Dr. Luigi review: easy medicine

Released in 1990, Dr. Mario combined a proven formula with a unique aesthetic. Players had to match multicolored pills with like-colored viruses, and making a four-segment line of the same color either horizontally or vertically caused that row to disappear. The game was easy to understand and play, and has been ported or sequel'ed to almost every Nintendo device since.

The inevitable Wii U follow-up stars Luigi taking up the other family business. Dr. Luigi sticks to the original formula, but it offers a series of small tweaks and updates. Taken together, it builds a satisfying, customizable collection of puzzle games — even if it all feels a little too safe.

Dr. Luigi's focus is still classic pill-dropping and color matching game play. As each level starts, you're presented with a playing field full of color coded viruses. Luigi will throw out a pill composed of one or two colors, and it's your job to match four of any color horizontally or vertically to clear the appropriately-hued virus.

The classic game, offered in the Retro Remedy mode, is only the beginning. "Operation L" offers pills that enter the field shaped like the letter L. That small addition caused big changes to my strategy. Every pill forced me to look at the horizontal and vertical implications of each move. Planning ahead isn't just encouraged; it's now mandatory. Mistakes are much harder to fix.

Meanwhile, the returning Virus Buster mode became one of my favorite ways to play. In Virus Buster, you guide pills onto viruses on the Wii U GamePad with the stylus while tapping each one to change its orientation. Using the GamePad is a more direct, intuitive way to control the game — but soon two pills are dropped at once, and then three. This puts much more pressure on the player at a much faster pace, and I found it tricky to keep a game going longer than a few minutes at a time.