GRAPHICS SOUND CONTROL FRUSTRATION FUN FACTOR OVERALL

NES 2 Player Puzzle Wario’s Woods: Nintendo’s last release for the NES. Do you think they went out with a bang? Sort-of... Mediocre graphics dampened Nintendo’s last attempt on the NES. The story is as follows... It seems Wario has infested Toad’s woods with evil munchkins. Now Toad must exterminate the pests and defeat Wario in this puzzler. Interesting, no? Yes. Never mind… Graphics: Wario’s Woods graphics are less than satisfactory for a later release. When compared to other late releases, such as Kirby’s Adventure, the graphics are far worse. Now, I’m not saying that the graphics are bad, (check out the cool pic of toad) but they could be better. Between rounds, there are interesting graphic storylines with Toad and Wario, depicting the latest sequence. Sound: Nintendo made up for the lack of graphics with a wide variety of music and sound for Wario’s Woods. For each section of the game there is a different musical score conducted. The music depicts the innocence of Toad, and the greed of Wario. Eventually, the player begins to not notice the music while playing the game because it is blended in so well. Sound effects are average in the game. There are the right bells and whistles in every spot. Control: With Wario’s Woods being a puzzle game, the control does not have to be tight. Toad is very agile in his attempts to stack the munchkins on top of each other, and has many different moves including kicking, grabbing, groping (ewwww), and dropping. I have no major beef with the control. Gameplay: Wario’s Woods features a wide variety of different types of gameplay. On the main menu, the player can select Game A, Game B, or Time Trials. Game A involves Toad stacking 2 or more muchkins with a bomb horizontally, diagonally, or vertically. When this combination of munchkins appear, they all blow up. Every minute, Wario comes on the screen, and puts more munchkins down, and shakes the tree, making the workspace smaller. The player can avoid Wario longer by blowing up many munchkins at a time. Every ten rounds, Toad encounters Wario in a cinematic event. Game B involves the same gameplay as A, but with a boss on the tenth round. Time Trials let the player race against the clock to improve their speed at Wario’s Woods. Replay: Wario’s Woods has a very high replay value as other puzzle games on the NES. The game is addictive, so the player may find himself sitting down two or three times a day to play it. ......BOTTOM LINE: Wario’s Woods is a great puzzle game. Its top-notch gameplay, sound, and control, easily make it one of the greatest puzzlers of all time. This, combined with its rarity should make it a must on any collector’s shelf. -Jackalneo