Feeling a little under the weather? Think maybe you have a virus? Dr. Mario is now accepting new patients and you can schedule an appointment on your phone! The new mobile game Dr. Mario World from Nintendo is the perfect prescription of nostalgia and modern day puzzle games.
As an avid fan of Tetris on the NES and Columns on the Sega Genesis in the late ‘80s, I was excited to play Dr. Mario when it hit shelves the summer of 1990. It was like a mixture of the two games in that you could pre-build blocks on Tetris to make it more challenging and Columns incorporated colors. Dr. Mario also had the name recognition of the popular Mario character. I remember the first time I played Dr. Mario at a friend’s house and was immediately addicted.
While Nintendo has released new Dr. Mario games over the years for N64, Wii, and 3DS, the original game brings with it the most nostalgia. Needless to say, I was excited when Google Play notified me of the new Dr. Mario World mobile game and I downloaded it on the first day of its release. I’ve enjoyed puzzle games over the years like Gardenscapes and WWE Champions and currently play Star Wars Puzzle Droids. So, the prospect of playing an updated version of Dr. Mario on my phone sounded like fun…and it didn’t disappoint.
Dr. Mario World is similar to the original game, dropping multi-color pills to destroy viruses on the board, but instead of playing top-to-bottom on the screen, it is reversed. Pills float bottom-to-top with the ability to turn it 90 degrees before releasing. And just like the original game, the goal for each stage is to eliminate all the viruses. Journey through Dr. Mario World, completing stages and earning 3 stars for maximum coins to collect. Bonus paths will appear on your journey to earn extra rewards.
But unlike the original, Dr. Mario World has a Versus mode! Battle against random opponents of the same skill level or challenge a friend! You and your opponent begin with the same board and whoever lasts the longest wins! But that’s not all that’s new in Dr. Mario World…all the traditional Super Mario characters are incorporated into the game. For instance, you can play as Dr. Luigi or Dr. Bowser, each with a special ability to help you clear stages. You can also unlock 40 different assistant characters, each with a different bonus ability to help your progress. There are all 3 special abilities that can be purchased with coins or gems.
As far as a rating, I’m giving Dr. Mario World 5 out of 5 stars for offering a fun puzzle game style that incorporates those nostalgic feelings of playing the original game 30 years ago. Download it now for free in the App Store and Google Play. Gems are available as in-app purchases to help you progress through the game faster.
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