The game received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay, design, and multiplayer mode, though some believed it was not as refined as Nintendo's previous puzzle games like Dr. Mario, and lacked depth and enough content to keep players engaged.

After the invasion of Wario and his group of monsters, the forest community was "turned upside-down" where peaceful creatures are no longer welcome.

A Thwomp may also come down a number of rows (being disguised as the ceiling), making less room for the player to match enemies and bombs.

[4] Unlike other action puzzle games such as Tetris or Puzzle League where the player directly manipulates the game pieces, either as they fall or via a cursor, the player directly controls the character Toad, who moves around inside the playing field atop the fallen objects.

The Bakushou Version featured personalities from the Japanese radio comedy show, Bakushō Mondai.

[5] This version was one of the first titles available for the Wii Virtual Console, released alongside the service's launch in North America, Australia, and Europe, and on December 12, 2006, in Japan.

Reviewing the SNES version, GamePro called it "a ho-hum puzzler", commenting that though it has some interesting gameplay mechanics, it ultimately fails to be more than a standard Tetris clone.

[19] Nintendo Power reviewed the game noting that it had a fun two-player mode and was challenging and fast-paced while saying that it's not as easy to control as Tetris 2.

[5][13][14] Lucas Thomas of IGN awarded the game an 8.0 out of 10, praising the game's unique approach to the puzzle genre and graphics that "took full advantage of the 8-bit hardware [and were] full of character", but recommended saving Nintendo Points for the SNES version.

[5] Aaron Thomas of GameSpot gave Wario's Woods a score of 7.0 out of 10, admiring the "fun, addictive game play" and "surprising amount of depth", but criticizing the game's repetitive music and poor sound effects, adding that he also prefers the "ideal" SNES version.