Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

An interesting combination of mechanics makes for a compelling and highly enjoyable game but, if it’s available in your region, you’d be better off with the mobile original.

It is one of the most addictive and deepest "match-3" experiences out there with tons of content and easy to learn mechanics, but after a few hours the gameplay becomes monotonous.

Although Puzzle & Dragons veterans will likely find little to keep their interest over the mobile game, it's a superb standalone puzzle title for the wider audience, and will likely be the gateway to the mobile version for many.

It’s a watered-down stepping stone, intended to introduce players to Puzzle & Dragons with a familiar face and none of those intimidating in-app purchases. It’s clear, however, that P&D’s design was built on a free-to-play base, and taking those elements out actually makes the game feel less substantial as a result.

In the end, Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition is, in itself, a bit of a puzzle. It’s definitely interesting and a great shake-up of the Puzzle Quest formula, but you’ll spend as much or more time not playing a match-three puzzle as you will playing it, if that makes sense—especially if you’re playing Puzzle & Dragons Z.

As a two-in-one package, Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzles & Dragons Super Mario Bros. has the addictive gameplay and lasting value to be a worthy purchase for a puzzle fan on the go.

If you can justify the entry fee, this Puzzle & Dragons two-pack offers a solid hybrid of enjoyable puzzle mechanics and RPG-lite monster collecting.

Match Three with an element of strategy simply isn't done any better, but this one is having a hard time shaking its free-to-play roots.

The Super Mario mode isn't as enjoyable as the main game; it's a nice change of scenery if you become bored with overgrown lizards parading in front of you, but it's best to stick with Puzzle & Dragons Z for the most part.

Enjoyable and frustrating in equal measure, Puzzle and Dragons Z + Mario Edition is decent enough if you can grit your teeth and bear it.

It feels like neither game really shines as intended.

Puzzle and Dragons Z is an interesting puzzle game with a touch of roleplaying and strategy. It's equally challenging as it is repetitive since it lacks any of the limits from the mobile game. With two games in one it's still good value and a welcome addition to the puzzle game library on the format.

Playing Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition feels alternately amusing and off-putting, overly easy and wildly unfair, instantly understandable and bloated with secondary systems.

The lone shortcoming to the entire package is a lack of difficulty.

Bundled with a story and a special version adapted to the Mushroom Kingdom's universe, Puzzle & Dragons was meant to extend its success on the 3DS. But its main evolution is the change of economic model, the removal of micropayment revealing somehow paradoxically the true nature of PAD: a slot machine disguised as a puzzle game mixed with RPG. Although manipulating orbs and collecting monsters are still captivating activities, the artificial, if not arbitrary aspect of the gameplay empties Puzzle & Dragons Z of a real interest.

It provides a bit of fan fare and not much else. [Issue#162, p.103]

A whole lot better on phones than it is on 3DS. [July 2015, p.115]

The result is two lackluster RPGs slapped together with a basic matching game, minus all the gotta-catch-'em-all glee of obtaining new, fancier things.

An interesting tale. On one hand, it's an alright match three puzzle game with nice presentation facets; while, on the other, it's full of borrowed mechanics and features unfair difficulty spikes that occur far too early on.