Seriously, does anyone enjoy the game?
Just the other night, I was using my original DS to play a GBA game, since my DS Lite had run out of batteries, and I realized there was already a GBA game in the slot. A while back, I had bought a copy of
Dr. Mario & Puzzle League, since I'm a huge fan of
Puzzle League, and slapped it in there for the next time I'd want a back-up game on the road, then never played it. Remembering this plan, I took a moment to boot it up and play some
Puzzle League, since playing with a friend's copy of
Planet Puzzle League had me itching for more puzzle goodness lately. Needless to say, this iteration was just what I was looking for, if a bit bland in aesthetics.
Before it got to late and I turned in for the night, I decided to take a quick look at
Dr. Mario, a game I had no real exposure to beyond three-second microgames in the
WarioWare series. For those not aware, this iteration is an updated version of the NES original, with pretty much the same mechanics, though closest to
Dr. Mario 64. I knew the gameplay concepts well enough - drop multicolored pills on viruses, lining up four in a row or more to clear them until all the viruses are gone - so I jumped right into a mid-tier level.
Woah. Big mistake. The game was far too fast for someone inexperienced with the game, leaving me completely panicked as pills stacked up higher and higher. I decided I would start at level 1 on low speed and work my way up to level 20 to "complete" the game for the hell of it. The first few levels were insultingly easy, but they did get me more used to the intricacies of the game. And by intricacies, I mean annoyances. For example, rotating a pill will let you squeeze it into some places...but rotating a pill has an incredibly annoying habit of moving it to the left as you keep rotating it, meaning that if you rotate it into a hole, you oftentimes can't rotate it out.
The problem with the pills extends further than that. In
Tetris, if you rotate a shape, you have a very strong sense of how it will come down and fit with other pieces. However, every pill is the same shape: one color on one side, and another color on the other side. This means that the main difference in pill orientation is whether it's up or down. This caused a problem for me, for as time went on, colors begin to mold together, and you may think that the colors are landing where you want them to, but they are in fact the opposite due to a different kind of visuals from
Tetris. Furthermore, after being trained in numerous puzzle games to accept that higher blocks fall if blocks underneath are cleared, it's infuriating to see only the pills drop and not the viruses, messing up chains you intended to create.
Then there's the problem of the start of the game. Once you get away from the incredibly easy levels, the increased number of viruses starts closer to the top of the jar. In many cases at levels 15-20, you only have several pills to place before you potentially lose the game. This creates an odd scenario in which the beginning of the level is much harder than the end of the level. Sure, by the end the pace has picked up and gets tensely fast by the time you have only two viruses left, but this is nowhere near as difficult as the beginning of the level can be. Far too often is the player given unhelpful pills, which
can be utilized, but only if your mind is already completely in the zone, something that rarely is true at the start of a level.
(tl;dr? Skip here)
So my question is simple: why is this game continuously rereleased? Does anyone actually have fun with this crap? I know the puzzle genre is notoriously influenced by
Tetris, so there is often a similarity to the blockbuster hit, but this just reeks of an uninspired knock-off with worse mechanics. Come to think of it, I have never heard anyone get excited over hearing the game's name. Mention
Tetris, everyone will cream themselves over the Game Boy version (or, if you're an elitist, the Tengen NES version). Bring up Q Entertainment's
Meteos or
Lumines, and you'll hear a gushing praise. Speak of
Puzzle Quest and people won't shut up about how they lost a day to its marriage of RPG and puzzle elements. Personally, I think no puzzle game can touch the addictive nature of
Puzzle League (
Tetris Attack, if you must), and I'm sure numerous people will back me up on that.
But
Dr. Mario? Having not ever paid attention to the "series," I doubt whether people ever actually liked it in the first place, or if they just thought they did.
Tetris mania was pretty intense back in the day, and I'm sure some people fooled themselves into thinking that
Dr. Mario was an interesting alternative with some depth to it, when in fact it's just a rip-off with frustrating mechanics. The only thing really amusing about the game to me is that a plumber could manage to moonlight as a doctor without anyone crying foul. It may promote a world in which even a lowly plumber can become a well-paid, comfortably-wealthy, social-elite doctor, but that's about the only thing it's got going for it.
And speaking of Dr. Mario himself: he's a shitty doctor. I loved the way he handled in
Super Smash Bros. Melee and used him quite frequently, but playing his original game even briefly has left me disillusioned with the character. You're supposed to be getting rid of these viruses, and what's his solution? More and more medicine! Just keep
cramming it down there, they'll work somehow! Meanwhile, the player is freaking out trying to get the stupid pills to line up as they grow ever closer to the top, and Dr. Moron just keeps smiling, flipping them in there every few seconds. You don't need that many fucking pills! It's not like the viruses are even doing anything, they're just sitting there! They're not even moving around, you don't have to cage them in or anything, just take it easy!
In closing, screw you,
Dr. Mario. You are a bad game for people who don't know better.
(# 0) on 04/02/2009 11:56
(# 1) on 04/02/2009 11:59
(# 2) on 04/02/2009 12:00
(# 3) on 04/02/2009 12:05
thx Necros!
(# 4) on 04/02/2009 12:05
(# 5) on 04/02/2009 12:09
(# 6) on 04/02/2009 12:11
(# 7) on 04/02/2009 12:12
Can't say I enjoy playing single player all that much though. Did you play any Vs matches against similarly skilled opponents? Maybe that would have helped you to have more fun.
(# 8) on 04/02/2009 12:14
You know how it goes though, people love buying games that rekindle their fond childhood memories. Nostalgia is how Nintendo makes half its money these days.
(# 9) on 04/02/2009 12:15
(# 10) on 04/02/2009 12:19
Oh, you did not just compare Tetris Attack to Tekken. But no, it was a GBA version, so I didn't have anyone nearby to play.
(# 11) on 04/02/2009 12:23
(# 12) on 04/02/2009 12:29
Most of the problems you mentioned are dead on, though if you think the issue with creating chains is a problem with the game and not with you then I think you need to learn 2 play :P Chains are definitely possible but you have to set them up in different ways and break yourself of that Puzzle League mindset. The original Tetris doesn't even have chains! Also, I believe there are two rotation buttons just as there are in Tetris, so the problem with the pill moving left (which I've never noticed) might be due to relying on the counterclockwise button.
I had a Dr. Mario addiction a few months ago where I was playing 3 of the 4 versions I own (I don't know how I ended up with that many, the only one I bought for Dr. Mario was Dr. Mario 64) all the time. Dr. Mario 64 has a story mode against AI opponents, so that's something. The only other real addition the series has seen is Flash mode, which is a lot of fun against someone else. A few viruses are flashing and those are the only ones you need to eliminate to win, so it becomes a race to efficiently plow through enough viruses to reach the targets.
I'll agree with you that there are better puzzle games out there, but if I'm in the right mood Dr. Mario grabs me.
(# 13) on 04/02/2009 12:37
(# 14) on 04/02/2009 12:38
Oh, I'm not denying the fact that the chain issues is a problem with me. It just runs counter-intuitive in my mind the same way that unusual controls do. And I'm not saying it's the worst game ever, just that it's not really good, especially compared to pretty much any other puzzle game and I see no reason to play it in favor of such awesome games like Puzzle League.
(# 15) on 04/02/2009 12:41
(# 16) on 04/02/2009 12:42
(# 17) on 04/02/2009 12:49
Great blog. Keep 'em coming.
(# 18) on 04/02/2009 12:55
(# 19) on 04/02/2009 12:57
This game really shines in the multiplayer mode. Playing by yourself only scratches the surface of the game's mechanics.
I understand your complaint about the beginning of the level being harder than the end at the higher stages. That's not always the case with two players. When you throw garbage onto each others' screens it makes each game different, and you can get into very complex strategies where you're both burrowing tunnels into huge piles of viruses and pills. Then once you've made your way to the bottom, you have to race each other back up to the top clearing virus towers on the side of the screen with horizontal pill combinations.
It's actually an extremely deep game, with a lot of strategies and mechanics that only reveal themselves at high levels of competitive play. I suppose that could be a lucky accident rather than result of thoughtful design. But whatever the intent of the designers, it's a total blast when you're playing against someone else and you can both hold your own at around 18 High. Single player's more of a training mode to practice in before you get to the real meat of the game.
(# 20) on 04/02/2009 13:23
As for Puzzle League being Tekken, is that a insult? They are both flashy, combo heavy games that focus on thinking ultra-fast and ultra-offensive. That's a good thing, if that's what you like.
I know I do.
Man, saying "ultra" all those times makes me want to stop writing about fighting games and start playing them RIGHT NOW, specifically Killer Instinct on the ULTRA 64.
ULTRA COMBO!!!
!!!
(# 21) on 04/02/2009 13:24
(# 22) on 04/02/2009 13:45
(# 23) on 04/02/2009 13:59
One of the two, possible; in game soundtracks in my head! Make it stop!!!!
(# 24) on 04/02/2009 14:15
(# 25) on 04/02/2009 14:17
But I still don't like it, and while I see what people are saying about multiplayer, I doubt it would change my mind that much.
@ Holmes
Okay, that comparison makes more sense now. See, I'm part of the group of people who think that Tekken is one of the "lower tier" 3D fighting games, which can be fun, but doesn't come close to genre mainstays like SoulCalibur (and Virtua Fighter, as I hear; I never played it). I mainly view Tekken as a button masher, dumb fun. I assumed you were downplaying how awesome Puzzle League is, instead of making an actual comparison between the way the games flow.
(# 26) on 04/02/2009 14:17
(# 27) on 04/02/2009 14:22
(# 28) on 04/02/2009 14:44
(# 29) on 04/02/2009 15:07
(# 30) on 04/02/2009 15:17
(# 31) on 04/02/2009 15:19
And yes, Tetris Attack!, I must.
(# 32) on 04/02/2009 15:30
Maybe Marvel Vs. Capcom 2?
Hrm, I don't know, these genre to genre comparisons are tough.
(# 33) on 04/02/2009 15:30
(# 34) on 04/02/2009 17:54
(# 35) on 04/02/2009 18:24
(# 36) on 04/02/2009 18:41
Dr. Mario is a great game!
(# 37) on 04/02/2009 18:53
(# 38) on 04/02/2009 19:51
(# 39) on 04/02/2009 22:21
(# 40) on 04/02/2009 23:05
(# 41) on 04/03/2009 00:15
(# 42) on 04/03/2009 00:41
(# 43) on 04/03/2009 00:50
(# 44) on 04/03/2009 01:05
(# 45) on 04/03/2009 01:37
(# 46) on 04/03/2009 13:04
(# 47) on 04/03/2009 20:50
My flatmate is the motherfucking queen bee of Dr. Mario. Seriously, I don't know anyone who has pill-poppin' skillz like this chick. Our matches usually last anywhere from 45 seconds to 1 minute.
(# 48) on 04/04/2009 09:07