The Microtransactions Aren’t That Bad
When we hear that a game published by Nintendo is “free-to-start,” it’s hard not to think about terrible microtransactions and paywalls that prevent you from playing without first coughing up some dough.
But, I am here to tell you guys that Dr. Mario World does a fantastic job at letting you play without constantly tapping on your shoulder and asking for some money.
Yes, there are microtransactions in Dr. Mario World. Yes, some packages can cost upwards of $70, but I’ve been playing Dr. Mario World for days now, making it past 60 stages or so and have yet to give the game a single dollar — that’s saying something.
The way Dr. Mario World works is that you have to spend one heart to attempt to clear a stage. You can have up to five hearts stored at one time and you obtain one heart every time you complete a new stage.
You can also add friends to the game and send daily hearts back and forth to help you out when you’re running low. If you’re like me and have TONS of friends in your network playing Dr. Mario World, it’s super easy to keep your count high.
I’ll admit, there are times that I almost (almost) thought about purchasing some diamonds from the Shop (Microtransaction store) but I didn’t give in and simply waited until my hearts started to refill, which happens every 30 minutes.
It’s so easy to get your hearts back in this mobile game, which I really appreciate. Nintendo didn’t have to give players a myriad of options here to find ways to keep playing and it ultimately makes this iteration of Dr. Mario one of the most enjoyable to date.
It’s the Best Version of Dr. Mario out There Right Now
The gameplay loop of Dr. Mario has always revolved around dropping different colored pills and matching them up with viruses to eradicate them. Fast forward 30 years later and Dr. Mario World essentially uses a similar formula for this touchscreen-based mobile title.
But instead of dropping pills down a la Tetris style, you’re sliding pills from the bottom of the screen upwards to match them up with the viruses. You have to match three of them instead of the traditional four and thanks to the touchscreen play, you have more control over where the pills go.
You can now drag and drop extra segments of the pill to whatever place you choose which helps a lot when you need that one extra pill to make a match somewhere on the stage.
The majority of the levels aren’t timed either. The game won’t stress you out like other timed puzzle games such as Tetris. You have as much time as you need to think about where to place pills with a specific number of them at your disposal.
There are some stages that are timed, but those are very difficult special challenges that you come across after the intro section of the game, which don’t have to be completed for you to progress in the “story.”
What I’m trying to get at is that this iteration of the 90s puzzle game is honestly the best and the most accessible way to get into Dr. Mario.
You can play the 1990 version by way of the NES collection on Switch or you could check out Dr. Luigi on the Wii U, but let’s be honest –most people don’t have their Wii U plugged in right now and Dr. Mario on the NES is very dated.
Also, everybody has a smartphone and the game is free, so there’s no reason to not download it.
You Can Play As Dr. Bowser
We’ve had Dr. Mario out there saving lives. We’ve seen Luigi take a stab while donning a white coat. That’s it. We’ve never seen any other Mario characters with a medical degree with the knowledge to perform a diagnosis let alone a “virus removal” surgery.
Even though it can take a lot of time (and luck) to unlock other doctors in Dr. Mario World, you can collect and play as ten other characters including Dr. Yoshi, Dr. Peach, Dr. Bowser Jr, and the King Koopa himself, Dr. Bowser.
We’re not sure when this guy or any of these characters for that matter had time to study to become a full-fledged doctor (maybe online classes) but you can play as all of these characters and several others and I think that that is pretty sweet.
It’s rare when you get a chance to play as Bowser in any kind of video game besides Mario Kart, so why not take advantage and play as Bowser on your Dr. Mario World journey –his doctor skill is quite useful as well.
For more on Dr. Mario World, check out some of our guides on the game right here:
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