Dr. Mario World: release date, trailer and first impressions.

Like bad medicine, we've been treated to a lot of mediocre mobile puzzle games over the past few years, mostly an endless parade of poor Candy Crash clones. Good news: Nintendo is trying to change that by calling its doctor.

Dr. Mario World for iOS and Android unveiled its next generation of the puzzle game that has been obscuring viruses and bugs for nearly 30 years today, July 9 (with one day to go), and we've got a chance to try out the new game before its official release date.

Our first surprise was seeing how Nintendo changed the mix compared to its 1990 original to accommodate today's smartphones. This makes sense: the colored capsules are now "thrown" onto the ground. Why this change? This makes it much easier to throw these pills while holding onto modern phones, with touchscreens so large and so high that they are usually held from below.

There's also a lot more variety in the game, and several new doctors on staff, all familiar faces from the Mario universe. Another big change: Dr. Mario World is free to play, but there are monetization options to keep playing and earn additional doctors and bonuses, which we'll explain.

Here's what you need to know before you get addicted to Dr. Mario World and tackle its classic remixes "Fever" and "Chill."

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Dr. Mario World release date and price.

Dr. Mario World's release date ended on Tuesday, July 9, although it was scheduled for Wednesday, July 10. It is now available for iOS and Android. Nintendo is releasing the game in nearly 60 countries.

Dr. Mario's World Prize? Free. However, Nintendo has introduced monetization options into this game: you can earn in-game coins or spend real money on diamonds. Both are designed to be spent in order to maintain the game level when you run out of "hearts" (your game's energy limiter), recruit new doctors, and get special bonuses.

The basic game of Dr. Mario World is to use as few capsules as possible to eliminate the colorful viruses in the play area. Lack of capsules causes the end of a party and that's when you'll have to wait to return to the game alone or spend coins or diamonds to return immediately.

Good news: playing multiplayer games does not require waiting, so you do not need to spend money or diamonds to continue playing PvP games.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Trailer of Dr. Mario World

So far, two trailers for Dr. Mario World have been released on Nintendo, one about the basic concept of the game and the other about multiplayer gameplay. The first trailer lasts almost three and a half minutes and explores the way the game is played.

The Dr. Mario World multiplayer trailer is almost as comprehensive, as you can see below. You can send lines of viruses at your opponent by filling out an attack gauge. There's a handy playfield on the right side of the screen to track your opponent's progress.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Dr. Mario World Characters

Mario isn't the only doctor in the house. Sometimes he has to do his plumbing work, you know. You always have Peach, Luigi, Bowser and even Yoshi, among others.

Boarding a new doctor or assistant requires 4,000 coins or 40 diamonds. Each Mario World Dr. comes with special attributes to help you solve puzzles. Here are all the doctors available today:

• Dr. Mario
• Dr Peach
• Dr bowser
• Dr. Bowser Jr.
• dr. Luigi
• Dr. Toad
• Dr. Toadette
• Dr. Yoshi
• dr Ludwig
• Dr. Wendy

There are even more assistants that can be called, and you can use two at a time. They offer more modest benefits, such as increasing your score by a 1% or 10% chance of getting additional capsules at the beginning of a stage.

• goomba
• Koopa Troopa Green
• Shy guy
• Piranha factory
• train
• peak
• Bro hammer
• Cheep cheep
• Prickly cheep cheep
• skid
• Clampy
• Porcupuffers
• thorny
• Para-beetle
• Paragoomba
• PEEP
• Scaredy rat
• Crowber
• bob-omb
• Beetle buzz
• raid
• Bullet bill
• amp

Impressions of Dr. Mario World.

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(Image credit: Nintendo)

Games like the original Dr. Mario from 1990 need a lot more depth in 2019 to appeal to mobile gamers – we have a seemingly endless amount of choice in today’s app stores. And yet the game needs to remain easy to master and play with spurts.

The basic concept of Dr. Mario World explains its use of two-tone capsules and encourages you to use as few as possible, but it doesn't stop there. Yes, you might think the game is closer to Candy Crush, but one of the knocks taken by the many Dr. Mario sequels over the years is that it hasn't advanced the formula far enough.

Of the 200 steps to throw, we find several variations of the game. Sometimes the color matching of the Koopa shells has led to a satisfying effect by clearing rows; at other times, frozen viruses must be matched twice (once to break the ice, and once to clear them). You'll also find viruses in prison that must be freed by first clearing a keyhole, as well as conventional bombs that clear all the viruses around them.

Dr. Mario World is much more nuanced than the NES original from the 1990s, and the capsule parade moves around the playground, not the floor. Both of these changes are a direct result of today's smartphone environment, and thankfully, they don't break the flow of gameplay we know and love. They just enhance it.

Dr. Mario World achieved this goal, at least during our 20-minute play sessions, and we busted out remixed "Fever" and "Chill" music while we blasted away viruses. It's Nintendo's best mobile addiction yet, and it's available today.