I sure hope you weren't expecting new games on the Nintendo Switch Online service, because we didn't get any this week. The good news is that we still have a bunch of old school games to cover in the Review Crew, including the three games we're going to talk about today – The Legend of Zelda, Dr. Mario and Gradius. Sure, all three of these games have been on Nintendo's subscription service for years now, but I still need to ask: Are any of these games worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, ACE, Nintendo Power and more classic magazines to see what the critics said back when these games were first released. So, get ready to take on an entire alien army all by yourself, because this is another pill-poppin' episode of Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew.


At a time when side-scrolling platformers and simple action games dominated the market, The Legend of Zelda stood above them all as a beacon of what was possible on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was an epic adventure, featuring a big map to explore, multiple dungeons to clear out and imaginative enemies that were unlike anything else on Nintendo's 8-bit console. It's easy to look back now and think of The Legend of Zelda as a no-brainer success, but that was not the case in 1987 when this game hit store shelves. Link not only had to save Princess Zelda from the evil Ganon, but he also had to convince the world that it was worth going on the lengthy adventure in the first place.

As is so often the case with games from the mid-1980s, finding reviews can be a little tricky. The good news is that Computer + Video Games was there to review Zelda's UK release in 1988, and they absolutely loved it. Giving it a 9 out of 10, they gushed that “there is an enormous country to examine, with nine secret labyrinths to be located and examined, not to mention the overworld, where you start your travels. Graphics and sound are excellent and again playability is supreme. It needs to be, as the price tag is a bit hefty at 39 pounds.”

It probably won't surprise you that Nintendo Magazine System also loved The Legend of Zelda, giving it an 86%. ACE was even more impressed, using their ridiculous one-thousand-point scale to give the game a score of 905. “Golden cartridge and massive manual sort of make up for the hefty 40-pound price tag on this game. The control pad enables you to travel the extensive land and make icon selections to take part in this role-playing epic. Proof that consoles can be just as good at role-playing games as they are for arcade entertainment.”

If we fast-forward to the year 2003, we'll see the magazine GMR review The Legend of Zelda in their very first issue. They gave it a 7 out of 10, noting that “at a time when generic platformers and disposable shooters ruled the shelves, along came this huge adventure so deep, so complex, you actually had to (gasp!) save your game progress. Zelda contains so many extras and secrets, you couldn't go to recess anywhere in America without overhearing kids trading information in the schoolyard. Gameplay was simple, but set the template for every Zelda game to date.”

With the only so-called “low” score coming from a review published fifteen years later, I think it's fair to say that the critics loved The Legend of Zelda. It was a big deal, and the reviews reflect its importance. Little did they know it would spawn dozens of top-rated games and still be going strong in 2023, but every single one of them knew that Link and Zelda were here to stay. Obviously, you should play The Legend of Zelda, but I have a hunch you already have.

While the shoot ‘em up genre really flourished on the 16-bit platforms, that's not to say that there weren't a few great 8-bit shooters back in the day. One of the best was Gradius, Konami's flagship shoot ‘em up series that lasted well into the 21st century before running out of gas. While not the most fast-paced or exciting game on the market, this 1986 original proved that the genre could be done well on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Gradius is a short and sweet action game with Moai heads, a unique upgrade system and, of course, the Vic Viper, one of the most iconic space crafts to ever grace the video game screen. Genre fans look back at the original Gradius with nostalgia, but what did the critics say back in the mid-1980s.

When it came to The Games Machine, they were a little disappointed with this port. Giving it a 76%, they concluded that “in the arcades, Nemesis was THE classic arcade shoot ‘em up, and the Nintendo conversion is a little different in terms of gameplay. Undermined slightly by less than perfect graphics, a twee soundtrack and a strange loss of speed on level five, this is still a good blast. In the transition to console, Gradius has lost little of its former glory.”

That's a surprisingly low score when compared to the rest of the reviews, all of which fall in the 9 out of 10 zone. For example, ACE used their ridiculous one-thousand-point scale to give Gradius a score of 890, while Nintendo Magazine System rounded things off at 90%. That's the same score we saw from Computer + Video Games, who said: “High-quality conversion of the classic horizontally scrolling arcade game Nemesis incorporates all the features of the original coin-op, and adds some secret bonuses. The graphics and sound are excellent and the shoot ‘em up action is fast and furious.”

As a shooter on the Nintendo Entertainment System, there's no question that Gradius is one of the best. Sure, it's slow and simple when compared to 16-bit shoot ‘em ups, but everything that made the game great in the 1980s is still fun today. Now, what can we do to get the rest of the Gradius games on the Switch? No, really, that's a serious question.

After seeing the success of Tetris, you can't blame Nintendo for wanting to go back to the well and fish out another puzzle game. At the same time, the company was still a little wary about the genre, worried that maybe everybody's obsession with falling blocks was just a fad. The result was Dr. Mario, a puzzle game that used a popular Nintendo character to sell people on the simple concept, something they would continue to do time and time and time again. Instead of clearing lines with falling shapes, the goal here is to match colors using falling pill capsules. See, totally different.

Now, in order to properly tell the story of the reviews, we're going to look at both the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy versions, which were basically the same game that received almost identical scores.

This is one of those beloved classics that a lot of people have nostalgia for, so let's go ahead and start with the high scores. This includes Mean Machines, who ended up giving Dr. Mario a score of 88% in their fifth issue. Julian liked this game even more than Columns, which he called “ridiculously easy.” “Dr. Mario is even better, what with dealing with all the germs as well as creating the columns. When you first start playing, clearing the screen of germs is quite a tall order, but once you've got the hang of it, there's a ton to keep you glued – like creating cunning multiples for example. Dr. Mario is a mega-addictive game that certainly deserves its place in any NES owner's collection, although if you're after a single puzzle game to keep you occupied, Tetris still rules.”

As it turns out, most of the British press agreed with Mean Machines, with Nintendo Magazine System giving Dr. Mario a score of 88%. With a score of 81%, Raze also liked the game, though, once again, they recommended people buy Tetris instead: “Two-player games on the Boy are always fun, but people with a UK Game Boy will already have Tetris, the original and still best puzzle game.”

From there, the scores start to take a bit of a hit. For example, Nintendo Power may have plastered Dr. Mario all over their cover, but they couldn't muster a score higher than 3.9 out of 5. ACE, on the other hand, kind of hated the game, arguing that “it reeks of plagiarism, which wouldn't be so bad if only it was better than the original games it's modeled on.” They concluded that “it's a simple game idea and not one that works particularly well, I hasten to add. What you have here is Nintendo's favorite game character playing Nintendo's favorite game, and sadly, it just doesn't come close to either.”

And then there's Electronic Gaming Monthly, whose editors had real mixed feelings about the pill-pushing doctor. Martin gave the game a 6 out of 10, noting that “Dr. Mario is Nintendo's attempt to clone Columns for the Game Boy (and soon the NES). Not only do you have to twirl “pills” into position a la Tetris, but you must also place them in rows to successfully eliminate the viruses. It's complicated in higher levels, but it is different.” Steve, on the other hand, wasn't having any of that, giving it a 4 and saying: “Dr. Mario is an annoyingly over-involved version of Tetris meets Columns that takes a different approach and comes up way short. Sure, Nintendo has done the same old thing in a refreshing new way, but where's the fun?” EGM gave Dr. Mario an average score of 5.75 out of 10.

No matter how good or bad the scores were, one thing was painfully clear – everybody agreed that Tetris is better than Dr. Mario. And for a lot of the critics, it wasn't even a close call. I know it makes me unpopular, but I find myself agreeing with a lot of what EGM and ACE said. I have always felt that Dr. Mario was a huge step down from Tetris. But for those who love the game and have a lot of nostalgia, I'm happy that it's available on the Nintendo Switch.