Dr. Mario

Among Mario's various personas, Dr. Mario is perhaps his most important alter ego. Trading in his plumber's overalls for a doctor's lab coat, Dr. Mario is a force to be reckoned with in the medical community. Just as Mario assumes the role of the good doctor, Princess Peach assumes the role of the attentive nurse.

Day and night, Dr. Mario works hard in his laboratory developing cures to the new Viruses that have appeared throughout the years. The good doctor has developed special Megavitamins to destroy these Viruses and cure the sick. Dr. Mario's work has provided incredible health benefits to the people of Mushroom World. However, one cure has constantly eluded him - the cure for the common cold.

Dr. Mario
The very first game that featured Dr. Mario was indeed entitled Dr. Mario, and was on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game introduced the typical gameplay of Dr. Mario games, where the player simply controlled the Megavitamins to land on the Viruses. If Dr. Mario stacked three halves of Megavitamins (at least) on a Virus that was the same color as it, it would be terminated. As such, yellow Viruses were eliminated with yellow Megavitamins, red Viruses were eliminated with red Megavitamins, and blue Viruses were eliminated with blue Megavitamins. Once all Viruses were destroyed, Dr. Mario would move on to the next level.

The classic gameplay of the game was carried on in each of the next Dr. Mario games.

Dr. Mario Vs.
As the name may imply, Dr. Mario Vs. was a game that was made for Vs. matches of Dr. Mario's Virus-busting. It was on the Nintendo Vs. System. The gameplay was the same as the original, with minimal differences.

Dr. Mario 64
Obviously, Dr. Mario 64 was on the Nintendo 64. It was the first game in the Dr. Mario series to feature a storyline. In it, 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. As it turns out, Rudy was sick and Scienstein was ordered to get the magical healing pills.

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 Virus Buster
Though not an actual game, Dr. Mario Virus Buster is to be released as WiiWare (and therefore will be featured on the Wii). Alongside the doctor to bust Viruses are Miis - players can choose to play as any Mii on their Mii Channel. The game will feature Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing Vs. matches to take place around the world.

Not much else is known about the game, at the moment.

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 the exact 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 shockingly a hidden playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is unlocked by beating Classic mode with Mario, without losing any lives, and then beating Dr. Mario. Although dressed differently, Dr. Mario fights exactly like his normal self, Mario, making him a clone character. However, instead of fireballs, Dr. Mario shoots Megavitamins at his opponents, and his regular yellow cape is replaced by his doctor's cloak. Dr. Mario is slower than his red counterpart, but he is more powerful. This more than makes up for his lack of good running and jumping skills.

Classic
''Immaculate in his medical garb, Dr. Mario destroys killer viruses with his amazing vitamin capsules. With his dedicated nurse, Princess Peach, at his side, Dr. Mario spends day and night in his laboratory working on new miracle cures. Somehow he's managed to keep up with all the new viruses that have arisen over the years.''

Adventure
''There's hardly any difference in the abilities of Mario and Dr. Mario, so choosing is largely a matter of taste. Dr. Mario is a tad slower due to his lack of exercise, but his Megavitamins pack a bit more punch than Mario's Fireballs. The capsules travel on a unique trajectory and make a distinct sound on impact.''

All-Star
''The differences between Dr. Mario and Mario are more pronounced in some areas than others, but basically they can be played in a similar fashion. While it may be hard to spot the contrasts, they do exist. For example, Dr. Mario's Super Sheet is longer and narrower than Mario's cape, and any opponents hit by Dr. Tornado will fly off in diverse directions.''

Other Appearances
Ironically, 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".

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

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.

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.

In the Nintendo Monopoly, Dr. Mario only makes a small cameo in one of the ? Block Cards.

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