Tetris & Dr. Mario

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Tetris & Dr. Mario
Tetris & Dr. Mario box art
Developer Nintendo R&D 1
Publisher Nintendo
Platform(s) SNES
Release date USA December 30, 1994
Europe July 25, 1995[1]
Genre Puzzle
Rating(s)
ESRB:E - Everyone
Mode(s) 1-2 players
Media
Super NES:
Game Pak
Input
Super NES:

Tetris & Dr. Mario is a compilation game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1994. It contains enhanced remakes of Tetris and Dr. Mario. Additionally, it includes a "Mixed Match" mode that transitions between the two games as the players progress, beginning at Tetris' B-Type mode before switching to Dr. Mario, then Tetris' A-Type mode and so on. The game also earned a Player's Choice label.

The game's remake of Dr. Mario was later released on the Satellaview system as Dr. Mario BS Version 「Dr.マリオBS版」 and was broadcast between March 1997 and June 2000.

Modes[edit]

Tetris[edit]

Gameplay of Tetris Mode from Tetris & Dr. Mario.
Gameplay of Tetris mode

In Tetris mode, players must arrange various tetrominos across a board in order to create straight lines. Each tetromino falls from the top of the screen, and must be assembled at the bottom. Once the player creates a line, that row disappears. The game is endless, so there is no specific way to "win". The player loses the game if a tetromino touches the top of the board.

Traditionally, Tetris features two separate modes: A-Mode and B-Mode. A-Mode gives the player an empty board that they must fill themselves, while B-Mode gives the player a partially-filled board that they must work around. B-Mode also gives the player the option to change the height of the board.

Tetris features the options of a one-player game, a two-player game, and a single-player mode where a computer is used as an opponent.

Dr. Mario[edit]

Vs. Computer screen in Dr. Mario in Tetris & Dr. Mario
Dr. Mario's Vs. Computer options
See also: Dr. Mario (game)#Gameplay

Dr. Mario mode features slight differences from the original NES game. In addition to the updated graphics, the game also has improved music and a Vs. Computer mode.

The Vs. Computer mode gives the player the option to fight against the blue, yellow, or red virus. The blue virus represents an easy computer, while the yellow and red viruses represent medium and hard respectively.

Mixed Match[edit]

Gameplay of Mixed Mode in Tetris & Dr. Mario
Gameplay of Mixed Match.

In this game's exclusive Mixed Match mode, players will play through three modes within a time limit, starting with Tetris's B-Mode where a specified number of lines must be cleared, followed by Dr. Mario where all the available viruses must be eliminated, and finally ending with Tetris's A-Mode which is endless. Unlike the individual Tetris and Dr. Mario modes, there is no single player version, and it can only be played with two players where there is no option to play against a computer player. Within this mode, players cannot disrupt their opponents as a result of clearing multiple lines with a single piece. If the player loses one of the modes as a result of filling up one the middle columns, the progress within that mode will be reset and the score for it is also reset to zero. The player who scores the highest total amount of points across the three modes is the winner, but if both players scored the same total amount of points, the result is a draw.

There are two options for Mixed Match: Game Start and Options. The former allows the player to choose the Handicap, Play Time (3, 5, or 7 minutes), and Music (three different music themes, plus an option to turn it off). For this game's handicap in Game Start, the settings for all three modes are as follows:

Handicap Tetris-B Dr. Mario Tetris-A
Easy
  • Level: 3
  • Height: 1 (3 lines)
  • Clear Lines: 10 lines
  • Virus Level: 2 (12 viruses)
  • Speed: Low
Level: 3
Medium
  • Level: 5
  • Height: 3 (8 lines)
  • Clear Lines: 15 lines
  • Virus Level: 4 (20 viruses)
  • Speed: Med
Level: 5
Hard
  • Level: 7
  • Height: 5 (12 lines)
  • Clear Lines: 20 lines
  • Virus Level: 6 (28 viruses)
  • Speed: Hi
Level: 7

Selecting Options allow the player to configure the settings for both players individually, although changing the music will require going to Game Start to do so, just by highlighting the desired music option. The settings include the following and their respective limits:

  • Tetris-B
    • Level: 0 - 10
    • Height: 0 - 5 (starts with 0, 3, 5, 8, 10, and 12 lines respectively)
    • Clear Lines: 1 - 30
  • Dr. Mario
    • Virus Level: 0 - 20 (starts with 4 viruses at level 0, increased by 4 more viruses per extra level)
    • Speed: Low / Med / Hi
  • Tetris-A
    • Level: 0 - 10
  • Play Time: 1 - 30 (minutes)

Controls[edit]

  • +Control Pad (left/right): Move falling tetromino/capsule
  • +Control Pad (down): Drop tetromino or capsule
  • A Button: Flip falling tetromino/capsule clockwise
  • B Button: Flip falling tetromino/capsule counter-clockwise
  • Start Button: Start and Pause the game
  • Select Button: During Tetris, toggle the "NEXT" block display on or off

X Button, Y Button, L Button, and R Button are unused, but in the dummied out options menu, there is a Controller Setup menu that allowed for setting up a function for those buttons.[2]

Characters[edit]

  • Dr. Mario (Playable)
  • Fever (Enemy & Opponent in Vs. Computer mode)
  • Chill (Enemy & Opponent in Vs. Computer mode)
  • Weird (Enemy & Opponent in Vs. Computer mode)

Gallery[edit]

Box art[edit]

Screenshots[edit]

Media[edit]

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Tetris & Dr. Mario media.
Audio.svg Main Title
File infoMedia:T&DM Main Title.oga
Audio.svg Game Select
File infoMedia:T&DM Game Select.oga
Audio.svg Mixed Match Music 1
File infoMedia:T&DM Mixed Match Music 1.oga
Help:MediaHaving trouble playing?

Staff[edit]

Main article: List of Tetris & Dr. Mario staff

References in later games[edit]

References[edit]