Dr. Mario Express

Genre: Match-4 Falling Block Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Dr. Mario Express is a version of Nintendo’s classic medically-themed Match-4 Falling Block Puzzle Game released on the DSiWare service in 2009, which was later grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when the Nintendo 3DS released.

The good news here is that the presentation is decent, featuring bright, colorful visuals that still fit the game’s medical theme, complete with a nicely-animated labcoat-clad Mario in the corner of the screen. The soundtrack here features decent chiptune covers of the series’ classic “Fever” and “Chill” themes, as well as its traditional menu music.

The bad news? This is one of the most feature-poor versions of Dr. Mario ever released. All you get here are standard levels and a Vs. CPU mode. There’s no Puzzle mode, and no multiplayer whatsoever. Beyond that, this is just… Dr. Mario. It’s a decent Puzzle game, but not a truly spectacular one, and it’s likely a game you’ve already played on countless other platforms.

Even at the low price of $5, I would hope for more out of a Dr. Mario game than this bare-bones release. While the presentation is nice and the core gameplay is still good, this release feels like a lazy rehash to make a few extra bucks. Those who absolutely need a Dr. Mario game on their Nintendo 3DS will find this to be sufficient, but not much more than that.

tl;dr – Dr. Mario Express is a $5 rehash of Nintendo’s classic Match-4 Falling-Block Puzzle game. The presentation is nice, and the core gameplay is still good, but this game is woefully lacking in features, particularly with the absence of multiplayer. If you absolutely need Dr. Mario on your Nintendo 3DS, this will get the job done, but only just.

Grade: C+

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