Puzzle & Dragons Z shines with the kind of winsome personality that characterizes Nintendo’s main monster-collecting franchise. It starts the same way many charming RPGs do: your mom rouses you out of bed to get ready for the Dragon Tamer tryouts. Obviously the Dragon Tamer tryouts aren’t in all the other RPGs, but the bed is. One hour and a world-fracturing calamity later, you and your scaly pal (who I named Syrup) are on a quest to restore the natural order. The goofy dialogue and blippy soundtrack convey a sense of cheerful whimsy, and the sprite work and monster designs (which reimagine the mobile version’s bestiary) are delightful.
Each encounter plays out a bit like a one-sided Puzzle Quest battle: whenever you match orbs, your team members associated with that element will attack, while the enemies act automatically after your turn. Monsters can also cast spells to restore or protect your health or alter the board layout. The RPG elements deliver the good with the bad: snagging rare (and/or adorable) monster drops and building specialized teams is gratifying, while grinding for specific upgrade items or unexpectedly dying to attacks you’ve never seen before is an exasperating buzzkill. And as with Puzzle Quest, there will be times when the difficulty spikes WAY the hell up, which typically results in desperate prayers that the incoming orbs will trigger a lucky chain combo.
Of the dual P&D experiences on tap here, Super Mario Bros. Edition is actually the weaker of the two. It never feels like anything more than a Mario-themed reskin, which is what you’d expect at the bare minimum. Instead of knights and dragons, you’re picking Mario and Luigi as team leaders as they band together with generic Goombas and Koopas because… reasons. Iconic power-ups, sound effects, and stage themes straight out of Super Mario 3D World are all great, but almost everything about the presentation feels recycled. And honestly, Mario’s plain ol’ enemies just aren’t that interesting in the context of an RPG – that’s probably why Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG devised so many of their own unique villains, none of which you’ll find here.
It’s not easy trying to justify the $30 / £25 purchase of a game you could be playing for free. And while the content it offers is pretty good, Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons Super Mario Bros. Edition won’t do much to calm that fiscally responsible part of your brain. If you need to flex your match-puzzle muscles in stimulating new ways, or just really love anything Mario related, this Puzzle & Dragons two-pack will call to you. Just be sure to have a good, long think about whether it’s worth the price to have it on your 3DS with a splash of Mario.
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Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition review - App Review 4u
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