Graphics: *1/2
Well, what do you expect from a puzzle game? The
graphics don’t have to be great because all you’re looking at are little
red, blue, and yellow blobs. But in four-player mode, the screen gets so
jammed the
viruses look as bad or worse than they did on
the NES. And this is the second in a line of three straight Mario games
(Paper Mario, Dr. Mario 64, Mario Party 3) that have this new “paper” theme
in the storyline.
(Watch the opening to see what I mean.) This
isn’t the NES or Super Nintendo! This is the end of the N64 and Mario games
deserve some more time on the graphics! All right, it doesn’t really effect
much, but they
could try a little harder.
Sound: ****
The biggest difference between those *other* puzzle
games is the music. No one touches the two *classic*
songs that were in the first Dr. Mario, only
this time they sound better. My absolute favorite song in any game ever
is the Chill music, and the Fever music isn’t far behind. The falling viruses
after clearing them still sound like Curly’s (from the Three Stooges, of
course!) “nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.” Metal Dr. Mario and Robo Wario’s voices sound
better than the voices of their normal counterparts. This game even speeds
up the songs when there’s only three viruses to go, or something like that.
There’s two other songs, but I don’t like them as much as the original
two. Of course, you can turn the music off, but why?
Difficulty: ***
To say I haven’t beaten the hard level yet says the A.I.’s level of hard is, as it says, *hard*. But then again, of course, in the classic mode, I have gone from level 0 to level 33 (or something like that, maybe level 34) in several hours, only losing because I’m about to fall asleep. Beating others at this game is easy if you have even the foggiest idea how to play. For example, that four-player mode is a very quick win if you’re good at this game. Quick as in about one minute. Against the computer, well, that’s another story if the A.I. is on normal or hard. Normal is very beatable, but hard is a real battle. Against no one (the one-player modes not against the computer), you’ll have an easy time (as long as you know how to play).
Characters: no stars
Wow, my first ever no stars rating! Of course,
that’s nothing to be proud of. There’s Mario, or excuse me,
DR. Mario, and then there’s Wario, and then there’s...
well, Spearhead’s from a Wario game, and maybe the
others are, but... I found out the hidden characters
are Metal Dr. Mario and Robo Wario. Not Bowser, DK,
the extremely cute Yoshi, Peach, Daisy, Luigi,
or even Waluigi! Who are these losers? The characters have no advantage
over each other, but you aren’t playing with Koopa Troopas, Goombas, Thwomps,
or even Koopalings! You’re playing with... I’ll stop now.
Controls: ***
Boy, how much easier do the controls get? A typical
easy control setup for a Mario game makes you use the
Control Pad, the A Button, and only if you’re
desperate, the B Button. For fast people, you’ll only need the A Button
to rotate the vitamin clockwise and not need the B Button to rotate the
vitamin counterclockwise, because you can hit A three times fast. Left
and Right move the vitamin up and down. All right, all right, they move
the stupid vitamin left and right. Down moves the vitamin down fast. They
(the controls) are pretty easy, if you ask me.
Classic Mode: ****
This mode was once an entire game in itself, Dr. Mario, for the NES. You move the falling vitamins on top of the colored viruses according to their color, rotating the vitamin, if necessary. Three on a virus clears it, or two on a double virus. (The same color clears the virus, not another color, and I hope you weren’t that moronic to think you could just clear by putting any vitamin on a virus.) Basically, four of the same color, in a row or in a column, clears the vitamins and/or virus(es). This way, you can clear unwanted vitamins, and, of course, unwanted viruses. Clear all the viruses to win the level. Sounds easy, right? Well, not really, if you’re playing with faster speed and more viruses. It’s hard to a certain extent, and that is it is hard until you get really good at it. Once you are really good at it, then it gets really easy, even the hard levels. But this mode is still simply the best in this game. This mode even rivals those *other* puzzle games like Tetris and all those others.
Story Mode: **1/2
This tells a story about Dr. Mario and the Cold Caper. All it is is Dr. Mario and Wario chasing each other and bumping into losers. You must beat the loser by clearing your viruses before the loser does or letting your loser’s vitamins and viruses hit the top, whichever occurs first. Of course, this mode is either too easy or too hard, with not much in between.
Vs. Computer Mode: **1/2
Same as the Story Mode, except you pick your opponent’s skill level and play only one match at a time. You may have to win three games to win a match, depending on what you set it on in Settings Mode.
Flash Mode: ***
This mode abandons the goal of clearing all viruses
and just makes you clear three, the three that are flashing. All others
are just obstacles. You can be against a computer or against a friend,
or an enemy,
whether you have friends or not. Just forget
about the twenty-some other viruses that are all surrounding the ones you
need to clear. Sure, you may need to clear those viruses to get to the
flashing viruses, but if
you know a shortcut to the virus, use it!
Marathon Mode: **1/2
This is all about survival. The viruses very slowly
move to the top and you must keep on clearing them
until they reach the top (which does eventually
happen pretty quickly). This mode is good for practice for
Story Mode and Classic Mode, but it is pretty
short unless the mode is on easy.
Time Attack Mode: **1/2
This mode is clearing as many viruses in a certain amount of time. It’s also good for practice for Story Mode and Classic Mode again, but it can be pretty hard to clear if it’s not on the first level. And that makes it very frustrating, because if you can’t finish a level because it’s next to impossible, why even try? It’s still all right, however.
2-player Vs. Mode: **
This is like going against the computer except you’re against a live opponent. The trouble with this is finding the perfect handicap for a game between two unmatched players.
4-player Vs. Mode: ***
This mode is a ton of fun for dropping garbage
on each other. The four-player frenzy turns into a blowout,
however, if you have one better player than the
rest. Fortunately, the others can practice when they lose.
That actually makes it worthwhile at times the
others that just lost would have to wait for the two that are
still going to finish. The viruses look very
small and as bad or worse than they did on the NES in this mode
because of the cramped-in screen.
4-player Team Attack Mode: ***1/2
This mode allows two players to play on a team
against another two players. This way, if one loses, the other
can still win it for his or her team. That makes
this mode more fun than the previous one because even if you lose, your
team is still alive. The graphics do get a little funny here, as well as
in the other 4-player Vs. Mode.
Options Mode: ***
Here you can fiddle with the sound settings, listen
to music, adjust the number of games to win a match, and
do something else about score display or something.
I don’t know, and I don’t care about that score display,
but I love listening to all the music which is
all spiced-up since the days on the NES.
Fun Factor: **
Well, it can be fun at times with the four-player-mode
and two-player-mode, but then again, if you’re beating
somebody really bad, that certain somebody you’re
beating up on will get annoyed, and there goes the fun to it all. Plus,
the one-player mode isn’t very exciting.
OVERALL: **1/2
This game is definitely worth the $30, but not
$50 or $60 like some other games. Plus, you’ll like this one
better if you played the original, Dr. Mario,
for the NES. Of course, for those of you who think all this is is Tetris,
well, you’re wrong! This is different, and it’s its own type of puzzle
game. So, if you want a last Mario game for the N64, but don’t want to
spend that much, this one is worth it. But if you hate puzzle games, skip
it!