Dr. Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Gerald Villoria
• Reviewed on: 04/12/2001
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 04/08/2001
• Originally published on GameSpot: Dr. Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) Review

Released in 1990 for the NES and Game Boy, Dr. Mario was Nintendo's wildly successful spiritual successor to the puzzle game phenomenon that was Tetris. In 1994, the franchise was revisited and bundled with Tetris on the SNES, and many felt the new version was a vast improvement on the original. Now, seven years later and on the verge of its next-generation of gaming platforms, Nintendo has released the last solid puzzle game for the N64, Dr. Mario 64.

Fans of the series will feel right at home with what are essentially unchanged play mechanics, and there are a number of interesting, and for the most part intuitive, new play modes. Like its classic predecessors, the play field takes place in an oversized bottle that houses any number of red, yellow, or blue bug-like viruses. In order to clear the bottle, Dr. Mario continually tosses in colored pills. Your job is to place the pills so that three pill sections of the same color as one of the viruses are horizontally or vertically matched up with the virus, which eliminates it. Combos that eliminate multiple viruses reward you with extra points. Clearing one stage allows you to progress to the next one, and so on. Aside from the classic mode, where destroying viruses is the sole objective, players can compete in flash, marathon, and score-attack modes. Marathon mode challenges you to survive as long as possible. Time attack challenges you to clear a bottle in three minutes or less, while in flash mode, only the blinking viruses count toward victory. Flash and score attack are also available as two-player modes.

The single- and two-player games take a backseat to the focus of Dr. Mario 64, which is--as clearly stated on the packaging--four-player head-to-head multiplayer. In the four-player modes, pulling off combos sends different multicolored garbage pieces to one of your opponents. The two-on-two team battle allows you to stock up on garbage pieces and send them all crashing down on opponents at once. The four-player modes can be very entertaining, and a good handicapping system allows for new players and experts to challenge each other.

Continue reading