Fever

"Fever" is a musical theme composed by Hirokazu Tanaka for the 1990 game Dr. Mario. It has since made an appearance in every Dr. Mario game to date (not counting the Gamewatch Boy version). In the original Dr. Mario, it is one of the two selectable themes, with the other being "Chill." Compared to "Chill," "Fever" is more upbeat and fast-paced.

Composition
In composing "Fever," Tanaka's aim was to heighten the various feelings players experience while playing a game, such as confidence and anxiety, by incorporating different elements into the music, creating a song consisting of "'fun' parts and 'looming dread'-type parts." He also intended "Fever" to be "different" and "unusual" as games began to evolve and the industry began to see "really serious" composers. Tanaka describes the melody of "Fever" as "cute" to reflect the game's tone.

Reuses

 * Dr. Luigi: "Fever" plays in the Retro Remedy game mode.

Dr. Mario (Game Boy)
In Dr. Mario for the Game Boy, a new section was added before the track loops. This addition is present in the arrangements of "Fever" from Tetris & Dr. Mario, Dr. Mario 64, Dr. Mario & Puzzle League, and Dr. Mario World.

Tetris & Dr. Mario
In Tetris & Dr. Mario, the arrangement is given quirky instrumentation.

Dr Mario 64
In Dr. Mario 64, "Fever" can play in all modes except for in the Story mode. This arrangement is reused in Nintendo Puzzle Collection.

Dr. Mario & Puzzle League
In Dr. Mario & Puzzle League, the arrangement of "Fever" omits the theme's second half as well as the "" in the first half. The percussion rhythm in the beginning of the track is similar to the one in "Chill".

Dr. Mario Online Rx
In Dr. Mario Online Rx, the arrangement is reminiscent of the one from Dr Mario 64. This arrangement is later reused in Dr. Mario Express, Dr. Luigi, and Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure. The Virus Buster arrangement is less faithful to the original, featuring a longer build-up and different melodic rhythm.

Dr. Mario World
In the Virus Vid video series promoting Dr. Mario World, another arrangement of "Fever" is used as the background music. In July 6's episode, the first eight bars were given English and Japanese lyrics, with the viruses performing. The viruses previously devised lyrics for the song in July 2's episode. Although the European-language closed captioning featured in July 2's episode translates the devised lyrics, the closed captioning in July 6's episode instead advertises Dr. Mario World's connectivity with Facebook and LINE.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
"Fever" makes an appearance in the form of an arrangement in Super Smash Bros. Melee as the alternate song for both Mushroom Kingdom and Mushroom Kingdom II, simply titled "Dr. Mario" and arranged by HAL Laboratory composer Shogo Sakai. It reappears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a selectable song for the PictoChat stage (titled "Dr. Mario (Melee)"), Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS for PictoChat 2, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U for Flat Zone X, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for every Mario-series stage (now under the original theme's title, "Fever"). An orchestrated arrangement is also featured in the soundtrack Super Smash Bros. Melee: Smashing...Live!

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
A techno arrangement of "Fever" is used for the stage "Deep Freeze" in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, part of "Fever" plays when two or more viruses are defeated by matching their colors.

Other arrangements
A much calmer and slower-paced arrangement plays in the hidden Virus Buster minigame in  According to the game's host Dr. Kawashima, the music is intended to enhance the relaxation aspect of the minigame. This arrangement returns in the mode of the same name in Dr. Luigi and Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure. A new arrangement plays in the same minigame in .

Virus Vid version lyrics
Lyrics sung by red, gold, and dodgerblue are colored in their corresponding colors, while lyrics sung by all three are colored black.

English
 red red dodgerblue don't give up - hey! gold gold red sing all day! 

English
 red gold 