Mario & Wario

Mario & Wario is a puzzle game released for the Super Famicom in 1994. It was designed by Satoshi Tajiri and developed by Game Freak. It is one of the few Mario games to utilize the SNES Mouse accessory.

The game was initially planned to be localized for the North American market (as shown by it being previewed in the September 1993 issue of Nintendo Power and a Canadian ad for a Kelloggs contest, which featured a tentative boxart), but ended up being Japan-only.

Story
Translated from the instruction booklet

''This is Yōsei no Mori. Within these woods lives a sprite, and those who meet it find happiness, or so the tale goes. One day, Mario came to the woods to confirm the legend. Peach and Yoshi should have been together with Luigi......but alas, the visage of Luigi was missing. Mario's group of three have separated to find lost little Luigi.''

''At once, the suspicious sound of an engine was in the air. I wonder what it could be? It was Wario riding his personal plane, the Bulldog, and it dropped a bucket from the sky.''

"Whew, woosh!"

And suddenly, the bucket was a snug fit on Mario's head.

"Uwagh, I can't see in this thing!"

''The sprite of the woods, Wanda, witnessed it. The petite pixie did not have the strength to remove the bucket on her own, but she desired to help somehow. Thus, Wanda sends Mario a signal with her magic wand, determined to reunite him with Luigi......''

Gameplay
The main gameplay involves guiding Princess Peach, Mario, or Yoshi to the goal, where Luigi awaits. The player can select one of the original eight stages at the start. Once they are cleared, the final stages become available. At the beginning of every stage except EXTRA, Wario drops a random item on the character's head, making them unable to see where they're going.

The player uses the Super Famicom Mouse to control Wanda the sprite and alter the environment to make it safe for the character, making it somewhat similar to the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. The character will walk left and right on their own, so the obstacles must be manipulated accordingly to allow the character to safely navigate through the level. There is a time limit for each level, and bonus points are given for any excess time. Each character has a set speed; Peach is slow, Mario is medium, and Yoshi is fast. At the end of every stage, there's a bonus mini-game where Wanda can whack Wario with a hammer. Every time the player hits Wario on his plane, the player will earn one coin. After forty hits, the plane will malfunction in Wario's face, but he will also flee if enough time has passed.

LEVEL1: Yōsei no Mori
The fairy's forest is the easiest stage of the ten, and a tutorial for the rest of the game. The world map for each course fits on one screen, making them the smallest of the game. One Girigiri is introduced in the last course.

LEVEL2: Yosu Ko
A world set next to a relaxing lake where Yoshis have holiday. It is still a standard stage, but slightly harder than the first.

LEVEL3: Kumotori Yama
A mountain region. Timer Blocks are frequent, so sitting around is dangerous.

LEVEL4: Kōri no Dōkutsu
An icy cavern with many frozen features. Nebaneba Blocks appear towards the end.

LEVEL5: Honō no Dōkutsu
A subterranean cave filled with magma. Pot-shaped enemies called Tsubōn are introduced here, and will breath fire at the player.

LEVEL6: Pukupuku Kai
A large body of water infested with Unibō. Switch Blocks are frequent.

LEVEL7: Balloon Bridge
An area in the sky. Fūsen Blocks are frequent.

LEVEL8: Karakara Sabaku
A vast desert location. Guriguri are frequent.

LEVEL9: Wario no Niwa
Wario's personal garden, which is playable once beating the previous eight stages.

LEVEL10: Wario Tei
A big, untidy residence. Playable once LEVEL9 is cleared.

EXTRA
An extra stage revealed once beating all ten stages. It is a very difficult world.

Blocks

 * Flip-Flop Block - One of the most basic blocks, they can be made solid or passable with the flick of a click.
 * Timer Block - Hitting these blocks will make them solid for a short time. Wanda must know when and how to use them.
 * Hibi Block - These cracked square walls can be hit to be destroyed.
 * Fūsen Block - Balloons which expand and inflate from time to time.
 * Switch Block - These switch red and blue from solid to not.
 * Nebaneba Block - These blocks are sticky and trap friend and foe alike.
 * Coin Block - Wanda can hit these to collect coins. One hundred coins will give the player a 1-Up.
 * Jump Block - Jump Blocks look like springboards, and are usually seen grounded on flooring rather than suspended in the air as in other games.
 * Toge Block - These pointy obstacles take up the full space of a block. They can face four directions.
 * Elevator - Once on these lifts, the character must wait until they can move again.

Items

 * 1-Up Mushroom - As the name suggests, these green mushrooms give the player 1-Ups.
 * Time Kinoko - Standard mushrooms that add to the Time Gauge. There are not many of these in the game.
 * Star - The most common item in the game. Collect four of them in a level to earn a 1-Up.

Main Characters

 * Wanda, the playable character
 * Princess Peach, Mario, and Yoshi, one of three hindered characters
 * Luigi, who awaits the character at the goal
 * Wario, the main villain

Enemy Characters

 * Dodorigesu Jr. - These immobile Pidgits can be defeated by simply clicking on them.
 * Guriguri - A fireball which usually moves along walls and floors.
 * Tsubōn - A pot-shaped enemy with a skull mark that can cling onto walls and breath fire.
 * Komorin - Tricky bat enemies that often group together in packs of four.
 * Unibō - Spiky enemies which resemble Urchins and appear in LEVEL6 and LEVEL9.

Trivia

 * Satoshi Tajiri, who would later launch the Pokémon franchise, designed this game.
 * There was a mention of this game in Pokémon Red and Blue Versions. When the player checks the Super Nintendo in the Copycat's House (at Saffron City, northwest of the Silph Co. building), it states that there is a game that shows Mario with a bucket on his head. Both games were made by Game Freak. This reference was carried over to the Game Boy Advance remakes of the games, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
 * In addition, a music track in Mario & Wario sounds a lot like a track in Pokémon.
 * A reference to Mario & Wario is made in Mario and the Incredible Rescue, where Wario attacks with buckets.
 * The bucket Mario wore on his head is a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It mentions that "the bucket's M looks like a W when turned upside down".
 * One of Junker's attacks in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is dropping a bucket on Mario or Luigi's heads.
 * Karakara Sabaku was revisited in Paper Mario and the Mario Kart series, localized as both Dry Dry Desert and Kalimari Desert in English.
 * Although a Japan-only release, the game itself contains no written Japanese whatsoever; it is entirely in English.