Mario & Wario in short is a side-scrolling puzzle game with a simple point and click interface. While that doesn't sound like the most exciting thing in the world when said out loud – trust me, hang in there. The game requires the use of the mouse accessory to play, the very same popularised/closely associated with the Mario Paint bundle. For those looking to own and the collectors amongst you, you're able to easily find a bundle edition of this, too (ie: the game and mouse in a box). Your beloved joypad gets a rest on this one. You get the choice of either Mario (medium speed), Peach (slow) or Yoshi (fast), that all impact on the game play in their own way by their effect the challenge of each level. The player doesn't actually control one of these Super Mario series stalwarts, instead you take control of a fairy called Wanda.

You guide Wanda around with the mousey mouse and utilise the left button to have her bust out magic from Wanda's wand. Yessir. The right button pauses. Blech. The wand either acts as a weapon to end the lives of enemies obstructing the walking characters path, or to set up blocks for them to walk on (which you can erase by smashing back into oblivion) that are made obvious by the outline of where it could/should be. It's all rather intuitive and very nicely designed, in my opinion at least. It adheres to the basic non-scriptured commandments of typical GameFreak game design. Easy to learn in a way that guides the player without the need of a tutorial. As such, the difficultly level never comes as an unwanted spike but with natural progression, presented within Mario & Wario as additional hazards (and enemies) with each subsequent level becoming a tad more sprawling and/or mind-bending. Worth noting, you can even have a sneak peak of the layout before pressing the button to start at the beginning of each stage, so you're never heading in blind (pun intended). Think of this as a bolder variation on the core Lemmings mechanic and that would have you best set for what to expect when firing the cart up.

Wario enters the fray by adding the component most important for why you're guiding folk in the first place, as he drops something (a bucket, an egg, etc.) on Mario/Peach/Yoshi's head(s), thus eliminating their ability to see. Instead of them just taking said item off (which would render the game non-existent, but this is a video game with video game logic, deal with it), they wander about aimlessly in their quest to meet up with Luigi at each levels end. That's the goal, here. After each section you can bonk Wario's noggin as he's flying about the screen in a clickity-click boss battle bonus to collect up some coinage to go toward points and one-ups, the latter of which you're gonna want. Enemies within the levels include angry birds, bats and the like that are defeatable (as mentioned, bonk them and they go away), alongside the more hazard-like spikey balls, fireballs, etc. As you move through each stage through the worlds you'll encounter beds of spikes, springs, breakable blocks, timed magic blocks (and untimed, which are the first), smaller blocks, escalator-like ladders, etc. If you hit the stars before the character walks into them, you'll gain a points boost, so that's a pro-tip and to gain the coins from the coin blocks it's just a case of clicking them repeatedly. Mushrooms are also collectable. Each new hazard you encounter comes naturally, as you progressively become more proficient and skilled as a result, all skills needed in the much trickier 9th and final unlockable world (or “Level” as the game puts it).

Essentially, the longevity of Mario & Wario is purely down to how much you click with the game, because of its nature of arcade design. For me, it's always a fun diversion from the more “epic” tomes in the form of video games that the SNES/SFC presents the majority of the time. Like a great beat-em-up, you're back for more simply through want to crash boredom. Or, alternatively nab them points, beat yourself by beating your previous score and/or speed. Think of it like golf. Yeah, that'll do for an analogy. All very subjective.

Overall, I love Mario & Wario! Buuuut...That conclusion may have been clear by this point. It's a game that should never have been confined to Japan exclusively (which the mouse accessory in general was more widely accepted anyway, to be fair) when you consider the likes of American releases such as Mario's Time Machine and other such edutainment ilk. If the whole world got the ho-hum Yoshi's Safari to back the SuperScope, why not this for its own peripherals catalogue? I mean, I understand dicking over Europe, it's what Ninty loved to do after we all embraced Sega in the 80's – but the North American market didn't get this?! It's so strange to think. That said, the internet has thus opened our eyes to possibilities beyond strict region sales, so now the time for Mario & Wario is to shine! It'd also make a great release and/or remake on something like the 3DS or less likely the Wii U. In fact, it may even be best (relating back to the casual gaming talk) as an iOS release worldwide, with the player using the tap-a-tap interface over a mouse. Then again, this is Nintendo. That would be a tad too logical, I guess...That said, you could make the argument that this was the precursor to the Mario Vs. Donkey Kong series that are similar in fashion to this. That said, shut up coz Mario & Wario! Yeah!!