Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Reviving a seventeen-year-old puzzle game seems like a strange way of kick-starting a download service that promises "genre-defying gameplay." That said, we find it easy to forgive Dr. Mario & Germ Buster for its lack of innovation. While not the perfect version we had hoped for, Arika's Dr. Mario benefits from the kind of classic, timeless design that defines the very best puzzle games. Innovative or not, it's still every bit as addictive in 2008 as it was in 1990.

What's this? A demo?

That's right folks -- if you're lucky enough to be a Wii owner in Europe or Australia, you'll be able to download the WiiWare game that many of us in the U.S. have been coveting -- Dr. Mario. Are you still unsure whether or not you want to lay down 1000 Wii Points, though? Fear not, because there's a demo out there that'll let you test the waters.

Interestingly, not just anyone can play it. A registered Wii friend who bought Dr. Mario & Germ Buster has to send you the free demo (we've tested this and it works). Once you receive and download the trial game, you can register the friend codes of people who've bought the full version and play against them over Nintendo's WFC.

Unfortunately, deprived gamers on the other side of the Atlantic won't be able to download the demo. Even though Wii owners in the U.S. can recieve it from a friend, trying to download it will generate a message saying, "The software you selected is not available in this country." Sad times, indeed.

Where in the world is Dr. Mario Online RX (besides Japan)? Despite our hopes and wishes whispered to falling stars, Nintendo of America didn't debut the Dr. Mario remake with this week's WiiWare launch, and it doesn't look like the puzzler is in the cards for next Monday, either.

Nintendo of Europe has the game listed in its "launch window" agenda, so it's possible that our friends across the Atlantic will have the game next week. We're not sure how long we'll want to consider Europeans our "friends," however, if they get to play the new Dr. Mario game as much as they please while we suffer this cruel, unspoken embargo.

While we wait for an open date to schedule an appointment with the mustachio'd medical practitioner, you can look over ten English screenshots (and a logo!) for Dr. Mario & Germ Buster, the European title for Dr. Mario RX.


[Via press release]