Dr. Mario

The Good
Dr. Mario is a game which is extremely easy to pick up and play. The gameplay and controls are simple enough that anyone can learn to play with minimal effort. As far as sound is concerned, the effects are nothing spectacular, but not obstructive to gameplay either. However, the music, in my opinion, is brilliant. There are two songs included, Fever and Chill, which are very catchy and fit the frantic puzzle action of the game well. Finally, the inclusion of a two-player vs. mode is very welcomed as well.

The Bad
Mario storylines are supposed to be...different, but the story line behind Dr. Mario seemed stranger than usual and rushed, as there is only half of a page addressing the story line in the manual. Granted it's a puzzle game and the story is not a huge part of the gameplay, but I still would have liked a little more depth to the story. Also, the graphics are nothing amazing, but, on the other hand, they really don't need to be. Finally, while part of the charm of this game stems from its simplistic gameplay, this leads to its drawback of quickly becoming somewhat repetitive.

The Bottom Line
Dr. Mario is a puzzle game in which your objective is to kill all of the viruses in a jar. The viruses come in three colors (red, blue, and yellow) as do the pills which are used to kill the viruses. The pills contain two "sections" which allows for either a pill with two of the same colors or two different colors. A horizontal or vertical line of 4 or more "sections" of the same color will cause the line to disappear. So, one must strategically place the falling pills in line with the like-colored virus in order to kill it. If the jar is filled with pills and there are still viruses present, then it is game over.