Wardner

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Wardner
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Visco (Japan), Mentrix Software (US)
Developer: Dragnet
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Toaplan
Sound driver: Dragnet/Kazuo Okabayashi
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages: 日本語 English
Release Date RRP Code JP 1991-04-26 ¥6,300 (6,489)6,300e T-58013 US 1991-05 $49.9549.95 58016
Non-Sega versions Arcade Famicom Disk System

Wardner is a platform game developed by Dragnet and released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1991. In Japan, it was known as Wardner no Mori Special (ワードナの森ＳＰＥＣＩＡＬ) and published by Visco. In North America, it was published by Mentrix Software.

It is based on a 1987 arcade game called Wardner no Mori in Japan and Pyros in North America, which was developed by Toaplan and published by Taito.

Columbus Circle (in a deal with Tatsujin) announced an aftermarket re-release of the game in Japan for September 2024, dropping the Special from the title and naming it as Wardner no Mori instead.

Story

Introduction

A boy named Dover and a girl named Mia are wandering about when they get lost in the forest of the sinister warlock Wardner. Suddenly, a green spectre comes and kidnaps Mia, leaving Dover to find her.

Gameplay

The game is a side-scrolling platformer played as Dover, who traverses a fantasy land to rescue Mia. The early stages are linear, populated with obstacles and enemies, requiring the player to traverse the stage by running, jumping, climbing, shooting or dodging enemies, while later stages are more maze-like and exploratory, making the player take different routes to reach the end. Dover walks with and and crouches with . He jumps with or . He can squeeze through tight spots by jumping while crouching. He automatically grabs vines when he passes in front of them and climbs them with and .

Dover attacks enemies by shooting fireballs at them with . Defeated enemies drop Crystals, which power up Dover's attack, or Money Bags, which can be used to buy items in the shop. Dover initially shoots one fireball at a time in a downward trajectory; he must wait until the fireball dissipates by hitting the ground or an enemy before he can shoot another. By collecting 16 Small Crystals (or a single Large Crystal), Dover gains the ability to shoot another fireball, up to a maximum of 8. Additionally, after a stage is completed, the player enters a shop and can spend the money collected from enemies to buy magic items that change the pattern of Dover's attacks. Only one such item can be held at a time, and it is kept until it is replaced or until the end of the game.

Ordinarily, Dover dies after taking a single hit from an enemy or hazard. He can find (or buy in the shop) the Magical Cape item, which allows him to withstand one more hit. If he has a cape, purchasing the Needle and Thread item from the shop allows him to repair it in order to take one additional hit. If he dies, he restarts the stage at a predetermined checkpoint. Some hazards, such as spikes and lava, instantly kill Dover regardless of what items he possesses. There is also a timer, and Dover loses a life if he does not complete the stage before time runs out (unless he has the Magical Clock item, which grants him another 30 seconds after time runs out). Some stages contain NPCs, and the timer resets when talking to them. The player gains extra lives at certain points thresholds. Stages contain hidden spots that reward the player with bonus points for moving over them.

Items

	Small Crystal
	Collect 16 to increase the number of fireballs that Dover can shoot at a time, up to a maximum of 8. Sometimes dropped by defeated enemies.
	Large Crystal
	Increases the number of fireballs that Dover can shoot at a time, up to a maximum of 8.
	Money Bag
	Rewards Dover with $50. Sometimes dropped by defeated enemies.
	Treasure Chest
	Rewards Dover with $200.
	Magical Cape
	Allows Dover to absorb one hit without dying. His sprite changes to show him wearing a cape when he has this item.
	Magical Clock
	Gives the player an extra 30 seconds once the timer runs out. A Clock icon appears next to the timer when Dover has this item.
	Ocarina
	This item is only dropped by the first giant bee enemy in the third stage. If Dover possesses this item while standing in the middle of the fire lake, a phoenix appears and flies him to the end of the stage.
	High Jump Shoes
	This item is only dropped by the second giant bee enemy in the third stage. It turns Dover's next jump into a super high jump, but only lasts for one jump.
	Faerie Statue
	Causes a faerie to follow Dover. Faeries are invulnerable and destroy enemies that they touch (as well as enemy projectiles). Faeries last from stage to stage, until Dover loses a life. Up to two faeries can follow Dover at a time.
	1-Up
	Awards the player with an extra life.

Shop

Shop

The player enters a shop after completing each of the first four stages.

	Magic of Stars
	Upgrades Dover's fireballs to fly in a zigzag motion. Costs $1,500.
	Magic of the Moon
	Upgrades Dover's fireballs to loop around in circles. Costs $2,000.
	Magic of the Sun
	Upgrades Dover's fireballs to shoot out into a rapid beam. This is the only attack that shoots all of his fireballs out at once. Costs $3,000.
	Magical Cape
	Allows Dover to absorb one hit without dying. His sprite changes to show him wearing a cape when he has this item. Costs $300.
	Needle and Thread
	Allows Dover to take an additional hit without dying when wearing the cape. A Needle and Thread icon appears in the top-right corner of the screen when Dover has this item. Costs $200.
	Magical Clock
	Gives the player an extra 30 seconds once the timer runs out. A Clock icon appears next to the timer when Dover has this item. Costs $300.

Stages

	Woods
	Trap House
	Lava Woods
	Castle, Lower Section
	Castle, Upper Section
	Dungeon

Versions

The game has been remixed for the Mega Drive port: Stage 2 got a new boss (was a reused stage 1 boss). Stage 3 got the Arcade version's Stage 4 boss (original stage 3 boss was also a reused boss). Stage 4 has been split up into stages 4 and 5, with new bosses added. These resulting stages also contain a few extra sections. The final series of rooms leading to Wardner has also been changed significantly, with the home port having the double amount of rooms and differing obstacles in them. The final boss had a safe spot just in front of his knee, allowing to defeat him with no effort. This has been fixed by changing his attack pattern. Various other changes exist such as different hidden bonuses.

The graphical conversion left much to be desired. Parts of it, such as missing background details, world map and shop entrance graphics, can be explained by the small ROM size. Other changes however, appear to have been avoidable. Multiple stages have big parts of the color palette unused. All enemies aside from the floating skulls draw their colors from this limited pool. Color positions were swapped for unknown reasons, so that objects in the background appear brighter than in the foreground.

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English (US)	Wardner	Wardner
Japanese	ワードナの森ＳＰＥＣＩＡＬ	Wardner no Mori Special

Production credits

• Producer: Tetsuo Akiyama
• Original Works: Toa Plan
• Director:" Yasuhisa Itoi
• Assistant Director: Don Gabacho, Ann Hirakawa
• Programing: Masaharu Ohno, Takanori Kohno, Hirosi Ogura
• Character Design: Toa Plan, Kyoko Tachibana
• Music: Toa Plan, Kazuo Okabayashi
• Music Arrange: Kazuo Okabayashi
• Sound Effect: Kazuo Okabayashi, Masaharu Ohno
• Special Thanks: K.Kamio

Presented by Mentrix Software, Inc.

Source:

In-game credits (US)

Magazine articles

Main article: Wardner/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #27: "October 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:

• GamePro (US) #16bit: "16-bit Video Gaming: February 1992" (1992-xx-xx)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-04: "April 1991" (1991-03-08)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 30 ACE (UK) 71 ACE (UK) NTSC 75 Ação Games (BR) 75 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 53 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 68 Console XS (UK) NTSC-J 48 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 74 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 53 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 84 Games-X (UK) 80 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 40 Joystick (FR) 83 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 43 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-U 48 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-J 53 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 55 MegaTech (UK) NTSC 75 Mean Machines (UK) NTSC-J 84 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 75 Power Play (DE) 72 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J 75 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U 43 Sega Pro (UK) 54 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 25 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 48 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 61 Tilt (FR) 85

	62
Based on 28 reviews

Wardner

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Technical information

Main article: Wardner/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Wardner no Mori