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'Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition' might finally help the Japanese puzzle craze catch on here

You know how Candy Crush is a game that it seems everybody has had some involvement with, one way or another? A game that somehow, against all odds, your grandmother has played despite barely being able to use her smart phone to make calls?

Well, Puzzle & Dragons is a bit like that in Japan. It may seem like a simple puzzle game (on the surface, it is), but it's a big deal that's entertained a lot of people and has made a lot of money. However, it's never really caught on here in North America. I mean, you can go download it on your iPhone or Android device right now, for free. Lots of people have, in fact.

Those people have enjoyed a puzzle game with a Pokemon-style twist. While the basic puzzle mechanics aren't terribly unique (you move pieces around the playing field in order to make color matches of three or more), the thing that keeps people playing Puzzle & Dragons is the monsters. As you play you collect more monsters, equip them on your team and level them up so that they're stronger, helping you in turn to travel through more levels to recruit even more monsters. It's a deceptively simple game that's easy to pick up but can keep you playing for ages.

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Yet it's never really caught on in the US.

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That could potentially change with the release of Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons Super Mario Bros. Edition for the 3DS. As the title implies, it's two games in one, but the key factor here is that one of those games is Super Mario flavored. Can't get Americans to try your color-matching puzzle game? Slap Mario onto it, let him recruit some goombas and you might have a winner.

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It just might work. See, I've had Puzzle & Dragons on my phone for awhile now -- over a year, at least -- but I've barely touched it. I couldn't tell you exactly why. I actually like its base puzzle mechanics, and generally speaking I'm a fan of both puzzles and dragons, but it's never really grabbed me.

Throw in a Mario theme, though, and suddenly I'm more interested. While I maybe spent 30 minutes with the iPhone game I've already spent several hours with Super Mario Bros. Edition on my 3DS. Is this shallow? Possibly. But trade generic fantasy monsters for Koopa Troopas and Bullet Bills and you have my attention. The addictive drag-and-match puzzles of Puzzle & Dragons is made extra charming when combined with Mario's Mushroom Kingdom.

That said, when comparing the two games in this package, Puzzle and Dragons Z may actually be the better (if less colorful) game. It's harder, more complex and has more variety in the monsters you'll encounter.

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In a way, Puzzle & Dragons Z  almost feels like a Pokemon puzzle game. It begins in a similar fashion, with you visiting a nearby professor who gives you some monsters to fight with and sends you off to explore the world. Ultimately, that world feels bigger (with more to do inside of it) than the world in Puzzle and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.

Combined, these two games provide many hours of gameplay, provided you don't get sick of dragging around puzzle pieces to match colors and create combos. After all, while there are some differences in specifics between the two games, both share the same core Puzzle & Dragons gameplay.

I don't know that I'd recommend either game for hours-long binge sessions, but the Puzzle and Dragons formula makes for a great pick up and play experience. This package is a great one to keep handy for bus rides or in between classes, playing through a few stages at a time when you've got a spare moment. For me, it scratches a similar itch that Puzzle Quest did on the original DS, which probably means I'll be coming back to this one for a long time to come.