Collection essentials #405: Dr. Mario 64 (N64)

Here’s an entry on the list you didn’t see coming. Despite the popularity of Dr. Mario on the NES, Dr. Mario 64 didn’t make a big splash. It was released at the end of the console’s lifespan and was clearly not a big-budget project, featuring 2D graphics during a time when consoles with very impressive 3D capabilities had already been released. And so, this is comparatively one of Mario’s most obscure outings on the Nintendo 64.

The basic gameplay here is the same as in the original Dr. Mario, so you can read my post about that game for more info.

Since they decided to keep the basic gameplay the same, they tried to make up for it by introducing new modes. One such mode is a short arcade-style “Story mode” in which the player selects either Mario or Wario and faces a series of opponents as they progress through a simple story. There are various other gameplay modes, such as “marathon” which features an infinite onslaught of viruses, “flash” which requires eliminating a few specific viruses as fast as possible, and “score attack” which gives the player a limited time to score as many points as they can.

But the real selling point of Dr. Mario 64 is…four players simultaneously!! In previous versions, only two opponents could go head-to-head at a time. But now you can have a whole group go at it together to see who’s the best doctor of them all as everyone tries to create combos to drop garbage pills on all their opponents and mess them up. 

I was aware of Dr. Mario 64 when it was new thanks to Nintendo Power magazine, but I didn’t own it back then and didn’t know anyone who did, sadly. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with it in my life. But I am definitely a fan of Dr. Mario in general, and if I’m ever in a room with three other fans then I love the idea of firing up this game and going at it with them. It may come off as a fairly unimpressive sequel, but hey, sometimes allowing for a bigger play group is all you need to become an essential.