Fun Wario Facts

Mario Vs. Wario

While, yes, technically his first video game appearance came in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, his first appearance outside of video games in North America came from issue #44 of Nintendo Power: Mario vs. Wario. The premise was simple, Wario had sent a letter to Mario asking to “catch up on old times.” Instead, he had planned a trap for Mario, taking revenge on Mario for “bullying” him when he was a child. Apparently, the comic was so popular that they released a second comic: Mario vs. Wario: The Birthday Bash. In this storyline, Wario was invited to Princess Toadstool’s birthday party. The rest of the comic follows Wario trying to switch presents with Mario to make him look better. wario action figure

wario figure


“Get Off My Woods!”

Despite having his name on the cover, Wario's Woods did not star Wario. In fact, Wario just happens to be one of the main villains in the game. The star of the show and playable character is actually Toad. In the storyline, Toad has to stop Wario’s approaching army from taking over the woods. Wario's Woods feels and plays in the same vein as Tetris. However, instead of waiting for bricks to fall, the player uses Toad to pick up items and stack them to make a row. Birdo too makes an appearance within the game. There were also two endings to the game: on the NES, Toad just chases Wario out of the woods. In the SNES version, Toad actually takes things a bit further and plants a bomb in Wario’s castle, causing the palace to collapse along with Wario. Talk about going the extra step. wario action figure

His Decade Late Backstory

While Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, released in 1992, was considered his first appearance in video games, his back story wasn’t fully developed until Yoshi’s Island DS. In the game, players can find him abandoned in an undersea cave by Kamek, most likely due to a tantrum. Players can play the lovable scheming child for about five levels. He does make it to the last level to help stop Bowser though. Unfortunately, due to his size, he’s also one of the hardest to carry, making it difficult to cross gaps with. However, he does have some unique special abilities, one of which is grabbing coins and other metallic objects with his giant magnet. Not even out of his diapers and he already has his sights set on money. charmander plush toy

wario toys


Wario Land II's Beer

In Wario Land II, released on the Game Boy Color, there are certain effects that seem to defect when Wario is hit by an enemy. One of the most baffling effects regarded by players is when Wario gets hit with a ball that's thrown by a penguin. Afterward, his body turns into a sickly shade of purple as he staggers uncontrollably for a certain duration of time. Well, the main cause of this is the fact that what’s being thrown aren’t balls, but beer. In the uncensored Japanese version, the penguins would throw beer at Wario, making the uncontrollable staggering more sense. However, this effect was censored in North America to balls instead of beer. Kind of makes you think why they didn’t just add Root Beer. wario action figure

The 30 Frames Needed In Wario Land: Shake It

After a seven-year hiatus, Wario Land: Shake It! was released on the Wii. As for creating the game, producers, Takahiro Harada and Etsunobu Ebisu stated that they wanted to develop the “perfect 2D gaming platformer experience” and, in doing so, created hand-drawn animations for Wario’s movements. As it stands, none of the background, or any frame, was recycled during the process. A single movement would require 30 frames of animation. This, in turn, required 2,000 frames for Wario’s individual move set and a whopping 6,000 frames for the combined enemy move set. It got so technical that one of the designers, Kochi Yagi, said that “the scenery alone would have filled up the Nintendo GameCube.”

wario action figure


Stupidity Before Fame

WarioWare was conceived by director Goro Abe, inspired by their previous title, Mario Artist: Polygon Studio. Aside from the main game, where players could create their own 3d polygon model, there were a couple of micro minigames that the player could play. Wanting to expand on the format, the creators set out to create a full game packed with “microgames” as a way to challenge the norm of the Nintendo game line and the brand itself. Why they chose Wario is pretty simple: he’s a moron. As producer Yoshio Sakamoto stated: “Wario is always doing stupid things and is really idiotic.” Backhanded compliment as it is, his stupidity added the sense of humor and charm to the series, making it a favorite for generations to come. wario action figure


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