Introduction
At the time of reviewing this we are approaching the end of COVID restrictions too so it seems like a fitting time to be smashing those pesky viruses. This style of vertical block puzzler was commonplace in our household growing up and, even now, me and my brother still play games that owe a lot to the original Dr. Mario. This modern take on the nostalgic classic takes all of the tropes of modern puzzlers that you would expect but keeps the ageless charm of the original. All this really means is a fresh lick of paint and a boat load more content so there’s no complaints from me.
Glossary
Usability – 7/10
From the moment you start the game you will see the typically vibrant and polished shine that is to be expected from Modern Nintendo. All the writing in game is clear, succinct and uses a good variety of intermediate kanji and katakana. The bulk of vocabulary you will pick up will be from the tutorial pages, these will give you an understanding of the basic language and terminology so I would recommend reading through this first. You will find that as you progress through the story the tutorials become less frequent and it’s only the occasional new features that bring new and interesting vocabulary so do make the most of these as they appear. The text that describes gameplay is very much based around cause and effect. it will typically be a compound sentence notifying you of what an object or skill is, what you do and then the outcome of that action. This comes down to relatively simple grammar for the most part which makes the game easily accessible to lower level learners. This is in keeping with the child friendly UI’s that Nintendo normally offers.
The menus and stores hold a lot of the usual phrases. Daily challenges will request that you clear a certain number of stages or destroy a certain number of viruses, rewards menus will talk about daily logins and events but these change infrequently. This comes as a double edged sword as you can learn all of the vocabulary on screen (which unfortunately is mostly numbers) which can help with revision and repetition but it’s not overly interesting and muscle memory will more often than not have you closing the menu before you’ve read anything.
I would say that Doctor Mario world is a fantastic little time waster for if you’re ever out an about and want to play a Japanese game to brush up on reading but it comes with diminishing returns. As said the majority of the readability comes from the first few hours of the game, and while there are cutscenes and a story you’ll find these are few and far between and the cutscenes also scroll automatically so often can be reviewed in detail. If you are a Nintendo fan and would like an additional supplement to your gaming and learning by all means download this game
Challenges and Methods – 5/10
Character effects
Aside from the language, my favourite aspect of this game so far is the variety of characters. The unlockable characters and their effects are visible from the start of the game and it’s the strangest Nintendo roster I’ve ever seen. A stack of Goombas taking on the role of the Doctor himself? Not just Doctor Wario, but Doctor Baby Wario? Each character’s special ability will affect the play area in a different manner, each description of these effects also uses vocabulary that can be applied throughout. It’s good fun to go through and try to read as many as possible and it’s an especially helpful way to familiarize yourself with puzzler language.
Platforms and Language – 6/10
The game, in this iteration, is only available on mobile but it is free and can be set into Japanese directly from the profile set up. If you own the game already and have it currently set to English this can be changed in the game settings.
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