Video: Check Out Mario & Wario, The Japan-Only SNES Mouse Game

Lemmings meets Mario vs. Donkey Kong

by Thomas Whitehead Sat 19th Nov 2016

There are always games that skip some regions, and sometimes large audiences miss out on some interesting concepts. The latest video from DidYouKnowGaming? shows another example of a neat retro game that, for various sensible reasons, was only released in Japan.

It's Super Famicom title Mario & Wario - developed by Game Freak and with music by Junichi Masuda, it utilised the Super Famicom / SNES mouse for gameplay that seems like a mix of Lemmings and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. After modest sales of Mario Paint, which also used the mouse add-on, this one wasn't considered a sensible release in the Western market.

It looks rather neat, in our opinion, though Nintendo was likely correct to assume that it wouldn't have achieved significant sales in the West.

Tom has been involved in the games industry for over a decade, mostly writing about it or struggling to sell Indie games. Loves reading, writing, hunting Capcom’s fiercest monsters and watching baseball.

1
SLIGEACH_EIRE
Sat 19th Nov 2016

Cool I guess. Looks very much like a precursor to the Mario v Donkey Kong series.

2
Angelic_Lapras_King
Sat 19th Nov 2016

Have a boxed copy of it, just nothing to play it on.... @_@

3
KIREEK
Sat 19th Nov 2016

Ahead of its time. I think it could have been a great DS series.

4
RyanSilberman
Sat 19th Nov 2016

Known about this for many years. It does seem like it could have helped the SNES mouse sales, though

5
KoiTenchi
Sat 19th Nov 2016

Somehow I heard about this game when I was a kid and didn't know it was Japan Only so I very distinctly remember going to a number of different video game stores with my family asking if anyone had it only to be disappointed.

I've still never actually gotten to play it and have no idea if it's any good. I'll have to actually play it someday even if just to fulfill that childhood dream.

6
Roam85
Sat 19th Nov 2016

@KoiTenchi did you get Nintendo power? That is where I remember seeing it as a kid.

7
KoiTenchi
Sun 20th Nov 2016

@Roam85 I never had a subscription but I used to pick up some issues at the bookstore every so often so it is very possible that's where I heard it from.

It definitely was one of the video game magazines. I remember that for sure.

8
Solid_Stannis
Sun 20th Nov 2016

That eyesight-hindering bucket on Mario's head is a good metaphor for how Nintendo have been making business decisions for the last decade or so.

9
MagicEmperor
Sun 20th Nov 2016

@RyanSilberman Same here. Heck, I first played this way back in 2001-2002.

10
BulkSlash
Sun 20th Nov 2016

I've actually got the version of this that came bundled with the mouse. I hadn't realised it never got a Western release! I think I'll have to give it a play later...

You'd think they could have just reworked the game to use the d-pad to move the fairy and released it in the West. They could have slowed down the levels to compensate for the change in controls if it made it too hard to play. I know Lemmings on the SNES worked fairly well like that.

11
Henmii
Sun 20th Nov 2016

First: This isn't Didyouknowgaming

Second: There's also a reference in one of the Mario and Luigi games. There I believe its Luigi who gets the bucket on his head. Its either Bowser's inside story or Dream team bros.

Update: Oh it seems this video is part of Didyouknowgaming after all. A bit confusing.