Dr. Mario

Name: Dr. Mario
Year: 1991
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Abstract Puzzler
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: No, watched video

Nowadays, when people talk about "puzzle games" (what I refer to on this site as "abstract puzzlers), they're referring to games like Tetris or Candy Crush, where you're tasked with arranging colors or shapes into like groups.  What sets these games apart from true puzzle games (games where you're solving actual puzzles) is the random factor: true puzzle games tend to feature puzzles created by programmers with a set solution, where abstract puzzlers tend to focus on dealing with random elements.

Dr. Mario is an abstract puzzler in the column-matching subgenre; pairs of colored objects fall from the sky (in this case, medicine pills with two segments), and it's your job to arrange them into columns or rows of four to clear them.  The twist to Dr. Mario is that at the start of every level, there are "pieces" (in this case, cartoon viruses) already on the playing field, and using the pills to clear them takes you to the next level.

The problem here is the game never quite "clicks".  It doesn't work as an abstract puzzler, because the game is focused on clearing stages and proceeding to the next level; you're never able to get into the groove or trance that comes from endless games like Tetris.  And it doesn't work as a traditional puzzle solving game, because the puzzles you're given to solve (clearing each board) are randomly generated, so they're never that interesting.  Candy Crush managed to take the endless puzzle play of games like Bejeweled and turn it into completing levels, but they did so by giving each level a unique twist: a specific board shape, chocolates to clear, ingredients to collect, etc. In Dr. Mario, the only variation from level to level is the amount of viruses to clear, and it gets old fast.

There were a lot of attempts at column-matching games in the late eighties/early nineties; most of the unsuccessful ones (Hatris, Columns, Yoshi) now languish in obscurity.  Dr. Mario, for some reason, has managed to stick around as a game people remember liking.  Maybe it's the colorful graphics.  Maybe it's the amazingly catchy music.  Maybe it's just because it features Mario in doctor cosplay.  Whatever the reason may be, Dr. Mario is definitely one game not as good as you remember.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics are pretty good in Dr. Mario.  The sprites are oversized and colorful.  Three viruses (one for each color in the game) march in the bottom right of the screen, and everytime you make a match, the corosponding virus takes "damage" (falls down and wiggles his legs).  It's an extra touch that adds a lot of charm.

Music & Sound: 4 (Excellent)
The music in Dr. Mario is some of the best on the NES, and second only to the classic Tetris theme in terms of best music in a puzzle game.  It's pretty well remembered by NES fans, and I'm betting it's the main reason behind why Dr. Mario is remembered so fondly.

Story & Presentation: 3 (Good)
Dr Mario has a pretty nice presentation.  Besides the obvious doctor theme, there's also a nice checkerboard theme that's found on every screen in the game.  Non-nonsensical cutscenes play when you beat certain stages, and the game has an "ending" (another non-nonsensical cutscene) that differs depending on what speed you beat the game on.

Controls & Level Design: 1 (Bad)
The controls here have that Nintendo polish to them: pills always land where you intended them to, and there's a lot of room for finesse (slipping pills into tight corners).  The problem here is the level design, or more specifically the space you're given to work with.  Go ahead and set the game on a higher level, then tell me if you feel like it's a reasonable challenge to clear the viruses with the amount of space given; on level twenty (the final level), a single mistake can cost you the game.  That would be fine if there was no time limit, a la Candy Crush, but on the higher levels you only have a second or two to place each piece!

Length & Replayability: 0 (Awful)
The bottom line is that Dr. Mario feels like a chore to play.  Having a mode with pre-designed (not random) virus configurations could have went a long way to making this game more playable.

Total: 10 (Average)