Mario’s weakness is a bucket (write that down Bowser)

Remember in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the one trophy that was a bucket with an M on it (W if it’s turned right side up), have you ever wondered what that game was about? Probably not, since the game was only released in japan. This game probably never left Japan because of the low sales of the SNES mouse. While the game was only released in Japan, it’s completely in English, so anybody could play this game (even if it was in Japanese).  With a silly plot, is this game any good, or does it have a bucket on its head?

Plot:
Mario is walking one day, when suddenly Wario appears out of nowhere, flying in his plane, drops a bucket on Mario’s head, blinding him so he can’t see where he’s going. It’s up to Wanda the fairly (unrelated to the character from The Fairly OddParents) to help Mario find his way to Luigi, who is just there waiting for Mario to come to him, instead of him going to Mario and remove the bucket (or whatever is on Mario’s head). I know what you’re thinking, why doesn’t Mario just take the bucket (or whatever is on his head) off his head, that’s because (according to SSBM) Mario has fallen under Wario’s wicked control. The plot is ridiculous and doesn’t make sense, but it still

Gameplay:
Mario & Wario is a puzzle game where you control Wanda the fairy to help guild a blind Mario through hazards and obstacles to reach Luigi in a certain amount of time. You take control of Wanda using the SNES mouse, you can make Wanda fly around by moving the mouse, though Wanda can only stay in the area where Mario is, and can’t fly across the entire level. Wanda uses her wand to hit blocks, and depending on the block you hit, will determine what happens to the block, such as a normal block, hitting it will break it, or a time block, hitting it will make a block appear for a short period of time. It won’t be a total cake walk for Mario, because Wario has set up traps for Mario to go through, and there are even enemies that Wanda must help Mario avoid, touching an enemy will make Mario lose a life, collecting coins and items along the way might award extra lives. After completing all of the world’s levels, Wario will appear in his plane, while he’s flying, you can control Wanda and hit him with here wand, each hit will earn you a coin.

Levels:
There are over 100 levels in Mario & Wario, with 8 worlds available from the start. Each world has something different in it, such as different enemies, obstacles and blocks.  Once you complete the available worlds, you’ll unlock more challenging and difficult worlds.

Control:
The controls work fine for this game, as controlling where Wanda goes is a breeze, however if your mouse gets stuck from time to time (like mine does sometimes) then you might have some issues, placing the mouse on a flat surface helps. You can change the mouse speed in the character select menu, you can choose from either fast, making Wanda move faster with little movement, or slow (normal) Making Wanda move at a normal speed. Clicking the button will make Wanda strike with her wand, she can hit blocks or hit Mario, changing the direction he’s walking.

Graphics:
The graphics are nice and colorful, and they resemble some other Mario games in the SNES era. The backgrounds are detailed and look nice, and there’s even some sprites form another Mario game (Super Mario World) in the background.

Sound:
The music in Mario & Wario is good, however the soundtrack isn’t as memorable as other Mario games, and isn’t really that memorable at all (and the reason for that is because the game was released only in Japan). The music in each level goes with the world it’s heard from. The sound effects are alright, sounding good, but sometimes they sound a little generic.

Difficulty:
The game gets harder with each world you complete, with some of the later stages being really hard to complete. Depending on which character you choose can determine the difficulty of a level. Princess Peach walks slowly, so that way, you have much more time to plan your actions. However, with Peach moving slowly, you’ll have less time to collect coins and items and reach Luigi in time. Mario moves at a normal speed, making him the balanced character of the three. And the last character is Yoshi, Yoshi walks at a fast speed, giving you more time to collect coins and items and reach the goal. However, with Yoshi moving fast, you’ll have less time to think of your actions, and you might fall into a trap and lose a life, if you choose Yoshi, then make sure you can think and plan fast.

Replayability:
With over a 100 levels and 3 characters to choose from, there’s a reason you’ll come back to play Mario & Wario again. Once you complete the game, it’ll show you your record of how you did overall, with your score, time, stars you collected, and number of times you clicked to make Wanda hit something.

Overall:
Even though the plot of this game makes no sense, it’s still a fun game, and is worth playing. While the game was only released in Japan for the Super Famicom (SNES), the game is completely in English (I used a game genie to play this Japanese game on my SNES). The game has some minor drawbacks, but it’s still a great game to play with the SNES mouse if you have it. Also, I strongly recommend if you have a bucket on your head, to just take it off, because a fairy named Wanda won’t come and lead you to a man in green to take it off you head, and if you keep walking, you’ll walk into traffic and might get by a car or something, just take it off.
8/10