Dr. Mario (video game)

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Dr. Mario

Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date(s)	^JPNJuly 27, 1990 ^NAOctober, 1990
Genre(s)	Puzzle game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Kids to Adults (K-A)
Platform(s)	Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console

Dr. Mario is an arcade-style puzzle video game produced by Nintendo. It was originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy in 1990. Its gameplay is often likened to that of Tetris. In this game, Dr. Mario throws vitamins that the player must align in order to destroy the viruses that populate the playing field (designed to resemble a medicine bottle). It is also a confirmed title to be available on Wii's Virtual Console.

[edit] Gameplay

A puzzle game similar to Tetris, Dr. Mario features Nintendo mascot Mario as a doctor. Play consists of dropping two-sided vitamin capsules into an eight-block-by-16-block playing field populated by viruses of three colors (red, yellow, and blue).

There are six types of capsules, differentiated by their color: red-red, yellow-yellow, blue-blue, red-blue, red-yellow, and blue-yellow. The player must rotate and position these capsules on top of and alongside the viruses and other capsules in an effort to eliminate the viruses. Both viruses and capsules are eliminated when four or more objects of corresponding color are placed in a row or column. A player completes a level by eliminating all viruses on the playing field. Conversely, the game will end if any capsules obstruct the bottle's narrow neck at the top row of the field. The game consists of 21 distinct levels, whose starting virus counts range from four at level 0 to 84 at levels 20 and higher. Above level 20, each level starts with 84 viruses. Levels do not increase in difficulty past level 20. Much like Tetris, the player may choose a level of difficulty to start, along with the game's speed and a selection of background music.

The Game Boy version of the game is nearly identical to its NES counterpart. In keeping with the technical limitations of the device, the game features a playfield measuring eight-blocks by 15-blocks and viruses of black, white, and gray.

Two player gameplay in either version consists of two side-by-side playfields that can be level-adjusted according to the strength of each player. The first player to win three games wins the match. The objective is to be the first to clear the viruses or to block the opponent's field to the top. An added element is the ability to "rain" down random blocks into the opponent's playfield by achieving double (triple, quadruple, etc.) combinations of eliminated lines on the same vitamin.

[edit] Trivia

The enemy viruses will try to overwhelm Dr. Mario and his megavitamins in the NES game.

U.S. Patent 5,265,888 covers Dr. Mario, but as of 2004, Nintendo has not enforced it against amateur software developers.
The virus characters would later re-appear as enemies in the RPG title Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. They use the same movement and death animations as their NES counterparts, and as another reference to Dr. Mario, the virus enemies change color and shape (or rather, into another one of the viruses) once they are hit by Mario and Luigi. If all the viruses in the current battle become the same color and shape, all the viruses in the battle die instantaneously.
Interestingly, the viruses have never been given any formal names, and are known simply as "Red Virus," "Blue Virus," and "Yellow Virus". The Nintendo Comics System (a series of comics produced by Valiant) included an issue called "The Doctor Is In... Over His Head," which depicts a story of Dr. Mario based on the original NES title. The comic names the blue virus "Chill," the red "Fever," and the yellow "Weird." However, these were most likely never considered official titles for the characters. It should be noted, however, that in Dr. Mario 64, these are the names of the viruses.
In the Super Mario Adventures comic Mario dressed up as a doctor, but was pretending to be a psychiatrist. The viruses also made a cameo as guests at Bowser's wedding.
Dr. Mario is one of 9-Volt's mini-games in WarioWare, Inc., and a blue virus is in one of Kat and Ana's minigames in WarioWare: Twisted!.
The titular character appears as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, with more powerful attacks than is counterpart Mario, as it plays the Dr. Mario game's song Fever in 1 player matches at Mushroom Kingdom 2.