Dr. Mario seems to have become a long lost puzzle game that never gets proper mention among the great videogame puzzlers ever, but if you ask me it certainly deserves to be part of the discussion. Coupling the virus-deleting puzzle action of Dr. Mario with an even more addictive gem known as Puzzle League, the GBA combo pack of Dr. Mario & Puzzle League is an excellent portable title that's perfect for quick play sessions, yet addictive enough to keep you playing until your eyes melt!

As the better-known title of the two, Dr. Mario is the name on the box that will undoubtedly attract consumers, and for good reason. The gameplay in Dr. Mario consists of basic puzzle game conventions with a medicinal twist; various colored vitamin capsules are tossed into a bottle one at a time, and it's up to you to maneuver said capsules in proper fashion in order to eliminate the nasty viruses contained within - destroy all of the viruses and you win the game, let the bottle fill to the top and that's all, she wrote. Like any puzzle game before it, clearing the viruses comes down to linking horizontal or vertical rows of at least four blocks of the same color, but in Dr. Mario the play space is so small and cramped that quick reflexes and advanced plotting for row-clearing chains and combos is of the utmost importance. The gameplay ranges from accessible to kick-in-the-rump difficult, with level settings from 0-20 and various degrees of speed settings - all told this is one addictive puzzle experience.

Where Dr. Mario falters, however, is in its small selection of game modes, which ultimately limits its overall lasting appeal. For the solo gamer, Classic, Vs. CPU and Flash modes are offered, along with some unlockables, such as the cool Vertical mod that enables the game to be played while holding the GBA vertically (this is especially sweet on the Micro's small screen), but sadly each of these modes plays essentially the same, with only a slight tweak in the rules. Two-player link cable support is offered as well, and that's really where the majority of the replay value lies, as puzzling it out with a buddy is always better than going solo against the CPU.

While Dr. Mario doesn't deliver the most robust puzzle gameplay as far as mode variety goes, Puzzle League compliments its quick, in-and-out style with a slightly more complex approach that's even more enjoyable and addictive once you dig into it. As opposed to Dr. Mario's conventional falling-block design, Puzzle League revolves around sliding shape-imprinted blocks already laid out in the play space into rows of at least three identical block types in order to clear them from the area. As the stages carry on and blocks are cleared, the screen scrolls downwards, revealing more and more blocks to get rid of. As usual, surveying the block configurations in order to create combo chains is the name of the game if you want to get the highest score possible, and once the gameplay speed ratchets up, doing so becomes devilishly difficult.

Puzzle League also packs a tremendous assortment of gameplay modes to keep things fresh and interesting. Single player modes consist of things such as Marathon puzzles, in which you must bag as many points as possible until it's game over, Timed puzzles, where you must wrack up your best score in an allotted time, Puzzle challenges that have you clearing small block configurations in a specified number of turns, Vs. CPU matches, and more. Head-to-head multiplayer matches are also supported, and, like Dr. Mario, it's an absolute blast matching wits and reflexes against a friend.

Rarely does a puzzle game display much in the way of flashy graphics and audio (Lumines being one such exception to this train of thought), and in the case of Dr. Mario & Puzzle League there certainly isn't anything to sway from that well-trodden path. While both games are crisp, colorful and appealing to ogle at for the hours on end you'll compulsively sink into this cartridge, neither has much presentational flash or variety to wow your visual and aural senses. Dr. Mario is the worst offender, with its single background graphic and capsule designs for every puzzle and limited selection of music tracks to choose from. Puzzle League, though still nothing exceptional to view or listen to, does a little more to grab your attention by at least offering different background designs and colors to choose from. There are also a greater variety of background tunes and sound effects to please the aural palette. Really though, what am I griping about? Graphics and presentation are the least important elements of a puzzle game - the only thing that matters is the gameplay, and both of these games are very fine puzzlers.

Dr. Mario & Puzzle League is one of those games that doesn't do anything original or out of the ordinary, which is quite obvious considering we've seen both these games in some form or fashion in earlier years, but it still somehow manages to deliver some of the most addictive puzzle gameplay you'll find anywhere. Whereas Dr. Mario is a bit more simplistic and easy to jump in and out of for quick portable sessions, the slightly deeper Puzzle League overshadows Dr. Mario's lasting appeal with its greater variety of game modes, play options and presentation elements. Individually both games would be completely worth a gander, but as a tag-team puzzle duo this is one GBA game pack that you can't afford to miss.

Reviewed by Matt Litten for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).