Nintendo’s Dr Mario, a variant on the falling-brick game genre (think Tetris), is ready for its mobile debut on July 10, with preregistration pages hitting Google Play and something called the Apple App Store today.
As long as there’s been games there’s been puzzle games, and some of them are more venerated than others. Dr Mario first appeared on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy (and even put in an appearance at the arcades, according to its Wikipedia page). Since then the Doctor’s me an appearance on most Nintendo consoles and handhelds making him one of Nintendo’s most-updated franchises.
Gameplay is as deceptively simple as you might expect – where Tetris gives you falling blocks, Dr Mario gives you rising pills with particular colours you’ll match up to clear viruses from the playfield.
Of course, the game’s not going to give you the pills in the order you need, and you’ll have to stack some pills on top of others to get some neat combos going to clear the jar.
I’ve been playing Dr Mario for years, starting with they old Game Boy version. It’s a nice variant and alternative to Tetris and feels a little more like Sega’s Columns in a way. It’s got that pick-up-and-play / just-one-more-go quality that elevates a game from an experience to a legend.
It’s 2019 though, so Dr Mario World has an online component that’ll see you do battle one-on-one with other players online, and use your victories to increase your rank.
There’s also in-app microtransactions. We know.
It’s free to start, at least.
Nintendo recently made the NES original free to play on Switch with a Switch Online subscription and it got a bit of a workout while Tetris 99 installed (and for a good few hours later), so if you’re looking to brush up on your skills before you see the doctor, head to Switch Online.
You can pre-register for the app on Google Play now to receive a notification when it’s made available and be one of the first to pop those viruses!
