Wardner

n/a

Wardner

System(s): Sega Mega Drive

Publisher: Visco (JP), Mentrix Software (US)

Developer:

Dragnet

Original system(s): Arcade boards

Developer(s) of original games: Toaplan

Genre: Action

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1991-04-26	¥6,3006,300	T-58013
US	1991-05^[1]	$49.9549.95^[1]	58016

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Wardner, called Wardner no Mori in Japan and Pyros in its initial North American release, is a 1987 arcade platformer by Toaplan. Visco ported it to the Sega Mega Drive in 1991, removing Toaplan's name and publishing it in Japan as Wardner no Mori Special (ワードナの森ＳＰＥＣＩＡＬ). They would then license it to Mentrix Software for publication in the US as Wardner. The later developed Gods by The Bitmap Brothers shares some elements with this game.

Story

A boy and a girl are wandering about when they get lost in the Forest of Wardner. Suddenly, a green spectre comes and kidnaps the girl, leaving the boy to find her.

Gameplay

and jump. Jumping on vines will automatically latch you onto them to climb. crouches; you can jump while crouch and will need to do so to collect gold treasure, which serves as a currency. shoots fire to destroy enemies with. Defeated enemies drop money bags or orbs, which power up the main shot after you collected 15 of them. You lose a life with one hit, unless you collect a cape (absorbs one hit) or bought needle and yarn (absorbs another hit).

Stages

The game has a total of 6 stages, all of which end with a shop where powerups may be purchased.

	Stage 1 - Woods

	Stage 2 - Trap House

	Stage 3 - Lava Woods

	Stage 4 - Castle, lower section

	Stage 5 - Castle, upper section

	Stage 6 - Dungeon

Shop items

Star - wave shot
Moon - circle motion shot
Sun - long beam shot, most powerful magic
Cape - take one hit without dying
Needle & Yarn - when in possession of the cape, take another hit without dying
Clock - an extra 30 seconds once the timer runs out

Tips and tricks

By talking to the witch in stage 4, the timer will be reset. This can be abused to collect infinite score as certain enemies in this stage also reset. If this is also present in the Arcade version or not is currently unknown.

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 exists such as different hidden bonuses, etc.

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 pig parts of the color palette unused (TODO attach Hivepal picture of stage 2 and 3 palette). 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. (TODO attach picture of stage 1 wine and stage 3 bird statue).

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

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)^[2]

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

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

30

^[15]

ACE (UK)

71

^[16]

ACE (UK)

NTSC

75

^[17]

Ação Games (BR)

75

^[4]

Aktueller Software Markt (DE)

53

^[18]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

68

^[19]

Console XS (UK)

NTSC-J

48

^[20]

Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)

74

^[21]

Famitsu (JP)

NTSC-J

53

^[22]

GamePro (US)

NTSC-U

84

^[23]

Games-X (UK)

80

^[24]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

40

^[25]

Joystick (FR)

83

^[8]

Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)

43

^[9]

Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)

NTSC-U

48

^[26]

Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)

NTSC-J

53

^[26]

Mega Drive Fan (JP)

NTSC-J

55

^[27]

MegaTech (UK)

NTSC

75

^[10]

Mean Machines (UK)

NTSC-J

84

^[28]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

75

^[29]

Power Play (DE)

72

^[30]

Sega Power (UK)

NTSC-J

75

^[12]

Sega Power (UK)

NTSC-U

43

^[31]

Sega Pro (UK)

54

^[13]

Sega Pro (UK)

NTSC-U

25

^[32]

Sega Pro (UK)

NTSC-J

48

^[32]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

61

^[33]

Tilt (FR)

85

^[14]

	62
Based on 28 reviews

Wardner

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

References

[:File:GamePro_US_022.pdf_p37-1] 1.0 ^1.1 GamePro, "May 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 37

[:File:16BitVideoGaming_US.pdf_p13-2] GamePro, "16-bit Video Gaming: February 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 13

[:File:ACE_UK_47.pdf_p64_.2864.2F65.29-3] ACE, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-07-08), page 64/65 (64)

[:File:AcaoGames_BR_003.pdf_p43-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Ação Games, "Julho 1991" (BR; 1991-07-xx), page 43

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-04.pdf_p32_.2830.29-5] Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1991" (JP; 1991-03-08), page 30 (32)

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p87-6] File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 87

[:File:GamePro_US_022.pdf_p36_.2834.2F35.29-7] GamePro, "May 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 34/35 (36)

[:File:Joystick_FR_017.pdf_p132-8] 8.0 ^8.1 Joystick, "Juin 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 132

[:File:MDAG_UK_03.pdf_p79-9] 9.0 ^9.1 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 79

[:File:MegaTech_UK_01.pdf_p81-10] 10.0 ^10.1 MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 81

[:File:MeanMachines_UK_10.pdf_p70_.2870-72.29-11] Mean Machines, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-29), page 70-72 (70)

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p55-12] 12.0 ^12.1 Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 55

[:File:SegaPro_UK_06.pdf_p31-13] 13.0 ^13.1 Sega Pro, "April 1992" (UK; 1992-03-19), page 31

[:File:Tilt_FR_097.pdf_p42-14] 14.0 ^14.1 Tilt, "Décembre 1991" (FR; 1991-1x-xx), page 42

[15] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 332

[:File:ACE_UK_47.pdf_p64-16] ACE, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-07-08), page 64

[:File:ACE_UK_51.pdf_p127-17] ACE, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-08), page 127

[:File:ASM_DE_1991-09.pdf_p118-18] Aktueller Software Markt, "August/September 1991" (DE; 1991-07-26), page 118

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-04.pdf_p30-19] Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1991" (JP; 1991-03-08), page 30

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p136-20] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 136

[:File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide_Book_UK.pdf_p114-21] Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 114

[22] Famitsu, "" (JP; 1991-0x-xx), page 1

[:File:GamePro_US_022.pdf_p36-23] GamePro, "May 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 36

[:File:GamesX_UK_11.pdf_p40-24] Games-X, "4th-10th July 1991" (UK; 1991-07-04), page 40

[25] Hippon Super, "April 1991" (JP; 1991-03-04), page 42

[:File:MDAG_UK_05.pdf_p95-26] 26.0 ^26.1 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 95

[:File:Megadrive_Fan_1991-07.pdf_p85-27] Mega Drive Fan, "July 1991" (JP; 1991-06-08), page 85

[:File:MeanMachines_UK_10.pdf_p70-28] Mean Machines, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-29), page 70

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p142-29] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 142

[:File:PowerPlay_DE_1991-08.pdf_p118-30] Power Play, "8/91" (DE; 1991-07-1x), page 118

[:File:SegaPower_UK_25.pdf_p37-31] Sega Power, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-10-30), page 37

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p68-32] 32.0 ^32.1 Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p87-33] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87

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Wardner

From Sega Retro

Contents

Story

Gameplay

Stages

Shop items

Tips and tricks

Versions

Localised names

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

References