Dr. Mario
| Developer: Nintendo | Publisher: Nintendo |
| Release Date: January 1, 1990 | Also On: None |
What do people think of when they think of puzzle gaming on the NES? Tetris, of course, but beyond Tetris the next game that would be mentioned by many is Dr. Mario. A game very similar to Tetris 2, Dr. Mario ultimately became the one of the two that is better known to people, likely for no more reason than the fact that Nintendo’s mascot Mario is in it. I do not feel that it should be that way, for I personally find Tetris 2 to be more enjoyable and to have more depth than Dr. Mario, but that does not in any way discount the high quality of this game.
I will admit this though. Dr. Mario came out a couple years after Tetris 2 to the best of my knowledge, and it shows in the graphics. Nintendo is known for having games that have very good graphics for their time periods, and it shows in this game. From the actual pieces, which really do give you a sense of being pills, to the viruses in the jar that actually do look like they’re moving, the graphics are done very well. Even the dancing viruses in the magnifying glass to the right of the jar are well done. So Dr. Mario beats Tetris 2 in graphics.
So far as sound goes, it’s a toss up. The sound effects in this game are typical puzzle game fare, and, like Tetris 2, the music is done very well. However, there are only two songs to choose from, and it’s the same two whether you’re playing single player or with two people. The music in this game is done well, but there’s less of it, and you do have the option of playing without music if you prefer. It is sufficient to say that this game is not as good as Tetris 2 in the sound department.
The gameplay is simple enough. You have three colors of viruses (red, blue, and yellow), and three colors of pill to correspond. Mario will throw pills into the top of the jar, and you have to maneuver them into rows of four of the same color, at which point they will disappear. If a virus is in that row, it dies. The objective of a level is to clear the jar of all the viruses.
Unlike Tetris 2, which has four pieces to each falling item, the pills in Dr. Mario are always 2 pieces right next to each other to look like a capsule. While that makes more sense for the environment of the game, it does mean that there is a significantly lower quantity of items that can be thrown into the jar, only nine in fact. This makes Dr. Mario seem slightly more repetitive than Tetris 2, and it’s harder to become addicted to something that is seen as repetitive.
Like Tetris 2, there are three falling speeds, but since the difficulty increases more per level in this game than in Tetris 2, you can only choose from levels one to twenty to start from, although there are more levels after twenty. I do not remember how many, but I know it’s somewhere in the twenties because things are added more between levels in this game, and the playing field has a smaller area.
What I have described is basically the one player mode. Clear the viruses in a level, then move on to the next one until you die. But there is a two-player mode in this game as well, although the one player against the computer mode from Tetris 2 isn’t replicated here. Like Tetris 2, the two players can choose different levels and falling speeds, but unlike Tetris 2, the same twenty levels that can be chosen for the one-player mode can all be chosen for the two-player mode as well.
The objective in the two-player mode is to clear all your viruses faster than your opponent can, but if your opponent reaches the top of the jar, you win. Like Tetris 2, the first person to win three rounds wins.
The attack system in this game I understand, unlike the one in Tetris 2. When one of the two players connects a chain of more than one row taken out from one pill, the other player will receive debris on his playing field. The debris falls of the colors of rows taken out and fall in random columns of the playing field. It also falls at a fixed pace, causing the player receiving it to lose time. Depending on how many rows were removed simultaneously, the debris can range from two to four pieces. It doesn’t even matter if any viruses are removed by any of the rows removed, so spare useless pills can be used to set these up.
Overall, this game is fun, and it can last a while between the single player and two-player elements, but I find Tetris 2 to have more depth with its one player against the computer mode, more variety with its different shaped falling things, and more satisfying music. Although this game is good and well worth picking up, if you are only going to pick up this or Tetris 2, I’d say go for Tetris 2.
| Graphics: | 9 |
| Sound: | 7 |
| Gameplay: | 8 |
| Creativity: | 6 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 8 |
| Final: | 7.6 |
| Written by Martin | Review Guide |
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