Whoa! This mermaid is Pissed! Though I guess "Mad" could just be a shortening for something beautiful and elegant like "Madeline" or "Maddison" or perhaps "Madwoman". Either way, she is one of seven bosses that Toad can fight in Wario's Woods, a drop-down puzzle game for the NES (and SNES, but we'll get to that in a minute) most notable for being the last officially-licensed game released on the console, a whole four years into the lifespan of the SNES! We've already gone over most of the Wario's Woods denizens in a couple of posts, but with the exception of the NES bosses!
Original video credit: NintendoComplete on Youtube
The bosses in this game all play pretty much identically, summoning enemies and occasionally teleporting around. To damage them, you line up the thingies of the same color next to them, as you can see in the gif above. Yuppppp. She also appeared in Super Mario-Kun, where she is shown to be a shapeshifter!
I searched everywhere for more, but since Super Mario-Kun is apparently both very poorly archived and approximately three infinities long, here's some highlights courtesy of her Super Mario Wiki page! Wario has enthralled her by poisoning the lake she resides in, and after a fight, Mario and co. cure her by....... having Yoshi drink and subsequently urinate her out. Turns out this mermaid really was Pissed after all I guess.
Anyway, after that, her true form is revealed: a big fat anthropomorphic fish in a dress. If you don't think she's just as beautiful, get out of my sight. That's where I’d leave off the post normally, but as you may have noticed, we haven't yet touched on the SNES release of Wario's Woods. This brings us to the second half of the post...
Original video credit: World of Longplays on Youtube
Name: Aqualea
Debut: Wario's Woods (SNES)
Finally, someone calls Toad out on his trademark foolhardiness! Yes, Wario's Woods (SNES) includes a mermaid boss just like its NES counterpart. The odd thing here to me is not just that they went to the trouble of making a unique character that still sticks so close to Mad's design rather than outright cutting and pasting her into WW(SNES); but that of WW(SNES)'s seventeen non-Wario bosses, only one of them seems to bear any similarity to WW(NES)'s six.
Why go to the trouble of designing unique boss casts across both releases? Why not just distribute WW(NES)'s comparatively scanty lineup into WW(SNES)'s, which is almost three times as large? I mean, as a writer for a blog which hinges around novel and bizarre designs in the Mario franchise, I should really be thankful, but from a development standpoint it is just so odd! Especially considering both versions were designed and released concurrently! I think the most likely explanation here is poor coordination between design teams, though they did still have one member in common, so who's to say?
Anyway, all of that is to say that the circumstances surrounding Aqualea's conception are kind of infinitely more interesting than her design itself. Sorry, Aqualea! Although my sapphic sensibilities make it pretty hard to write you off completely, your cute-girl-ness can only get you so far, and novelty is unfortunately very much not on your side here.
Above, you can see how the boss gameplay differs from WW(NES). Instead of taking place on a single field, it now takes place across two, as is more traditional for competitive drop-down puzzle games. I really enjoy the unique SMB2(USA)-style sprite sets every boss has for this purpose. Seems like a good opportunity for a very niche ROM hack, if you ask me!
Every boss is also given a unique "lose" sprite for when you've defeated them. These are usually just a given boss's face in a distraught expression, but Aqualea is exceptional in that regard. I will now leave you with what is, in my opinion, the single most charming lose sprite of any boss in Wario's Woods (SNES):
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
So Me and a homie of mine talked about this idea since November 13th 2022 , and I just couldn't stop thinking about it that I had to at least draw something for this. It was originally going to be a Waluigi wardrobe and sketch design of him, but I went overboard
Waluigi's Apartments™️
"A game where Waluigi says goodbye to chasing after the stardom and respect from Nintendo but to embark on a new way of living, an adventure even, to find more forgotten characters and elements of Nintendo and give them a home that he never had"
I'm not exactly a gaming nerd to know what to reference and say this sounds like, but from what I played, I can say this is a mix between Kirby's Epic Yarn and Animal Crossing.
The characters in the boxes are
1. Donkey Kong Jr.
2. Wart
3. Stanley the Bugman
4. The DK Crew (Chunky, Tiny and Lanky)
5. Fawful
6. Keeby
7. Baby Wario & Princess Shokora
8. MC Ballyhoo
9. Geno
10. Boshi
11. Aqualea
12. Koopa Kid
These are not the only ones that will be featured in the game, but the main 12
I have so much to talk about with this idea, I really wanna make this into an actual game, maybe not a console game but a free game for Steam or devices like phones and tablets or something.
I'm not sure. But what I do know for sure is that I will be doodling more of this and Waluigi cause damn he's so cool, and Number 1 in our hearts
As pissed off as I currently am with Nintendo for their greedy business practices ruining gaming as an affordable pastime, there's one old puzzle game of theirs I sincerely wish they would make a new installment for:
WARIO'S WOODS.
I have multiple digital copies of the NES version, and the cartridge for the SNES version, which I used to play religiously. Fun fact: the SNES version is very hard to emulate, almost impossible, so the NES version is the more well-known version, but it's also the inferior version.
I really would love it if they brought back the idea of Toad and Wario having a fierce rivalry. Also, Wario has a lot of interesting allies in the form of the many boss characters Toad faces in the game, and I'd love to see them make a return. (Aqualea the mermaid is my personal favorite.)
I've seen people make mock-ups of a what a modern Wario's Woods would look like, and to be honest, I don't think using the usual Mario art style would work in a modern Wario's Woods game. It looks too generic, too pump-and-dump. Besides, this isn't a Mario game. It's a Toad game and a Wario game. A modern Wario's Woods should reflect this in its art style somehow... it needs to be unique.
OH, and did I mention Birdo is in Wario's Woods, too? Our favorite trans dinosaur has a role in assisting Toad in his fight against Wario. Yet another reason I want a comeback for Wario's Woods... IT'S LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION, MOTHERFUCKERS!!
I dunno, I just randomly felt like talking about this stuff because I really miss Wario's Woods. The SNES version in particular is an amazing game.
If viable, set "Canvas Size…" so that the height and width are both divisible by 4.
Go to "Resize…" → "Resampling: Nearest Neighbor" → "By percentage: 25%" → apply
Go to "Resize…" again → "By percentage: 400%" → apply
You now have pixel art in less than 2 minutes. 😎
This also makes supposed pixel art projects far less often needed.
(Based on https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/121537412 by するが かなで)
In the cases of many other art pieces, it still looks far too detailed to simply go 25%→400%, and may instead need for example "divisible by 5"→20%→500%, etc.
And as a direct comparison with the original for people who are not keen on going to Pixiv's websites outright:
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
