Dr. Mario / Puzzle League

"It was developed by Intelligent Systems, but there is no intelligence to be found. (Japanese Version)"

Overview
This is a less than outstanding compilation of two outstanding puzzle games, Panel de Pon (Pokemon Puzzle League and/or Tetris Attack outside Japan) and Dr. Mario. Note that this review is of the Japanese version, so there may be some changes made to the American/European versions. Both games in the collection will be graded separately.

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Dr. Mario

Gameplay - 10/10
For those of you who might not have played Dr. Mario before, I'll explain it. The idea is to stack falling pills on viruses of similar colors. When any combination of a total of four viruses and pills of the same color are lined up, they disappear. The goal is to clear the screen. This incarnation keeps everything mostly intact when it comes to gameplay, including physics (which are frame-perfect) with only a few nice additions. Unlike in previous versions of Dr. Mario, there are two new modes - Vs. Com, which is basically 2-player mode, and another much like Vs. Com except that the goal is only to clear a few specific viruses, leaving the rest only as obstacles which can be cleared but don't need to be. The other major addition here is the ability to see where a pill is going to land by pressing L or R. While many would welcome this difficulty-decreasing feature, some veterans might complain that it gives newcomers an unfair advantage.

Graphics - 8/10
The graphics were completely overhauled. This overhaul is nice, and can be easier to see than the original on the old GBA. I didn't give it a full 10 because it's not as detailed as it could have been, and doesn't even almost push the GBA's limits

Sound/Music - 3/10
This is where this game really stumbles. The old music has been remixed, but not for the better. Fever is missing a track and the tune has been changed, whereas Chill has been put to annoying instruments. To make up for this, two new songs have been added, called Cube and Queue. Cube is especially annoying, and should not be listened to under any circumstances. Queue is tolerable, but nothing especially great. The sound effects, on the other hand, are either generic beeps and blips, or rips from Dr. Mario 64.

Story - N/A
I don't grade puzzlers down for lack of story.

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Panel De Pon

Gameplay - 9/10
The goal in Panel De Pon depends on what mode you're playing, and varies from surviving to getting points to filling up your opponents screen. The way it works is that blocks are rising from the bottom of the screen, and the player must swap them horizontally to line up sets of 3 or more. While I think this is a better game than Dr. Mario, this particular version suffers from its missing elements. Perhaps the biggest thing here is that there is no longer a round-based Vs. Com mode. Though it is now possible to customize matches to a much higher extent than ever before, the loss of this mode is annoying. Fortunately, the game plays exactly like the original during the actual game, except for the addition of a Vs. Line Clear mode and the inability to see your opponent's pieces in all Vs. Com. modes. Also, sorry Pokemon Puzzle League fans, there is no 3D mode to be found.

Graphics - 8/10
The blocks have not been modified at all. This is a good thing, because the old blocks were great. It includes many new moving backgrounds, all of which can be customized in color, direction, and speed. Unfortunately, it's missing most of the old backgrounds and all of the old characters. Overall, though, the graphics still hold their ground.

Sound/Music - 6/10
Some of the music is great. Some of the music is terrible. Most of the great tracks from the original, however, are nowhere to be found. Why they kept the annoying ones and removed the good ones are anyone's guess, but it's disappointing none the less. The sound effects are mostly the same as in the original, though all the character-based sounds have been, due to the removal of all the characters, replaced by extremely generic synths. Oh well.

Story - N/A
I don't grade puzzlers down for lack of story.

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Overall - 6/10 (Not an average)
These are two extremely sloppy remakes that lead me to believe that Intelligent Systems should no longer be allowed to develop games for Nintendo, despite some of their other excellent work. Though the gameplay remains mostly intact and sometimes even improved, the exclusions of some of Panel de Pon and the terribly done music make this much less than perfect. I would recommend it to all true puzzle junkies, but everyone else would be better off getting an N64, Dr. Mario 64, and Pokemon Puzzle League.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/15/05