I think she's supposed to be helping you or something but I don't know exactly.

Here is the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Egg

Side B: Egg Hop

Up B: Pidgit

Down B: Blow a Kiss

Birdo tends to blow a kiss in most of her appearances and it frequently seems to do damage, so I figure I'll just change it up here while its on my mind. (This ability is a bit more prominent in the RPGs)

Final Smash: Eagle Gate

The gate Birdo stands before will fly into the background, before opening its mouth wide and rushing the stage, swallowing up any enemy caught in its mouth.

Entrance: She will emerge from an Eagle Gate.

Taunts: Maybe her tendency to pace back and forth, also blowing a kiss.

Next up: Let's cover Yoshi!

Character Sheet: Wario (Wario Miscellaneous)

WARIO

It's time to cover the Wario characters. We will be making a new roster for Wario, although it will not be populated by the most iconic of Wario characters quite yet. We may also get some new additions to the Mario rosters. Here's who were working with this time around:

1. Mario (Revision)
2. Luigi (Revision)
3. Princess Peach (Revision)
4. Toad (Revision)
5. Wario (Revision)
6. Captain Syrup (Revision)
7. Birdo (Revision)
8. Yoshi (Revision)
9. Wanda
10. Count Cannoli
11. Carpaccio
12. Terrormisu
13. The Shake King

The Wario series has kinda struggled over the years to really find its niche in the gaming world, and it really shows in this run of games. Each one has its own general moveset unique from most of the others (though there are some recurring themes). While several games are unique enough that they can rely on gimmick reps to cover them, like Count Cannoli for Master of Disguise and Shake King for Shake It!, I can't quite rely on that for all of them. So let's see what we've got.

Across these games, Wario is seen flying in his plane, dropping buckets and other items onto peoples heads, inflate himself, a bunch of bomberman-related moves that I won't touch on too much, charge forward with his shoulder, breathe dragon fire, jet forward with a helmet, drop a butt bash, punch enemies, pick up enemies and throw them, grab and spin enemies around, roll, suck enemies in, all of the Master of Disguise stuff that I won't touch too much here, shake stuff out of bags and enemies as well as a few other Shake It moves I'll save for possibly the Shake King, light on fire, roll into a snowball, and shrink.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Dragon Helmet
For this move, I actually decided I'd whip back out the Dragon Helmet from the original Wario Land since we've seen it a few times since. Basically, Wario's helmet will appear on his head and spew flames.

Side B: Shoulder Rush
Its still his most iconic move that he uses in almost every single game we've seen so far, so I think I'm going to stick with it.

Up B: Jet Helmet
Wario will whip out his jet helmet from the original Wario Land and use it to jet across the stage in a straight line. Better for getting back to the stage from above it rather than below it.

Down B: Enemy Effect
This one is based more on his movesets from the later games where he gains status boosts from various enemies. When you press the move, he has the possibility of lighting on fire, rolling into a snowball, getting fat, or becoming a zombie.

Final Smash: Wario's Plane
As much as I liked the boss rush from before, it doesn't really fit his whole character anymore. Instead, I'll take after several games in which he terrorizes enemies from his plane, by flying back and forth over them (sorta like Super Sonic), dropping missiles and the occasional bucket, and finally crash landing on the stage.

Entrance: crashing in his jetplane.

Taunts: I still like him throwing his shoe. Maybe the way he wiggles his butt in Shake It. His bashful expression with his index finger on his lower lip.

Thanks for reading! Next time, let's check out his nemesis, Captain Syrup!

Character Sheet: Toad (Wario Miscellaneous)

TOAD

It's time to cover the Wario characters. We will be making a new roster for Wario, although it will not be populated by the most iconic of Wario characters quite yet. We may also get some new additions to the Mario rosters. Here's who were working with this time around:

1. Mario (Revision)
2. Luigi (Revision)
3. Princess Peach (Revision)
4. Toad (Revision)
5. Wario (Revision)
6. Captain Syrup (Revision)
7. Birdo (Revision)
8. Yoshi (Revision)
9. Wanda
10. Count Cannoli
11. Carpaccio
12. Terrormisu
13. The Shake King

Not much to say for this one. Toad appears as the main playable character in Wario's Woods, but his moveset is largely limited to picking up and throwing blocks and enemies in much the same way as he does in Super Mario Bros. 2.

Here's his moveset:

Standard B: Pick Up and Throw

Side B: Ice Flower OR Boomerang Flower

Up B: Propeller Hat

Down B: Treasure Chest

Final Smash: Mega Mushroom

Entrance: He arrives aboard the Toad Brigade's ship.

Taunts: "Thank you, Mario, but our Princess is in another castle." That whistle bit at the beginning of the Toad Brigade's leitmotif. "Alright."

Next up: Let's cover the man of the hour, Wario!

Wario's Woods

WARIO'S WOODS

Wario's Woods is another puzzle game featuring Wario that appeared on both the NES and the SNES. The game featured Toad playing a semi-tetris-style game inside giant hollow trees (hence the Woods part) to defeat Wario and his troop of baddies with help from Birdo and a fairy, of all people. Different sources disagree on whether or not this is Wanda or just a generic fairy. I choose to believe it's Wanda, but that's just me.

Toad will walk around the bottom of the puzzle screen, picking up and putting down the little creatures that act as blocks, similar to his picking up motion in Super Mario Bros. 2. Wanda/The Fairy will fly around the top of the screen dropping bombs of various colors that Toad will have to match to a line of creatures in order to clear them. Birdo, I think, just kind of sits up in a top panel and supervises you as far as I can tell. During boss rounds, she'll be replaced by Wario, who kinda just does the same.

A number of bosses appear in the game, standing in the middle of the stack of creatures, occasionally teleporting around and trying to attack you, while you try to line up the bombs and blocks of their color with them. Wario acts in this manner a couple of times, firing off a weird blast at you from time to time. He also flies a plane in the cutscenes. The two versions of the game have completely different bosses, though most act pretty much the exact same. I don't really know the reason for the change. The only real differences are their look and their name, each with their own weapon to attack you with. These include Fauster, Boom, Mad, Goro, Seizer, Drago, and a Wario Impostor for the NES, and Katsini, Galrog, Harley Q, SamSpook, Sven, Parrotor, Mssr Boo, Aqualea, Razor, Tad Rock, Thak, Lizardon, Sarissa, Mangylox, Dedar, Carlton, and Harry H for the SNES.

A stage for this one would probably take place inside the tree with the general set up of the game as shown.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:
Mario
Luigi: remove bucket
Princess Peach
Yoshi
Toad: pick up and put down
Wario: drop bucket/items, fly in plane, teleport, inflate, shoot blast, thwomp
Wanda: smack with hammer, break blocks, turn around, create blocks, fly, springs, drop bombs
Birdo

Stages:
Stage based on Mario & Wario
Stage based on Wario's Woods

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover Wario Blast: featuring Bomberman!