Dr. Sudoku is our family’s second encounter with a mobile version of Sudoku. We only recently became acquainted with this current puzzle craze a few months ago, but have since become hooked. We reviewed Sudoku Fever soon after we started playing Sudoku and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, how does Dr. Sudoku stack up against Sudoku Fever? Well, in some ways it’s better, and in some ways it’s not as good.

Sudoku is a logic puzzle where numbers are entered in empty spaces in a 9x9 grid that is divided into smaller 3x3 grids. Each horizontal line and 3x3 grid contains the numbers 1-9, with none repeated. Players have to figure out the missing numbers. Harder levels mean fewer pre-entered numbers.

There are one thousand original puzzles in Dr. Sudoku, which is a lot! There are twenty levels of play, each with 50 puzzles. Players can also enter in their own puzzles. There is also a handy memo option, which allows players to enter in notes on what numbers may be possible for certain squares.

The interface offers the R and L buttons to change difficulty levels and bring up the help screen. The screen is a basic grid with number choices on the side for the grid. Backgrounds can be changed, but there are only three colors to choose from, so having this as an option is rather pointless. The music can be changed, but again, the choices are minimal.

Dr. Sudoku appears to offer more puzzles and more playing options than Sudoku Fever. However, the overall appearance of Sudoku Fever is easier to look at than Dr. Sudoku, mainly due to Sudoku Fever’s prettier backgrounds and less annoying cursor. The highlighted square flashes in Dr. Sudoku, where in Sudoku Fever the light runs around the highlighted square. For whatever reason, this is easier on the eyes than the constant flashing.

The game of Sudoku is simple and doesn’t offer a whole lot of options in gameplay, so one game is going to be very similar to any other game. Preferences between different versions will depend on the look of the game screen and the types of options available. While Dr. Sudoku does offer tons of original puzzles, it just doesn’t look as good as Sudoku Fever.

Gameplay: 7.5
The gameplay is fun and the ability to enter in number possibilities is nice, but the enjoyment is dampened a little by the dull backgrounds and annoying flashing cursor.

Graphics: 6.0
The graphics are very minimal.

Sound: 5.0
The sound is wholly average.

Difficulty: Medium
The difficulty level ranges from very easy to very hard.

Concept: 6.5
This is basic Sudoku and doesn’t offer anything new, really.

Overall: 7.0
While this does offer a nice range of options and tons of puzzles, it just isn’t as pleasurable to play as it could be. More attention should have been paid to the overall appearance of the game.