Man, they weren’t kidding about this whole Year of Luigi thing, were they?
Luigi’s Mansion, Mario and Luigi, Super Luigi U…oh, just three of year’s best
games, no big deal.
There were Luigi soundtracks, Luigi-themed handhelds…there were Luigi sprites in Mario
3D World.
So yeah, even big brother couldn’t escape it.
Luigi was a busy guy.
And somehow, he still found time to get a medical license.
It’s Dr. Luigi for the Nintendo Wii U.
So with a puzzle series, like Dr. Mario, there’s not usually much of a difference between the
games.
Usually, the only thing that distinguishes one sequel from another is that they’re
on a different system, or they have a couple different modes.
That’s not exactly the case with this one.
Now, Dr. Luigi still has the same Dr. Mario, in its own mode.
But it also does some interesting new things that actually change the formula.
But let’s start at the beginning.
If you’ve never played a Dr. Mario game…it’s real simple.
It’s a puzzle game in which you have to clear the viruses inside a bottle.
You do that by dropping pills on top of them.
The catch is that they keep coming automatically.
You just have to move them around as they fall.
Get four colors in a row, including viruses, and they go away.
Get the bottle too full of pills…and it’s game over.
Disease wins.
And Mushroom Kingdom diseases…I mean, just look at Bowser’s kids.
You don’t want any part of these diseases.
Anyway, that’s the classic Dr. Mario, and if you’re not up for a change, you can play
it in Dr. Luigi.
The Retro Remedy mode is just the original Dr. Mario.
But the two other modes…that’s where Dr. Luigi gets interesting.
And like Retro Remedy, one is a mode you’ve seen before.
That’s the Virus Buster mode, which is from Dr. Mario Online Rx, for the Wii.
That’s where the GamePad comes in.
So in terms of the rules, it’s largely the same as the Wii game.
It’s Dr. Mario, but…with more control over the pills.
You could drag them around the bottle by pointing with the remote, which was awesome.
It was like you could touch them.
Only with the GamePad, you can.
It’s just a perfect fit for the this controller.
Virus Buster is…amazing, with a stylus.
It’s way faster and more precise than pointer controls, but it’s more than that.
It just feels awesome, playing it like this.
It’s so smooth…just a standout moment for the GamePad.
Now, the biggest change…is definitely the third mode.
It’s called Operation L, and that’s the Luigi part of Dr. Luigi.
And this is where things get weird, because it kind of changes the way you play Dr. Mario.
See, in previous games, the pills were always the same shape.
So the strategy was always the same.
Not the case this time.
In Operation L, Luigi actually throws pills in these L-shaped packets.
And not only are they a completely different shape, but they also have more segments.
So moves that would’ve been good moves in any Dr. Mario game before…could be disastrous
in Operation L.
This is easily the biggest tweak to the Dr. Mario formula to date.
It’s really the first variation to change the game enough that…it actually feels different.
And there’s an element of risk in here, too.
See, the pill packets are so large, they can actually knock out a virus by themselves.
Just one packet.
But it’s that extra pill segment, that bend in the L…that’s what you have to worry
about.
Clearing one virus could mean covering another with the wrong color.
And if you make a mistake, that leaves a lot more pills.
And that bottle fills up real fast.
So you’re getting classic Dr. Mario, a great new Operation L version…and that incredible
touch-based Virus Buster mode, which is actually my favorite part of the game.
And there’s also online multiplayer for the classic and Operation L modes, which is
awesome.
But that said…there are some drawbacks.
For starters, multiplayer is two-player only.
No third or fourth player.
Which sucks.
And the Mii support that made the Wii version so charming has been scrapped, which also
sucks.
Removing Miis is never a good thing.
And as much as I love the idea of changing the look of the viruses…they’re not changed
in the bottle.
Which is a weird inconsistency.
Every Nintendo system usually gets a Dr. Mario, and they’re usually great games.
The only question is how do they compare against the others?
Dr. Luigi does a lot of awesome things, things that make it better than any prior version.
Not the least of which is the music, which includes unbelievable new versions of the
Dr. Mario classics.
The lack of three and four player support is a huge drawback, but…otherwise, the game
is in perfect health.
Dr. Luigi is one the best Dr. Mario games to date, and easily the most unique.
Even if Luigi is…overmedicating a bit.
Alright, don’t tell Mario.