Wario's Woods (Wii)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Aaron Thomas
• Reviewed on: 01/10/2007
• Released on: 11/19/2006
• Originally published on GameSpot: Wario's Woods (Wii) Review

Can you name the last licensed game for the Nintendo Entertainment System? That's right, it's Wario's Woods, a quirky, cute puzzler that was released for the NES in 1994. Because it was released so late in the system's life, many people missed out on this fun puzzle game. So it's fitting that it's one of the first titles available on the Virtual Console. It's hard not to be disappointed that Nintendo chose to release the NES version of the game rather than the superior Super NES version, but this incarnation is still an addictive and surprisingly complex game.

There isn't really a story behind Wario's Woods. While Wario is in the game, the diminutive Toad is actually the star of the show. The game begins with Toad at the bottom of the screen while different-colored bombs and creatures falling from the sky. You control Toad, picking up and moving objects in an effort to line up at least two creatures and one bomb of the same color either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to get them to disappear (some creatures can only be erased in one particular orientation). A thorough tutorial guides you through the basics of picking up and moving objects and even kicking them as you endeavor to get three in a row. As objects pile up, you'll need to climb them, snag specific objects from the middle, and quickly move them around before the screen (which gets smaller thanks to a ceiling that Wario slowly lowers) fills with objects. There's a time meter that determines whether bombs or creatures will fall from the sky and when the ceiling will lower. When all the bombs and creatures that were onscreen are cleared, you collect coins and move on to the next level.

This sounds easy at first, but there's a surprising amount of depth to the gameplay. The game gets challenging as you try to clear the screen of objects while contending with the ceiling being lowered, creatures that can be erased only when stacked in specific directions, and the game switching from dropping enemies to dropping bombs every so often. But the difficulty ramps up slowly, so even if you're not all that good, you can play for a long time before feeling overwhelmed.

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