{"id":13541,"date":"2015-05-22T00:01:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T00:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=13541"},"modified":"2015-05-14T11:54:38","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T11:54:38","slug":"marios-puzzling-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/22\/marios-puzzling-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Mario’s Puzzling Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DRMARIO\"<\/a>One of the most popular mobile games right now is Puzzle & Dragons.\u00a0 In it, you match up symbols like in Bejeweled which turn into elemental attacks for fighting monsters.\u00a0 So it has a bit of a Puzzle Quest vibe to it, too.\u00a0 Puzzle & Dragons has many imitators, some of which I\u2019ve even reviewed.\u00a0 Anyway, the cool thing is that Nintendo is going to be releasing a version of Puzzle & Dragons soon on the 3DS called Puzzle & Dragons Z.\u00a0 Best of all is it\u2019ll also have a separate game: a version of Puzzle & Dragons starring Mario characters!\u00a0 That got me to thinking about how many other puzzle games feature Mario & friends, so here\u2019s a blog about it!<\/p>\n

Dr. Mario<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think Dr. Mario was probably the first puzzle game to feature Mario. Back when Tetris came out, everyone had to have their own Tetris-like puzzler, even Nintendo!\u00a0 So they made up a puzzle game where you match colored pills to clear out viruses in a bottle.\u00a0 Speaking of Tetris, Mario appeared in a lot of Nintendo-published Tetris games, too.\u00a0 He and Luigi were featured on the results screen in the two player link cable mode of Tetris on Game Boy; they were also in the NES game and were featured in the DS version of Tetris.\u00a0 Bringing us back to Dr. Mario, Nintendo even combined Tetris & Dr. Mario in the SNES game of the same name!\u00a0 You can find versions of Dr. Mario on nearly every Nintendo-made console imaginable, even on the N64!\u00a0 It\u2019s an all right game, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s aged as well because it\u2019s a bit slower paced, and there are much better Nintendo puzzlers out there.\u00a0 However, Dr. Mario is one of my mom\u2019s favorite games, so it can\u2019t be all bad.<\/p>\n

Dr. Luigi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in 2013 when it was Luigi\u2019s anniversary, Nintendo did a \u201cYear of Luigi\u201d and featured many games starring the green other brother.\u00a0 And the Wii U downloadable title Dr. Luigi was one of them.\u00a0 It was pretty much the same as Dr. Mario, with some new virus graphics and different gameplay modes, like one where two pills fall at the same time in the shape of an L.\u00a0 That mode actually made the game easier.\u00a0 Anyway, I just thought it was funny that that is one of the games they made.\u00a0 Also, in the first WarioWare title on the GBA, you can unlock a version of the NES Dr. Mario game called Dr. Wario!<\/p>\n

Yoshi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another example of Nintendo jumping on the falling blocks in a well puzzler craze that hit after Tetris.\u00a0 After Super Mario World came out, Nintendo went ga-ga putting Yoshi in any game they could think of.\u00a0 They even put him in a Zelda game (Link\u2019s Awakening), and even said in the game \u201che\u2019s been appearing in a lot of games lately.\u201d\u00a0 So they put him a NES and GB only puzzle game, too.\u00a0 Not sure why this wasn\u2019t on the SNES as well, as it was already out by then.\u00a0 Yoshi the game is all right, but there are a lot better puzzlers out there.\u00a0 You flip plates on the bottom of the screen as Mario to match falling tiles with Mario enemies on them.\u00a0 If you can sandwich a bunch between a top and bottom Yoshi egg, you\u2019ll clear them all out and score a bunch of points.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all there is to it, really.<\/p>\n

Yoshi\u2019s Cookie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now THIS is an awesome puzzle game!\u00a0 And it was on the SNES, too, as well as the Game Boy and NES (at least I THINK it was on the Game Boy).\u00a0 It was originally a game by Bullet Proof Software, who helped make some of the Tetris games for Nintendo.\u00a0 Originally you just matched stones, but Nintendo liked it so much they had them change the stones to cookies and put Yoshi in it, too.\u00a0 In the game you slide rows and columns of cookies to match up the same kinds of cookies in rows and columns to make them disappear.\u00a0 I had the SNES version as a kid for a while and loved it.\u00a0 I wish they\u2019d bring it back on the 3DS or something because it would be perfect with touch screen controls.\u00a0 Pokemon Trozei plays similarly to Yoshi\u2019s Cookie, but I don\u2019t like it as much.\u00a0 Yoshi\u2019s Cookie always made me hungry for cookies, though.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t it be cool if they made cookies like that, and you could buy them in stores?<\/p>\n

Wario\u2019s Woods<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is another one of my favorites.\u00a0 Even though it says Wario in the title, the game actually stars Toad as you control him to pick up and throw bombs and critters of the same color to make them disappear.\u00a0 It has a bit of a learning curve, but oh man is this game fun.\u00a0 My college roommate and his girlfriend (now wife) and I would play it all the time on the SNES when we were in college.\u00a0 The NES version is on Virtual Console, I wish they\u2019d put the SNES version on as well.\u00a0 There is a kinda sorta version of it on the 3DS Brain Age game, but it doesn\u2019t have Wario or Toad and you use the touch screen to play so it\u2019s a lot easier.\u00a0 But still fun. So yeah, don\u2019t let people tell you that Captain Toad: Treasure Trackers is Toad\u2019s first game.\u00a0 It was Wario\u2019s Woods! (Toad is my favorite Mario character, by the way)<\/p>\n

Mario\u2019s Picross<\/strong><\/p>\n

I never played this one.\u00a0 It came out on the Game Boy and I didn\u2019t like the idea of playing a number logic puzzle game on such a small screen.\u00a0 Many years later, I did play the more generic Picross game on DS and it was kind of fun.\u00a0 But the one I really liked was Picross 3-D.\u00a0 It was made by HAL, so maybe that\u2019s why I liked it so much.<\/p>\n

Tetris Attack<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back on the SNES, Intelligent Systems made a puzzle game called Panel de Pon, which had a bunch of fairies as characters.\u00a0 When they wanted to bring the game to the US, they thought the characters would be too girly for us, so they changed them to be ones from Yoshi\u2019s Island, a popular game at the time.\u00a0 Yeah, much more manly there, Nintendo.\u00a0 They also re-named it Tetris Attack, even though it had nothing to do with Tetris at all.\u00a0 Later versions of the game just named it Puzzle League or slapped Pokemon characters on it.\u00a0 Tetris Attack was pretty fun; I rented it a few times back in the day.\u00a0 But I think my favorite version of it is Pokemon Puzzle League on the N64.\u00a0 I reviewed that one for The Dallas Morning News back in the day and it had tons more gameplay modes and I played it a lot.<\/p>\n

Nintendo Puzzle Collection<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of Panel de Pon, on the GameCube in Japan, Nintendo made a collection of puzzle games that had Dr. Mario, Yoshi\u2019s Cookie, and Panel de Pon on one disc.\u00a0 I think you could also download GBA versions of the games with the GBA link cable.\u00a0 I really wanted the game to come out over here, but it never did.\u00a0 Guess Nintendo still didn\u2019t want Panel de Pon to come out over here, or they thought it was too much work to change it to Tetris Attack.\u00a0 Some references to Panel de Pon can be found in the Smash Bros. games, though.\u00a0 Man, there sure were a lot of games on the GameCube and SNES in Japan that I wished would come to the US!<\/p>\n

Mario & Wario<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of games in Japan that never made it to the US, here\u2019s one on the SNES called Mario & Wario.\u00a0 It used the SNES mouse and since I loved Mario Paint, I really wished this would\u2019ve come out over here.\u00a0 I think it even came out in EUROPE, just not the US.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see why, there was nothing to translate, it was all in English.\u00a0 Anyway, about this time, Lemmings was a very popular game and just like when Tetris came out, everyone had to have their own version, even Nintendo.\u00a0 In this one, Wario puts buckets over Mario and his friends\u2019 heads, so they have to walk blindly to Luigi so he could take the buckets off.\u00a0 In the game, you use the mouse to control a guardian angel fairy named Wanda who can create blocks for them to walk across, and tap the buckets to make them stop or turn around.\u00a0 I\u2019m surprised Nintendo hasn\u2019t used Wanda in a Mario Kart or sports game yet.\u00a0 I still hope they release this game on Virtual Console in the US. With two systems that use touch screens and motion controls, I don\u2019t think it would be hard to put this one on there.<\/p>\n

Mario vs. Donkey Kong Series<\/strong><\/p>\n

And speaking of Lemmings-style games, these originally started out as just the Game Boy Donkey Kong game, which I feel is still one of the best arcade updates to this day.\u00a0 Even that game was kind of puzzle-ish, as most of the levels required you to figure out how to get a key to a door. \u00a0The sequel on the GBA was called Mario vs. Donkey Kong and it played similarly, but not near as good.\u00a0 But this game introduced the Mini-Mario wind-up toys, and they would be the stars in future installments.\u00a0 From them on, you were tasked in trying to get the Mini-Marios from point A to point B, similar to Lemmings.\u00a0 In some you could use the stylus to slightly control the toys; in others you used the stylus to alter the environment.\u00a0 One of them even had Pipe Dream elements to it.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t downloaded the new game: Tipping Stars, but I might here soon.<\/p>\n

Mario\u2019s FUNdamentals<\/strong><\/p>\n

This PC game doesn\u2019t really count, but I put it in here anyway as you do play classic board and card games with Mario.\u00a0 Around this time, Nintendo allowed some other companies to use their characters, so some crappy Mario games were made where you could learn classic board games, typing, or play something similar to Where in the World is Carmen San Diego.\u00a0 None are worth mentioning, but I guess they were kind of like puzzle games.\u00a0 One significant aspect of Mario\u2019s FUNdamentals is that it was the first game to introduce Mario\u2019s current voice by Charles Martinet.<\/p>\n

Wrecking Crew<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this old NES game, it was kind of puzzle-ish as you had to figure out which blocks to break sometimes.\u00a0 In Japan, there was a sequel on their Satelliteview online service called Wrecking Crew 98.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen videos of it and while I can\u2019t figure it out, it does look more puzzle-like.\u00a0 I wish Nintendo could figure out how to release some of these titles on Virtual Console.\u00a0 I had the original Wrecking Crew on the NES and really liked it.\u00a0 I was happy to see the Wrecking Crew stage in Smash Bros. on Wii U.<\/p>\n

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker<\/strong><\/p>\n

This one just came out late last year and I really liked it.\u00a0 The game originally started out as mini-puzzle levels in Super Mario 3-D World, and I liked them so much that I posted on Miiverse that they should be their own game.\u00a0 Maybe Nintendo listened to me?\u00a0 Anyway, if you enjoyed those or like puzzle games such as Adventures of Lolo or Kickle Cubicle, you should check this one out, too.<\/p>\n

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition<\/strong><\/p>\n

And this is the newest one.\u00a0 As of this writing, I haven\u2019t played it yet.\u00a0 But I will soon as I have the game reserved.\u00a0 You can download a demo of it right now on the 3DS eShop, though.\u00a0 I\u2019m worried because it\u2019s kind of hard to judge combos by moving the pieces around, but maybe I\u2019ll figure it out better once I have the full game.\u00a0 I\u2019ve reviewed some imitators of Puzzle & Dragons on iPad in the past.\u00a0 I\u2019m definitely more interested in the Mario version of this game instead of the regular one!<\/p>\n

Conclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all for now!\u00a0 Let me know in the comments section if I forgot anything.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I did.\u00a0 And also let me know what YOUR favorite Mario puzzle games are!\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most popular mobile games right now is Puzzle & Dragons.\u00a0 In it, you match up symbols like in Bejeweled which turn into elemental attacks for fighting monsters.\u00a0 So it has a bit of a Puzzle Quest vibe to it, too.\u00a0 Puzzle & Dragons has many imitators, some of which I\u2019ve even reviewed.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13541"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13544,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13541\/revisions\/13544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}