Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario is an alter ego of Mario, appearing in a series of his own. In this persona, Mario dons a lab coat, a head mirror and a stethoscope around the neck. He first appeared in Dr. Mario, and the Dr. Mario series has expanded to new consoles and handhelds by Nintendo. Dr. Mario has additionally appeared as an unlockable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Princess Peach herself, becomes a character similar to Dr. Mario known as Nurse Toadstool also appearing in some of the games (or mentioned). As mentioned in the manual, Dr. Mario and Nurse Toadstool work at the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital.

Dr. Mario
Dr. Mario marked his first appearance in a game with the same name, Dr. Mario. It was released in 1990 on the NES. The game set a basis to future Dr. Mario games, where the player controls Megavitamins to land on Viruses. By stacking three or more halves of Megavitamins on a virus of the same color, the Virus would disappear. As such, yellow Viruses were eliminated with yellow Megavitamins, red Viruses were eliminated with red Megavitamins, and blue Viruses were eliminated with blue Megavitamins. The objective was to remove all viruses on the screen, and when that was completed, the player could advance to the next level.

Vs. Dr. Mario
Dr. Mario Vs. was a game that was made for Vs. matches of Dr. Mario, released for the Nintendo Vs. System. Dr. Mario's role in the game remained the same, as the game had little difference from its predecessor.

Dr. Mario 64
Dr. Mario 64 was the third installment of the Dr. Mario series, released on the Nintendo 64. It was the first game of the series to include a storyline. In the plot, Mad Scienstein robs Dr. Mario of his Megavitamins and brings them to his master, Rudy the Clown. Dr. Mario, as well as Wario, who wants to sell the Megavitamins for money, set off to defeat the two. In the end, it is revealed that Rudy was actually sick and Scienstein was ordered to retrieve the magical healing pills from Dr. Mario.

Story Mode of Dr. Mario 64 would pit Dr. Mario (or Wario) against various villains in Vs. matches of Virus busting. It also featured the original game, known as Classic Mode.

Dr. Mario Online Rx
Dr. Mario Online Rx is a WiiWare game that was made available for download on the Wii Shop Channel. Players could control not only Dr. Mario but Miis as well – players can choose to play as any Mii from their Mii Channel stored in their Wii. The game featured Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing vs. matches to take place around the world.

Dr. Mario Express
Dr. Mario Express, known as A Little Bit of... Dr. Mario in PAL regions was released on DSiWare for the Nintendo DSi for 500 DSi points. This game has the same design as Dr. Mario Online Rx, but unlike the Wii version, it does not offer a multiplayer mode or feature the "Virus Buster" mini-game. 3-D objects are cel-shaded in this game.

Remakes & Compilations
Many of Dr. Mario's games have been remade or featured in compilations of puzzle games.

Classic NES Series: Dr. Mario
One of many NES games that were remade for the Classic NES Series on the Game Boy Advance. The game had exactly the same gameplay as the original Dr. Mario, meaning that, of course, Dr. Mario himself appeared.

Nintendo Puzzle Collection
Featured on the Nintendo GameCube and only released in Japan. This game featured many different past Nintendo puzzle games (such as Tetris and Yoshi's Cookie), and Dr. Mario 64 was only one of them.

Dr. Mario & Puzzle League
For the Game Boy Advance, this game featured Dr. Mario alongside an unrelated game, Puzzle League.

Super Smash Bros. series


Dr. Mario is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is unlocked by beating Classic or Adventure mode with Mario, without losing any lives, and then beating Dr. Mario. Most of his attacks and moves are nearly identical to his standard self, Mario. However, instead of fireballs, Dr. Mario shoots Megavitamins at his opponents, his smash attack uses electricity instead of fire, and his regular yellow cape is replaced by his doctor's cloak. Dr. Mario is slower in ground than his red counterpart is, but faster in the air, and more powerful than he is. This more than makes up for his lack of good running and jumping skills. He was removed in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but via hacking, data for Dr. Mario can be found in Brawl, confirming that he was supposed to have another role in the game. Dr. Mario's Super Smash Bros. Melee theme can be one of the songs that play in the PictoChat and custom stages, however. He also has a Sticker after him.

Megavitamins
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Dr. Mario's neutral B attack makes him shoot Megavitamins. They act the same as Mario's Fireball move, except that the Megavitamins are more powerful (they do 8% instead of 5%). In fact, they are one of the strongest fast-moving projectile in the game. They also bounce in a different path, and make the Dr. Mario sound effects when they bounce (colour line cleared) and hit (virus defeated). There's also a trophy of Dr. Mario shooting Megavitamins and one of the vitamins themselves. Kirby is also able to use the Megavitamins if he copies Dr. Mario's powers.

Super Sheet
Super Sheet is a move used by Dr. Mario in the game Super Smash Bros. Melee. It is executed by pressing Side + B. The attack is almost the same as Mario's Cape attack, except that Super Sheet is longer, but narrower, and does more damage. It is actually one of Dr. Mario's doctor cloaks. Like the Cape, it can change the directions of projectile-based attacks, and can also change the position the foe is facing. The Super Sheet will usually do around 10% of damage. The attack can also be used to shift the direction of a player who is trying to get back on the field. In this case, they will be turned around, and will instead jump back on air, rather than jump on the field.

Super Jump Punch
The Super Jump Punch is a jumping move Mario, Luigi, and Dr. Mario can perform in the Super Smash Bros. series. It is executed by pressing B + Up. When Dr. Mario performs the attack, coins fly out of the enemy, and the foe receives about 10% damage. Dr. Mario's version of the attack is exactly the same as Mario's, but it's more powerful. Also, the sound effect is different than the usual sound made when Mario grabs a coin.

Dr. Tornado
Dr. Tornado is Dr. Mario's down special attack in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The attack is executed by pressing Down + B. Dr. Tornado has the same effect as the Mario Tornado, except that it is a little stronger. The special attack traps the victim into a tornado, punches them constantly, and then smashes them up into the air when the move is done. The attack can also very lightly pull someone near into the Tornado. Unlike Mario Tornado, Dr. Tornado throws them in a random direction, rather than straight up. Dr. Mario is able to hover in the air when using this attack, by tapping rapidly the B Button while using it.

Other Appearances
Dr. Mario also appears in Nintendo Comics System's adaptation of Dr. Mario, which was entitled "The Doctor Is In... Over His Head".

Also, in the Super Mario World TV show episode "King Scoopa Koopa", Mario finishes off his healthy-eating request to a group of cavepeople with the line "Dr. Mario's orders!". Dr. Mario was given a similar reference in Paper Mario when the thankful Whale told Mario that he should be addressed by the title of "Dr. Mario" after Mario and his partners expelled the Fuzzipede from the Whale's body, thus ending his stomachache.

Dr. Mario also appears in the German Club Nintendo comic "Süße Weihnachten" where he helps Bowser who suffers from stomachache.

Trivia

 * Before even the first version of Dr. Mario was released, Mario and Luigi referred to each other as "Dr. Mario" and "Dr. Luigi" at one point on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, during the live-action segment "Defective Gadgetry".
 * One part of the Super Mario Adventures comic has Mario dressing up as a doctor. However, in this case, Mario is pretending to be psychiatrist instead of actually becoming a medical physician.
 * In the Nintendo Monopoly, Dr. Mario is seen in one of the ? Block Cards, "Receive for medical services $25".