Mario & Wario

Mario & Wario is a puzzle-platformer game released for the Super Famicom in 1993. It was designed by Satoshi Tajiri and developed by Game Freak. It is one of the few Mario games to utilize the Super Famicom 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 contest, which featured a tentative box art), but ended up being a Japan-exclusive title. Despite this, the game itself contains no written Japanese whatsoever; it is entirely in English. Mario & Wario had also been featured in magazines from the UK, Germany, and Brazil. Most prominently, it was featured on the front cover of the November 1993 issue of VideoGame Magazine in Brazil with a full feature, which indicated that a release was near.

Story
Translated from the instruction booklet

''This is Yōsei no Mori. Within the forest's depths lives a fairy, and those who behold it find happiness, as the tale goes. One day, Mario sought the fabled fairy by coming to the forest. Peach, Yoshi and Luigi were together......or should have been, but alas, Luigi's visage was unseen. Mario's group of three had decided to look for lost little Luigi.''

''Then, the sky was overcome with a suspicious engine's sound. What was that? It was Wario riding his personal plane, the Bulldog, and he threw a bucket from the sky.''

"Here you go!"

Uh oh, the bucket landed right over Mario's head.

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

''Watching was the forest's fairy, Wanda. She somehow wanted to help, but the small fairy did not have the ability to remove the bucket. Thus, Wanda decided to use her magic wand on Mario to send signals, guiding him to 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.

LEVEL 1: 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 Guriguri is introduced in the last course.

LEVEL 2: 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.

LEVEL 3: Kumotori Yama
A mountain region. Timer Blocks are frequent, so sitting around is dangerous.

LEVEL 4: Kōri no Dōkutsu
An icy cavern with many frozen features. Nebaneba Blocks appear towards the end.

LEVEL 5: Honō no Dōkutsu
A subterranean cave filled with magma. Pot-shaped enemies called Tsubōn are introduced here, and will breathe fire at the player.

LEVEL 6: Pukupuku Kai
A large body of water infested with Unibō. Switch Blocks are frequent.

LEVEL 7: Balloon Bridge
An area in the sky. Fūsen Blocks are frequent.

LEVEL 8: Karakara Sabaku
A vast desert location. Guriguri are frequent.

LEVEL 9: Wario no Niwa
Wario's personal garden, which is playable once beating the previous eight stages.

LEVEL 10: Wario Tei
A big, untidy residence. Playable once LEVEL 9 is cleared.

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

References in later games

 * Pokémon Red & Blue / Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen: 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 developed by Game Freak.
 * Mario and the Incredible Rescue: In chapter 8, Wario attacks with buckets.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee: The bucket Mario wore on his head appears as a trophy. It mentions that "the bucket's M looks like a W when turned upside down".
 * Kirby Super Star / Kirby Super Star Ultra: The bucket Mario wore on his head appears as a collectable treasure in "The Great Cave Offensive" game.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: One of Junker's attacks is dropping a bucket on Mario or Luigi's heads and they walk back and forth, using a similar animation to the ones in Mario & Wario.