Dr. Mario 64 was the final Mario game to grace the N64 game console in North America.
It's also a sequel to one of my favorite puzzle games of all time, Dr. Mario.
Being a budget title for a dying system released in the spring of 2001, Dr. Mario 64 didn't
garner much excitement upon release.
As a retro title however, it's fantastic.
Like every great puzzle game, the core gameplay mechanics are deceptively simple, and the
difficulty scales perfectly from easy to insanely difficult.
The goal of the game is to arrange falling vitamins around viruses.
Matching four colors, either horizontally or vertically, will clear out the virus.
Clear all of the viruses on the screen to progress to the next level.
Level 1 features just 4 viruses, and four more are added with each passing stage.
Things become trickier on later levels, as the vitamins move quicker, and viruses start
higher up on the screen, drastically reducing your decision making time.
Puzzle games are a bit tough to review, the concept either grabs you or it doesn't.
Dr. Mario is one of those games that just grabs me.
I find it easy to get tunnel vision and tune out the world.
The act of trying to find the perfect place to drop every vitamin is a calming experience
for me.
When something goes awry and a vitamin is given to you that doesn't have a neat home,
it stresses me out.
The next few minutes are then spent trying to clear out the chaos this unwanted vitamin
introduced, trying to get back to a clean, Zen-like, game state.
In many ways, this is a metaphor for life.
You're always trying to maintain order, and must overcome the adversity life sometimes
throws your way.
Conquering adversity is a satisfying experience.
Dr. Mario for the N64 adds a ton of gameplay modes in addition to the classic Dr. Mario
formula.
First up is a story mode.
Here, cutscenes play between each round with Dr. Mario and Wario trying to recover Megavitamins
which were stolen by Dr. Sciencstein.
During the story, you must battle various characters in a classic 2-player style mode.
Next up is a Flash mode where the goal is to simply clear out the flashing viruses before
your opponent.
This slightly alters the strategy, as you must now prioritize which viruses need to
be cleared to complete the goal.
My favorite new mode is Marathon.
Here there are no levels, instead the playfield moves up and new viruses are added to the
bottom in a never-ending level.
To me, this is the best addition to the game.
It allows you to continue playing until you run out of skill, without anything getting
in the way.
There is also a score attack mode, with a time limit provided to achieve a specific
score.
All of these modes can be played against the computer, or against friends.
Of course, being a Nintendo 64 game, there is also a 4-player mode.
***
Dr. Mario 64 does a great job of evolving the classic experience, and this trend is
continued with the music.
Chill and Fever are still here, retaining their classic compositions while at the same
time being updated to match the capabilities of the hardware.
Two new music tracks are added that offer more variety to the music selection.
They fit the Dr. Mario theme well and are pleasant to listen to.
Though I would say the compositions don't quite match the legacy of the original tracks.
Graphically, Dr. Mario 64 is everything you could want from a Dr. Mario game.
The gameplay field is simple and uncluttered, the backgrounds are nice, but easy to forget,
and the all of the sprites move smoothly across the screen.
Dr. Mario himself is animated well, and I enjoy seeing the N64 doing some nice 2D rendering
for a change.
Overall, Dr. Mario 64 adds a ton of new features and gameplay modes to the Dr. Mario formula.
Longtime fans of the series, and newcomers alike, will find plenty to enjoy here.
Myself, I still prefer the classic single player experience.
This Nintendo 64 version captures everything I love about the NES original.
Four out of five.