Dr. Mario 64 is a puzzle game for the N64 and is a remake of the first game in the series. Sadly, this isn’t the 64th entry in the series; it just has that stupid naming convention that Nintendo added to a bunch of their games. The game was released in North America in 2001, which was pretty late in the N64’s life cycle.
There is one thing that really interested me when I looked up some information on this game. It was released on the iQue Player in China in 2003. This weird little console was a workaround for Nintendo to get around the laws in China at the time.
This game has more going for it than I was expecting. It is a basic puzzle game, but it has some features that help it stand out. It is also an easy game, to the point that playing it on easy is too simple. At least that was my experience with the game.
TLDR: A fun and good looking puzzle game on the N64.
Narrative
If you were expecting the same story from the NES game, then you’d be freaking wrong! Nintendo didn’t just rehash the same tired story of Mario becoming an expert in virus research and then unleashing a super plague on the Mushroom Kingdom. Oh no, now he’s invented a magical wonder drug that can cure the flu, and Wario wants it because.
You can play as either Mario or Wario. They have some pretty understandable motives, with Mario wanting to help people so he can get Princess Peach in bed, and Wario wanting to sell the drug so he can get rich. There is a twist!
We also have Mad Scienstein! Don’t remember him? Well, that’s because I’m pretty sure this is the only time he’s shown up. His motives are a mystery until you play through the story mode.
This story is in the game’s manual (Link). It is only a few sentences, but it does set things up and leaves the reader with a mystery. I like the way this is done.
This is way more story than I was expecting from Dr. Mario 64. While this is called a remake or an enhanced version, I don’t think that really fits. This is a different and more elaborate story than the NES title. It isn’t an amazing story, but it is a fun one.
Gameplay
Dr. Mario 64 has pretty much the same gameplay as the NES game. There isn’t too much to say about the core gameplay. This is a match-four game that is based on colors. Get four red, blue, or yellow things, and they disappear.
The controls are good for what they are. You only need two buttons for this game. One rotates them one way, and the other rotates them in the opposite direction. There really isn’t much else that you can do. Dr. Mario 64 is a simple game and has decent controls for what it is.
There are quite a few game modes, which is a step up from the other puzzle games I’ve played. On top of the single player, two player mode, and multiplayer, there are other options:
- Classic
- Story
- Vs Computer
- Flash
- Marathon
- Score Attack
There are three difficulty settings, choose a starting point, and you can control the game’s speed. These are pretty standard when it comes to puzzle games. Most of the features were the same from game to game throughout the mid 1990s and early 2000s.
Dr. Mario 64’s gameplay isn’t anything to write home about. It is cool that a game like this exists, but there isn’t much to it. In most of the modes, you’re doing the same thing. This game has enough content to make up for how repetitive these games are.
Visuals
Dr. Mario looks pretty good. There isn’t much to this game from a graphical standpoint, but everything is easy to see. I like the cutscenes, how colorful the game is, and the different characters in the game.
The cutscenes, which are a thing in the story mode, look like a discount Paper Mario. I kind of like them because of how cheap they look. It is a fun way of doing things and getting around some of the technical limitations of the console.
Much like the NES game, this is a bright and colorful game. It still relies on you not being colorblind, which isn’t really something they cared about back then. What would’ve been fun is if Nintendo had added a fourth color. It is still easy to see what is going on.
There are some new characters in this game. Just like other Nintendo games, they’re very cartoonish. A part of me wonders how many of them have been reused in other Mario games. Everything here feels like it belongs in a Mario game.
The graphics are pretty good overall. It’s a bright and colorful game, and the characters are fun. The playfield is easy to see, and I like how it speeds up as you get further in the game. There is nothing wrong with the graphics, and they don’t get in the way of the gameplay.
Reviews for Dr. Mario 64 at the Time
Dr. Mario 64 received above-average reviews from most of the publications I looked at. The scores for this were between a 4.3/10 and an 8/10. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo Power gave this game the highest score.
GameSpot gave Dr. Mario a 7/10. They compared it to The New Tetris and said it wasn’t as “enduring” as that game. The reviewer added that Dr. Mario 64 is a “satisfying puzzle game.”
IGN gave the game a 5/10. The reviewer didn’t like this game much and saw “little reason not to go back and play the SNES version.” I think he’s assuming that people knew there was an SNES version of the game. He also criticized the graphics. They finally recommended other puzzle games to play instead of this one.
N64 Magazine gave the game a 43/100. They hated this! The reviewer said Dr. Mario is a “below-par puzzler that should never have made it into the 21st century.” They continue by saying it is “dull, rushed, and completely without merit.” If that wasn’t enough, they called the game an “insult.”
This is close to what I was expecting to see, with the exception of what N64 Magazine had to say. I seem to remember not thinking much of their other reviews, but I could be confusing them with another UK publication. It is odd how some reviewers write like they’re being forced to review a game in a genre that they don’t like.
8/10. Dr. Mario 64 is one of the better puzzle games that I’ve played recently. I was really digging the story, and the gameplay is very good. There is a charm to the cutscenes that I really enjoyed.
Pros
- Fun Story
- Good Graphics
- Solid controls
- Lots of Game Modes
Cons
- A little repetitive
- Maybe too easy
Conclusion
Dr. Mario 64 is one of those games that could’ve been a cash grab. It was sold at a budget price, and I think it has enough to it to make it a solid game. It had a lot of the same features that I enjoyed from puzzle games in the mid 1990s.
While there isn’t too much to this game, it is a lot of fun for what it is. I didn’t play the four player mode, but that would’ve been fun. This was a late release for the N64, so it probably got ignored by most people. The review scores were a little shocking when it came to the lower end, and most were pretty spot on.
This wasn’t the last time that Nintendo would bring back Dr. Mario. It is a fun idea, and I wish this version of Mario had done more things besides puzzle games. Having a Nintendo version of Theme Hospital, or Two Point Hospital, would be really cool!
Some of these puzzle games are more fun than others. It is also fun to see what each of them is based on. Nintendo did a good job of coming up with a fun concept like Dr. Mario and giving a bonkers reason for it to exist. It felt like another odd twist in Mario’s lengthy list of cameos and platformers.
If you like this post, check out some of my others on N64 games. Such as NFL Blitz 2000 or NBA ShowTime.