Although health care has changed quite a lot in recent years, one thing that hasn’t been seeing a lot of overhaul, whether by way of government regulation or elective innovation, is Dr. Mario. The original 1990 classic puzzler gained praise thanks to its variation on puzzle game fundamentals; yes, it was just another falling block game, but the idea of starting with a chaotic playing field and working toward a gradually saner, cleaner one by eliminating the viruses was a concept unique to the franchise. Later games expanded the concept with improved multiplayer and new modes (such as Virus Buster), but for the most part, improvements were ancillary to the core experience.
Miracle Cure once again iterates with marginal improvements to the existing formula, though the additions are likely to please lesser-skilled players who tend to get themselves into a jam on a regular basis (read: myself). I’ll get to those in a bit, but first, let’s quickly rehearse what features have made the trip back into the template.
The conventional play modes still exist—most notably, the Classic style gameplay (compartmentalized in Custom Clinic), where the player progresses through incrementally more difficult scenarios with more and more viruses and ever-faster falling pills. These are modified optionally by the Miracle Cure stuff we’ll explore in a moment, but they’re also augmented by the addition of (again, optionally) the Dr. Luigi gameplay (where pills are actually L-shaped), which, quite frankly, is pretty awful. Conspicuously missing, by the way, are the options to select the background music and virus level, which will likely peeve some fans (as they were present even in the original NES title).
Alongside Classic Mode is Endless, which is only available in Miracle Cure mode. The difference here is that, rather than progress through levels, you’re constantly fed new viruses from the bottom of the bottle… hence the name “endless”. It’s more of a Tetris-like experience thanks to the lack of breaks throughout, though yet another minor oversight that is sure to bug some purists is the fact that you can pause the game and study the game field (as it all remains visible, including the current pill). Both Custom modes also include options to play versus a CPU, though it’s arguably the least enjoyable way to play overall due to the unpredictability that it introduces.
Besides that, there’s also 20 different “Beginner” scenario stages and 30 “Advanced” stages in the so-called “Miracle Cure Laboratory”, along with an assortment of tutorials. These are pretty fun for single-player endeavors, though there are a number of annoying levels sprinkled throughout (and most of them are either versus or Dr. Luigi challenges… or both). Ultimately it isn’t going to last you all that long, but it is a short-lived supplement to the Endless and Classic modes.
On top of that, also returning are the Online Battle and Local Match modes, which seem to function smoothly and are quick and easy to configure. To each their own, but I’ve actually never been a huge fan of versus Dr. Mario, primarily because I just don’t find it to be as fun, or probably also because I rather suck at it.
So anyway, what’s all this Miracle Cure stuff about? That’s the biggest change in the game, and thanks to the fact that the new mechanics are optional, it’s hard to complain about them. Alongside the usual pills, players now also are granted special “miracle cure” power-ups which can help clear out a good bit of the playing field if properly employed. For the most part, they’re pretty easy to manage, too. They’re divided into a few different categories:
$1· Horizontal, vertical, and cross icons which clear out entire lines wherever they are applied
$1· Bombs, which destroy a small radius of stuff when they come to rest,
$1· “C” blocks, which, when matched with their respective colors, clear out all pills of that color in play, and
$1· “V” blocks, which clear out viruses instead when matched.
A power-up is earned and automatically thrown as soon as a special meter on the right side is filled, which happens during normal gameplay as a result of matches. For the most part, these power-ups are a safety net when you find you need it most; a concession for people like myself who kind of suck at the game. Certainly there will be complaints that they cheapen the experience, but truthfully, they complicate it in some ways, and merely extend it in others. Yes, they provide an out for those times where the pills are getting the best of you (heh), but in reality it just lengthens the match a bit, so it’s all about the perspective. And besides, you can switch them off.
For a nine dollar digital investment (until your deductible is met anyway), Miracle Cure brings a fair amount of content to the table. For a couple of previously stated reasons, it’s probably not technically the best Dr. Mario game to date. There have been others in the past which have applied more attention to detail (such as hiding the field while pausing and allowing song selection as two examples) and which are thus technically better puzzle game packages. But purely as a source of unique puzzle entertainment, Miracle Cure has all the active ingredients of an addictive puzzler—just with a few unwanted side effects.
