Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

It's all about Nintendo's favourite mascot in this edition, hopefully most of you have got your free game for creating/linking a 3DS NNID by now, if not then check your inbox as you ticket to downloading a classic - hopefully - awaits!

Anyway enough from me and on with the games!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Dr. Mario
Super Mario Bros DX

 
Price: GB £3.49, EU €4.99 (Free if you purchased Dr.Luigi before 20/02/14)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Released: 1991
System: NES

Back in the original heyday of the NES a fair few puzzle games were available on the system but nothing like the amount of titles we have available today on the eShop which easily eclipses the 'choice' that we once had so it should come as little surprise that when it comes down to re-releasing these age-old titles in the modern age alongside more recent classics some older titles will pale in comparison. Unlike the seemingly immortal Tetris which is still easily enjoyable despite more modern takes on it being available Dr. Mario has since been bettered many times over, this has never been more prominent than now as the sugar coating has all but disappeared making for a rather bitter pill to swallow.

For the uninitiated Dr. Mario is in essence rather simple, playing as the titular character who throws coloured pills into adisproportionately sized jar you must guide the coloured medication which comes with two colours on each side that you need to match three or more against the viruses of the same colour; once you've cleared all the viruses from the screen the game then moves onto the next stage. Controls speak for themselves as predictably you move the pills with the d-pad and rotate them with either of the action buttons so it's very easy indeed to initially pick up but just how long you'll actually decide to play is up to you.

As the stages progress you'll find that the viruses have been placed in increasingly intricate formations that are all the trickier to get to so the challenge comes from working out a 'route' in your head of which germs to get rid of first which is notably an interesting twist on conventional puzzle game logic. It's a simple setup which still works all these years on in its basic form, it's easy to just pick up plus with the addition of save states you can quit when you like only to pick up where you left off later which is a welcome addition; two-player mode is also a blast as this was sadly lacking from the portable version when it was released on the 3DS VC plus this version is in colour of course.

There are a few nice visual touches including the animation on Dr. Mario himself along with the erratic movement of the viruses at the bottom of the screen which is sure to amuse but aside from that there is little to report but then it really doesn't need to do much on this front apart from remain functional enough for you to see what you're doing. Music is another story however as you at least get the fast-paced 'Fever' plus the decidedly more relaxed 'Chill' themes to play along to which are still perfectly 'hummable' after all these years and are a staple of any title in the series.

Definitely still a decent puzzle game in essence so I can recommend this version of Dr. Mario even though there entries that are far superior to this re-release but they come at a higher price so while the recently released Dr. Luigi may be nice it's not quite worth it's RRP while this original NES title is at least reasonably priced. I would advise that this is worth picking up if you're a long-term fan of the series though it is basic so some might choose to wait for the inevitable release of the SNES version or possibly the N64 version... right Nintendo?      

Verdict : Dr. Mario still licensed to prescribe 8-bit pills for the forseaable future.

Price: GB £0.00, EU €0.00 (Free download code if you linked your NNID earlier in the year)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 1999
System: GameBoy Color

While it's true that Mario didn't do too badly on the original GameBoy being that he starred in two Super Mario Land games, it wasn't actually until the release of the GameBoy Color that we would see both Mario & Luigi in a classic platformer; indeed as the title suggests Super Mario Bros DX is very much an enhanced version of the original NES classic released almost three decades ago. Indeed the main game is largely unchanged save for a new map screen which makes the whole adventure seem more managable somehow, a zoomed-in perspective due to the hardware limitations at the time - you can change the camera at the touch of a button but veterans won't need to - and there seems to be an improved level of animation afforded by this remake which only further adds to the charm which was already there.

Controls might take a slight bit of adjustment as they do seem to differ ever so slightly from the original probably because it seems like more 'effort' is involved to bend the 3DS controls to your will, everything is there though aside from the removal of certain glitches plus you can even use the level skip warps if you wish but owing to the new structure that the map offers I personally found myself playing through every stage the proper way which is something I haven't done in years. Every single Goomba, Starman power-up, pitfall... even every coin is still there, you have the option of using the in-game save which allows you to restart from the level that you'd progressed up to but if you're finding a stage to be a little too difficult then you can always use save states as well so that you don't need to keep needlessly replaying redundant sections.     

Upon beating a stage in the standard game it then becomes available to play in challenge mode where the fun continues as you're given five red coins to find in each stage - sound familiar? - plus if you find them all in addition to meeting a set score, only then is it considered that you have really 'beaten' that stage so there are plenty of reasons to replay stages here. There are some nice extras some of which are sadly not of too much use owing to the original software relying on you having access to a GameBoy Printer but you can still unlock pieces of artwork; perhaps the biggest unlockable though is when you actually beat the main adventure you then get to play 'Super Mario Bros for Super Players' which is essentially the original Super Mario Bros 2 that Japan got, you can choose between Mario or Luigi on the map screen but everything else seems to be just as it was... not bad for just a mere extra; oh and regarding the lack of two-player mode you can unlock a cpu character to play against so it's not a complete loss.

The visuals have been nicely updated using the GBC colour palette rather effectively making for a version of the NES classic which has a unique charm all of its own, even though it is still the same game on a mechanical level, it could just be of course that because the action is 'zoomed in' that more subtle details get noticed frequently but whatever it is this is a remake which certainly looks the part. Naturally the score is as spectacular as ever thanks to legendary composer Koji Kondo, so you will find that the mucic is just as you remember it with v ery little compromise at all, what has been changed however are a handful of sound effects and while this certainly isn't a deal-breaker it is noticable.

Even though you can play the NES original on 3DS there is still a lot to be said for this remake, personally I would even go as far to say that I genuinely enjoy it more than playing the original unaltered games but this could be owing to the fact that Super Mario Bros DX is in fact new to me because it was one of those 'expensive' GBC games back in the day when I was younger and couldn't afford that many games. Being that this is a free title for those that took part in the NNID promotion though I feel that this is well worth dipping into, it's a good move from Nintendo as it means that unofficially a gap in the VC release schedule at least has been filled but this is also a fine title in it's own right that deserves a general release on the eShop as well; for now though if you're fortunate enough to have been given this classic then please enjoy it.

Verdict : Super Mario Bros in brilliant 'but not as you know it' portable form.


That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!