Dr. Mario Express

What’s the Story?

From graphics to music, DR. MARIO EXPRESS, a new DSi Ware game available through Nintendo's DSi Shop, is nearly identical to the original Dr. Mario for the Nintendo Entertainment system. Players manipulate pills as they descend in a rectangular box in an effort to make their colorful ends match with scattered viruses. Create a line of four same-colored pill pieces or viruses and they will all disappear. Players need to destroy all viruses to clear a level and move on to the next, which will feature a greater number of viruses and pills that fall more rapidly. For a little added challenge you can play against the computer in games in which random pill pieces fall into your puzzle each time the A.I. clears multiple lines.

Is It Any Good?

Dr. Mario is a classic puzzler that easily stands the test of time; we found it to be just as compelling and habit-forming on the DSi as it has been in any of its other iterations. It's a marvelously intuitive game with simple objectives and even simpler controls. Even rookies ought to be able to pick up the game in just a few minutes. And with multiple levels of difficulty, even younger gamers can try their hand as Nintendo's mustachioed physician. The only letdown is a lack of support for multiplayer. Past Dr. Mario games have offered a great social gaming experience as players work quickly to stymie one another. It's a shame the Express edition doesn't facilitate this kind of play.