Genre: Puzzle
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega

GungHo's "Puzzle & Dragons" is going to be mentioned a lot in this review, since Dragon Coins apes just about everything from it. This imitation starts with the graphics style, which involves sometimes massive cartoon-style character sprites. But where GungHo went with traditional Asian themes, Dragon Coins adopts a more anime-influenced approach.

One of the game's two composers, Tahei Sato, was involved with the Valkyria Chronicles project, and the influence clearly shows, with songs that sound like they could have come straight from that game. Sound effects are minimal but get the job done.

Every single mechanic in Dragon Coins-- the friends list, the premium currency, the stamina gauge, the flow of gameplay, the monster fusion and evolution-- all were lifted straight from Puzzle & Dragons. The only difference between the two games gameplay-wise is that Dragon Coins' combat takes place using "coin dozer" mechanics. The formula works pretty well, and it's satisfying to see new creatures and gold coins being scooped into the player's inventory at the end of each stage.

Puzzle & Dragons was addicting because of its "just one more stage!" nature, and seeing as how Dragon Coins adopts every single one of those mechanics from the aforementioned GungHo title, the latter has the same positive qualities. For those that liked Puzzle & Dragons, Dragon Coins is essentially more of the same, but with a little different and successful twist.