Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure review for Nintendo 3DS

Dr. Mario is back, this time with his brother Dr. Luigi. This latest entry, for the Nintendo 3DS, mixes a little old, with some new elements and is a straightforward puzzle game that has enough challenge to keep both casual and hardcore puzzle lovers busy. If you were looking for 3D as an option though, you will be sadly disappointed. It would have been nice to have a little depth just for the amusement factor.

At the start of Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure, you choose from 5 menu selections, Miracle Cure Laboratory, Custom Clinic, Online Battle, Local Match and Options. The Custom Clinic is where you will go if you want the classic Dr. Mario style of gameplay. You are able to choose your own options such as the ?Play until you lose? endless mode, or take on a computer opponent in a head to head battle to see who can clear their viruses first. You also have the options to turn the miracle cures on or off.

The miracle cures are devious little hexes that are placed on the opponent that change their gameplay and keep them on their toes, such as reversing their left and right controls, making their pills fall faster, or the most punishing one of all, the locker, which disables rotation of your pieces.

Dr. Mario: MC also includes 2 other game modes. ?Dr. Luigi?, which is a hybrid of Dr. Mario and Tetris, where you play a normal game of Dr. Mario, but with 2 sets of pills shaped like an L. Then there is ?Virus Buster?, which is a slightly slowed down game of Dr. Mario where you hold the system rotated vertically like a book. If you are a lefty player, you can adjust this in the options menu before playing in this mode. In this mode you will be using your stylus to maneuver your pills around, as they slowly descend. It?s an interesting twist to the normal formula.

In Miracle Cure, you have 50 predefined basic and advanced challenges across both the Dr. Mario and Dr. Luigi game styles with varying speeds, virus heights and patterns to defeat. These challenges are fun and good for on the go sessions. The online and local matches are what you would expect. If you have a friend with a copy of the game you can go head to head to see who can eliminate their viruses faster, or you can play online against players all over the world.

My experience with the online play was pleasant yet short, mostly because I was getting destroyed by very skilled players. Matchmaking with Dr. Mario mode was quick and responsive; however it took longer to get into a match with Dr. Luigi mode.

Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure is a great game that packs a decent amount of content for its $8.99 price tag. I would have liked to have seen a little 3D thrown in there in some way, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. People who love the classic title will really enjoy it on the 3DS, as it’s the best entry in the series and puzzle lovers who love a challenge will enjoy it.