Wario (universe)

The Wario universe refers to the ' series' collection of characters, stages, and properties concerning the sub-franchise of the world-famous ' game franchise centered on series anti-hero Wario. A series with much cartoon mayhem and humor that is sometimes scatological, Wario is a more deranged take on the normally cheery and kid-friendly Mario archetype, and its appearances in Super Smash Flash 2 adhere to this aesthetic. Its symbol is a "W" for Wario, it can be seen on his cap and on the back of his gloves.

Franchise description
Wario began a sub-series of platformers on Game Boy called Super Mario Land, of which its first entry depicted Mario leaving his personal island and castle to rescue the newly debuted character Princess Daisy from an alien entity named Tatanga (who was commanded by Wario). The sequel, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, was the debut for the character Wario, who served as an "evil twin" to Mario and an antagonist figure who was the final boss; he took over Mario's castle and island for himself while Mario was away, and it is up Mario to oust him. Wario made several other appearances as a villain in Mario games, including a Japan-only Super Famicom game named Mario and Wario where Wario would drop a bucket on the heads of either Mario, Peach or Yoshi from his airplane, and it is up to a fairy named Wanda to help them to level exits, and in the puzzle game Wario's Woods, Wario launches an assault on the Mushroom Kingdom, forcing Toad, Wanda and Birdo to stop him.

After being established in several games as an outright villain in the Mario universe, Wario was from then on portrayed in a less malicious anti-hero light, becoming the protagonist of his own games, most of which were platformers at first, hence establishing somewhat of a sub-franchise of Mario. The first of these games was Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, where the antagonist party, the Brown Sugar Pirates led by a woman named Captain Syrup, steals a Peach statue from Mario, and Mario is trying to retrieve it; as Wario, the player must steal it for himself before that happens. After a Virtual Boy Wario adventure named Virtual Boy: Wario Land sees Wario trying to find his way out of a giant cave while collecting money, the Game Boy Color's Wario Land II continues the rivalry between Wario and Captain Syrup as they try to steal loot from each other. In Game Boy Color's Wario Land 3, Wario is now trapped in a Music Box World and must battle Rudy the Clown, and in Wario Land 4 for Game Boy Advance Wario journeys through a pyramid he hears is packed with treasure. Following a seven-year gap, Japanese video game company, Good-Feel, Inc., developed Wario Land: Shake It! for Wii, where Wario ventures through the Shake Dimension to rescue Queen Merfle, her loyal pixie-like creatures called Merfles and get his hand on the Bottomless Sack. All of these games were some variant of Wario trying to get his hands on material riches.

The Wario name eventually suddenly became synonymous with a form of off-kilter mini-gaming unique for its time. In 2003, the first of a new series called WarioWare was released for Game Boy Advance, and it received many outstanding reviews and awards for its attempt at a new genre; a collection of over 200 outrageously themed timed micro-games, games short and small enough that most of them require a single timed button press or two, thrown at the player in rapid succession with the barest minimum of instructions popping up on screen each time ("Jump!" or "Haze!" as examples). The games thematically ranged from anywhere between helping maidens, nose-sucking strands of snot, and avoiding giant hot dogs on wheels, to avoiding obstacles in the original ' or battling Mother Brain in the original '. The game also introduced a diverse cast of strictly Wario characters not yet seen in any standard Mario game. In the years to come, new WarioWare games were produced for GameCube (as a port of the Game Boy Advance game), the Game Boy Advance (WarioWare Twisted!, which used a motion sensor to make turning the Game Boy Advance around a gameplay maneuver), Nintendo DS (WarioWare Touched!, making heavy use of the DS' features; and WarioWare D.I.Y., which lets the player create their own games), the Wii (WarioWare: Smooth Moves, making use of the Wii Remote's capabilities), the Wii U (Game & Wario, a party game that utilizes the Wii U GamePad) and recently the Nintendo 3DS (WarioWare: Gold, which amalgamates various game gimmicks from past WarioWare games, like button pressing, touch controls and the console's gyroscope). All these games have been considered staples of gaming for their respective systems.

Perhaps as a result of the new respect for the Wario franchise as a mini-game-proficient game series, new standard platforming games released in between have received some mixed negative press, including Wario World for GameCube for its ease and length, and Wario: Master of Disguise for DS for standard design uninspiring in comparison to the previous Wario Land games, as well as a lot of scatological humor. But Wario himself is considered a "regular" in the standard Mario universe nonetheless, in many games such as the Mario Sports games and Mario Kart alongside a second "evil twin" character named Waluigi, and Wario and perhaps other Wario properties are featured in 2008's Wii fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This last appearance quickly lead Wario to be one of the playable characters in Super Smash Flash 2. Wario returns as a fighter in taking elements from the most recent Wario game released at that time, Game & Wario. Moreover, Wario is set to appear once more in the latest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

In Super Smash Flash
Wario was not recognized as a distinctive universe in Super Smash Flash, and it was not treated as one either, for there were no playable characters and stages based on the franchise. The Floating Islands stage from Adventure mode invariably takes its tilesets from Wario Land 4, but still, the property for this stage falls on the  universe due to Wario's absence.

Common enemies
It should be noted that as all the enemies present in the Floating Islands also come from Wario Land 4, but unlike the latter, it could be said they actually belong to the Wario universe, no matter what. This classification merely a technicism, though.


 * Beezley: A bee enemy that can sting Wario, so he could become Puffy Wario. In Super Smash Flash, they chase after the player and deal damage on contact, any hit will take it out easily.


 * Mayu Bird: A horrible bird-bat creature with fangs that shares the same behavior as Beezley or Crystal Bird, in that is always trying to hurt the player. Even if its fangs point in an downward direction, is still possible to beat it by below, unlike in Wario Land 4, where Wario would be harmed should he touch its fangs.


 * Pearl Bird: A flying, fat bird-like creature that originally lurked in puzzle rooms, it is not an enemy at all, in fact, he acts as a kind of helper because it shoots from its mouth inoffensive crystal balls that Wario can grab and throw for his beneficence. In Super Smash Flash, it plays the role of an enemy and behaves exactly the same as Beezly.


 * Spear-Mask: This enemy originally came in three variants. The Angry Spear-Mask, which is the version who appears in the game, wears a red robe and a mask. Angry Spear-Mask simply chases after the player; and he will charge at player with his spear over his head, any attack will beat it once for all.

In Super Smash Flash 2
Wario is recognized and treated as a distinctive new universe in Super Smash Flash 2. It focuses heavily on the Wario Land and WarioWare games, to bring balance to the content among the two Wario sub-series.

Characters

 * ': The franchise's first playable character. Wario is dressed in his traditional purple overalls from the Mario'' series as default. Unlike how Wario is presented in the official ' games, it was by decided developers that Wario should port his traditional overalls outfit rather than the biker outfit, as the first is considered the most standard appearance of Wario.

Stages

 * Emerald Cave: A stage hailing from the platforming Wario Land series, this particular area is based on the Palm Tree Paradise level from Wario Land 4. The stage comprises a flat area with wooden plank covering some hole in the stage, when these planks get this destroyed, it allows the player into the cave beneath the stage where there a hole in the middle of it.


 * WarioWare, Inc.: Occasionally, the stage takes you from the main "elevator" into a microgame, which you can complete to obtain some sort of award. The microgames seem to be able to damage characters, as a screen shot depicting a "Dodge the rain" game shows the characters in the rain taking non-flinching damage. At this time, no microgames have been confirmed, but is stated it will have them.

Trivia

 * Waluigi, during his development, was part of the Wario universe. He was since changed to be part of the Mario universe instead, however.