Dr. Mario
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Dr. Mario is an arcade-style puzzle game published in various versions by Nintendo on the Famicom, NES, Playchoice-10, Vs. Unisystem and Dualsystem, Game Boy, Super Famicom, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, Famicom Mini, the Japanese GameCube, and as a standalone arcade console. (The Super Famicom version of the game was available for download on that console's modem add-on Satellaview.) The game's music was composed by Hirokazu 'Hip' Tanaka.
A puzzle game similar to Tetris, Dr. Mario features the much-franchised Nintendo character Mario dropping two-sided vitamins into an eight-block-by-16-block playfield populated by viruses of three colors. (The playfield in the Game Boy version instead measures eight blocks by 15 blocks.) The human player rotates and positions these pills on the viruses and other vitamins, attempting to eliminate the viruses by lining up four or more adjacent viruses or vitamin halves of the same color in a row or column. A player completes a level by eliminating all viruses. After completing a level (in single-player mode), a player moves to the next of the game's 25 levels (whose starting virus counts range from four at level zero to 84 at levels 21 and higher).
Features vary among games, but all include a two-player mode, in which each player is assigned a playfield with an identical virus distribution and competes to eliminate his viruses before his opponent does. If a player clears two or more groups of viruses and pills with the same vitamin (whether by clearing them simultaneously or with a "chain reaction"), two to four unconnected pill halves (depending on the number of cleared groups) of the colors of the groups fall into his opponent's playfield.
Template:US patent covers Dr. Mario, but as of 2004, Nintendo has not enforced it against amateur software developers.
Although a number of Dr. Mario games have been released, a true sequel has yet to be developed and the core gameplay has remained identical since the game was first introduced, save one minor addition introduced in the Nintendo 64 version: a mode where new viruses come up from the bottom and the viruses slowly push the pills upward.
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Super Smash Brothers Melee
So far Dr. Mario's most recent appearance is in Super Smash Brothers Melee as a clone of Mario. He is an Unlockable character and you can receive him by clearing Classic or Adventure mode with Mario without losing all lives or playing 100 Versus melees. He has 4 special moves performed with the B button. B: Megavitamins - Being a "clone" of Mario, there obviously isn't much of a difference between Megavitamins and Fireballs. Megavitamins hit harder (6%) and bounce at a different angle. Don't let the seemlingly weak size and sounds of the Megavitamins fool you, because these are one of the strongest fast projectiles in the game. Smash or Left/Right B: Super Sheet - The Super Sheet is a move based off Mario's Cape. Like the Cape, if used directly on the opponent it will do some damage to him and flip the person around. If it's used on projectiles, then it can reflect them. The Super Sheet is longer and thinner than the Cape. It also does a lot more damage (around 10%), making it a very deadly attack. Just like Mario's Cape, it's also useful for 'edge hogs' by flipping people around when they try to get back to the ledge. Once flipped, it'll be impossible or very hard to get back on. B Up: Super Jump Punch - This attack is basically the same thing as Mario's Super Jump Punch. When used, Dr. Mario will jump up and forward and uppercut. Coins will pop out, each standing for 1% damage. When he hits someone, he'll hit them a couple times in a row, then give them one last punch. As with most B Ups, Dr. Mario uses this as his triple jump. B Down: Dr. Tornado - This move is much like the Mario Tornado. The attack traps the person in, constantly hitting him, he gives them one last punch, sending them off. Holding the B button will levitate the tornado. The only differences between this and the Mario Tornado is that Dr. Tornado hits the person away in a random direction.
Release history
- Dr. Mario (Famicom) 27 July 1990
- Dr. Mario (NES) October 1990
- Dr. Mario (Game Boy) 1 December 1990
- Tetris & Dr. Mario (Super Famicom, Super NES) December 1994 Introduced computer opponents of three difficulty levels.
- Dr. Mario (Super Famicom, Super NES) 1 June 1998
- Dr. Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) 9 April 2001 Included story mode; multiplayer mode supports up to four human or CPU competitors; Flash Mode (players must eliminate flashing viruses); Score Attack Mode (a point-scoring time trial). Priced as a budget game because it was introduced late in the Nintendo 64's cycle. Unlockable features include Super Hard Mode and the characters Metal Mario and Vampire Wario.
- Dr. Mario (Famicom Mini, Game Boy Advance) 21 May 2004 (Japan), 25 October 2004 (North America), 7 January 2005 (Europe) A re-release of the original NES game; part of the Classic NES Series.
- Nintendo Puzzle Collection (Game Cube - Japanese version) 7 February 2003 Slated for a 25 November 2005 release in Europe, this title also includes Yoshi's Cookie and Panel de Pon (also released as Tetris Attack).
Dr. Mario is also an unlockable character in the Game Cube title Super Smash Bros. Melee.
See Also
External links
- Official description - Dr. Mario (Game Boy) (http://www.nintendo.com/gamemini?gameid=m-Game-0000-411), Nintendo.
- Official description - Dr. Mario 64 (http://www.nintendo.com/gamemini?gameid=m-Game-0000-326), Ibid.
- Official description - Dr. Mario (Game Boy Advance) (http://www.nintendo.com/gamemini?gameid=cc42cb03-473f-4c5e-b6e7-eb9a7eb87a35), Ibid.
- Dr. Mario Manual Write-Up (http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/gameboy/manuals/manuals/dr_mario.txt), Starsky.fr:Dr. Mario