| Dr. Mario | |
|---|---|
 North American NES box art | |
| Developer | Nintendo R&D1 |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Producer | Gunpei Yokoi[10] |
| Programmer | Takahiro Harada[11] |
| Artist | Hiroji Kiyotake |
| Composer | Hirokazu Tanaka[12] |
| Series | Dr. Mario |
| Platforms | Game Boy,NES,arcade,Super Famicom,Game Boy Advance |
| Release | July 27, 1990
|
| Genre | Puzzle |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
| Arcade system | Nintendo VS. System,PlayChoice-10 |
Dr. Mario is a 1990puzzle video game developed and published byNintendo for theNintendo Entertainment System andGame Boy. A spin-off of theMario series, it is afalling block puzzle game in which the player's objective is to destroy theviruses populating the on-screen playing field by using coloredcapsules that are automatically tossed into the field by Dr.Mario. The player manipulates the falling capsules, to align the same colors, which destroys viruses. The player progresses through the game by eliminating all the viruses on the screen in eachlevel. The game was produced byGunpei Yokoi and programmed by Takahiro Harada, with the soundtrack composed byHirokazu Tanaka.
Dr. Mario was a commercial success, with more than10 million copies sold worldwide across all platforms. It received generally positive reviews, appearing on several lists of "Best Nintendo Games of All Time". It has beenported,remade, or had a sequel on everyNintendo home console since the NES, and on mostportable consoles, including a re-release in 2004 on theGame Boy Advance in theClassic NES Series. It was modified intominigames inWarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!,Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!, andBrain Age: Concentration Training.Dr. Luigi is a spin-off forWii U, released on December 31, 2013, as part of theYear of Luigi celebration.
Dr. Mario is afalling blocktile-matching video game.[13]Mario assumes the role of adoctor, tossing two-colored medicalcapsules into a medicine bottle representing the playing field. This area is populated by viruses of three colors — red, yellow, and blue — which stay in their starting positions until removed. In a style similar toTetris,[14] the player manipulates each capsule as it vertically falls, able to move it left or right and rotate it 90 degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise. When matching colors of capsule halves and viruses touch sequentially 4-in-a-row, they disappear. Any remaining half or whole capsules which are not supported will fall to the bottom of the playing field or until hitting another supported object, and any new 4-in-a-row alignments also disappear. The main objective is to eliminate all viruses from the playing field, finishing eachlevel. Agame over occurs if capsules fill the playing field in a way that obstructs the bottle's narrow neck. After each 5th level is completed on Medium or High difficulty, up to level 20, acutscene shows the virus trio sitting on a tree as music plays and an object flies across the screen.[15]
The options screen configures the startinglevel, game speed, and music. The player chooses a starting level between 0 and 20 that determines the number of viruses to clear, and one of three speeds of the falling capsules. The player'sscore is based on the elimination of viruses and the chosen game speed, with bonus points for clearing more than 1 in a single line.[15]Dr. Mario offers amultiplayergaming mode in which two players compete in separate playing fields. Each player's goal is to clear the private playing field of viruses first. Eliminating multiple viruses or initiating chain reactions can add capsules to the opponent's playing field. A player wins a single game upon eliminating all the viruses or upon the other player's bottle filling. The first player to win three games wins overall.[15]
The NES and Game Boy versions of the games have slight differences. The Game Boy version has a smaller playfield than the NES one and the games feature different cutscenes showcasing the viruses in different locations. If the player manages a chain of four or more in the Game Boy version, then the Invincible Music fromSuper Mario Bros. (1985) will play briefly.[16]
Dr. Mario was produced byGunpei Yokoi, creator of theGame Boy andGame & Watch handheld systems.[10] Takahiro Harada, producer of theWario Land: Shake It!, was its programmer.[11] Its music was composed byHirokazu Tanaka, and has been re-used andarranged such as in theSuper Smash Bros. series.[citation needed]
Dr. Mario spawned severalremakes andports that were released on various Nintendo consoles. The original version's multiplayer portion was ported to two Nintendo arcade systems: theNintendo VS. System (asVs. Dr. Mario) and thePlayChoice-10.Vs. Dr. Mario was first shown at Nintendo's Seventh Annual Distributor Meeting in San Diego, and both versions were released simultaneously in August 1990.[5][6] Anenhanced remake ofDr. Mario was paired withTetris in theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System compilation gameTetris & Dr. Mario, released on 30 December 1994.[17] This was re-released in Japan on 30 March 1997, as a downloadable game for the Super Famicom'sSatellaview peripheral, with the nameDr. Mario BS Version.[18] It was re-released again in Japan for the Super Famicom's and Game Boy's downloadableNintendo Power cartridges.[19][20]
The NES version was ported twice to theGame Boy Advance: first in 2004 as one of thirty games in theClassic NES Series (Famicom Mini Series in Japan),[21] then bundled with a version of thePuzzle League series in 2005 asDr. Mario & Puzzle League, with updated graphics and new music.[22]Nintendo Puzzle Collection and theNintendo GameCube Preview Disc, both released in 2003 for theGameCube, can copy the NES version ofDr. Mario to the Game Boy Advance using theNintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable.[23] The NES version was released on theWii U Virtual Console in 2014[24] and was one of thelaunch games for theNintendo Classics service on September 19, 2018.[25] The original Game Boy version was re-released on theNintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2011 and 2012, and on the Nintendo Classics service on March 12, 2024.[2]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| ACE | GB: 510/1000[26] |
| Famitsu | NES: 8/10, 8/10, 9/10, 6/10[27] GB: 7/10, 8/10, 9/10, 7/10[28] |
| Joystick | GB: 93%[29] |
| Zero | GB: 89%[30] |
Dr. Mario received generally positive reviews, although some parents were critical of the premise of medicine in a children's game.[31] The Game Boy version received positive reviews fromJoystick andZero magazines, the latter comparing it favorably withTetris andConnect Four while stating it is "easy to play and impossible to master".[29][30]ACE criticized the uninspiring graphics, repetitive play, and "plagiarism" while comparing it unfavorably withTetris andConnect Four.[26] In the Japanese magazineFamicom Tsūshin, the four reviewers said that while the game is similar toTetris, they still found it fun with one reviewer saying it was more fun to play as a two-player game.[27] The same four reviewers also complimented the Game Boy version of the game, with one reviewer feeling that the game was slightly worse due to the lack of color on the Game Boy making it harder to decipher some gameplay elements.[28]
In Japan,2.08 million copies were sold for theGame Boy,1.53 million for theFamicom, and 248,045 for theGame Boy Advance, for a total of 3,858,045 cartridges sold in Japan.[32] In North America,2.5 million copies were sold within six weeks of release.[33] Worldwide,5.34 million copies were sold for the Game Boy and4.85 million for theNintendo Entertainment System,[34] for a total of 10,438,045 cartridges sold worldwide across all platforms.[citation needed]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | GB: 67%[35] GBA: 69%[36] |
| Metacritic | GBA: 66/100[37] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame | NES: 4/5[38] |
| GameSpot | GBA: 7.4/10[39] |
| IGN | GBA: 7/10[40] |
| Nintendo Power | 7.2/10[41] |
| Play | GBA: 67%[42] |
| Nintendojo | GBA: 7.7/10[43] |
Allgame praised the NES version, stating that on its release, "when puzzle games were flooding the market,Dr. Mario stands out as one of the best, combining a smooth learning curve, playful graphics and memorable tunes" and "fundamental concepts may be simple, but the addictive gameplay becomes progressively more complex as the speed increases and additional viruses are added."[38]
Dr. Mario was rated the 134th best game on a Nintendo system inNintendo Power's Top 200 Games list,[44] the 7th bestMario game of all time onScrewAttack's Top 10,[45] and the 51st best NES game of all time byIGN.[46]IGN also rated thesoundtrack, composed byHirokazu Tanaka, as seventh in its list of the top ten greatest8-bit soundtracks.[47]GamesRadar ranked it the 13th best NES game ever made, calling it "one of the most celebrated of the [puzzle] genre".[48]Game Informer's Ben Reeves called it the seventh best Game Boy game.[49] In 2019,PC Magazine included Dr. Mario on their "The 10 Best Game Boy Games".[50]
TheGame Boy Advance re-release in theClassic NES Series is rated 66/100 onMetacritic based on 10 reviews.[37] Most reviews pointed out the game's addictiveness and praise the addition ofwireless multiplayer, but some questioned the relevance of the standalone re-release.Eurogamer said the game was "still as playable, addictive, and maddening as it was back in 1990" but criticized Nintendo for re-releasing classic games as standalone games in theClassic NES Series instead of as acompilation, likeAtari'sAtari Anthology orMidway'sMidway Arcade Treasures.[51]
Craig Harris ofIGN sarcastically expressed unease over the game's use of medicine. He enjoyed the addictive gameplay, but criticized theblack-and-whitemanual which made it difficult to understand the colored gameplay mechanics.[40]1UP.com noted that the game's "color-matching action is more engrossing thanMario Bros.' turtle-punching platform hopping", but strongly questioned whether this re-release is worth its sale price by itself when a version ofDr. Mario was included in another Game Boy Advance game,WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!.[52]
Henk Rogers of theTetris Company spoke negatively about the game in an interview published in 2018, saying he "was pissed off about that game,Dr. Mario was a blatant attempt to come up with aTetris replacement and I thought they did it in a cheesy way."[53]
After the commercial success ofDr. Mario, Nintendo released several follow-up games.Dr. Mario 64, released in 2001 for theNintendo 64, featuresWario and severalWario Land 3 characters, and offers numerousgame modes, including a story-focusedsingle-player mode. The game supports simultaneousmultiplayer for up to four players.Dr. Mario 64 was subsequently released in Japan inNintendo Puzzle Collection for theGameCube.Dr. Mario Online Rx, released in 2008 onWiiWare, offersonline multiplayer viaNintendo Wi-Fi Connection.Dr. Mario Express, released in 2009 for theNintendo DSi, does not support multiplayer gameplay.Dr. Luigi was released in 2013 for the Wii U, with Luigi as a playable character, all the modes inDr. Mario Online Rx, and a new mode with L-shaped capsules. The latest installment,Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure, was released in 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS, and introduced power-ups to the series.Dr. Mario World was amobile game that was released on 2019 for iOS and Android smart devices, and features new mechanics, such as brand new doctors with special abilities, assistants, and a gacha system.Dr. Mario World was discontinued in November 2021.
Various games in theSuper Smash Bros. series have remixed musical tracks fromDr. Mario,[54] or Dr. Mario as anunlockable playable character.[55]Dr. Wario replaces Mario with Wario, as anunlockable minigame inWarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!.[56] A simplified version ofDr. Mario is inBrain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! as the "Virus Buster"minigame, using the touch screen to drag the capsules around the playing field.[57] The viruses are enemies inMario & Luigi: Superstar Saga andMario & Luigi: Dream Team. They change colors when attacked, and are all defeated when they are all the same color.[58] In 2018, theClassic Tetris World Championship featured aDr. Mario championship as a side event.[59][independent source needed]
Describing how the game works is best done by taking Tetris, adding Connect 4 and throwing in Dominoes.
Parental groups were upset with Nintendo at their choice of content, since many parents disagreed with the use of medicine in the game.
| Dr. Mario series |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Mario's Picross | ||
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong | ||
| Other games | ||
| See also | ||
