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NSO Dr. Mario 64 is a hidden gem.

Did you even know this game existed?

  • Yes! I even played it on N64.

    Votes: 8 36.4%

  • Sorta. I got a vague memory of it.

    Votes: 9 40.9%

  • Nope.

    Votes: 5 22.7%
  • Total voters
    22
Mer.Saloon

Mer.Saloon

Chain Chomp
Pronouns
He/Him
1600px-DM64_Cover.jpg

This game basically flew under everyone's radar seeing as it came out at the absolute end of the N64's lifespan and it took ages to ever be ported to Virtual console (never even came to Wii U VC). But I gotta say, wow it's actually a damn good version of Dr. Mario and probably has the biggest jump in quality between the versions.

Every version after this one incrementally adds new features that, IMO get in the way of the pure Dr. Mario experience. I know RX is pretty well beloved, but the stuff unique to that version of the game just doesn't really outshine what this version already brought to the table (Germ buster is a neato gimmick at best.) Meanwhile 64 basically has everything RX and upwards has with the excuse that it was the first version to implement things like 4 player vs., special modes like flash, while also having a WEIRD story mode. (And hey, with NSO we have online so now even that isn't holding this one back.)

Isn't it just weird how the story mode of this game is a gigantic ad for Wario Land 3? Aside from Mario himself, every single bad guy comes directly from that game. And it's doubly weird how this game is the origin of Metal Mario's vocal distortion?

Anyways, I'm not a salesman, but I've poured in a solid 40+ hours into this game that I never even knew existed until recently and just wanted to gush again.
 
I played through the story mode on this on NSO and found it surprisingly engaging, considering I’ve not paid much attention to Dr. Mario in the past.
 
Amishpriest said:
I played through the story mode on this on NSO and found it surprisingly engaging, considering I’ve not paid much attention to Dr. Mario in the past.
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It's pretty dang strict I'll say that. I don't normally do puzzle games so I was not ready for the hell I had to go through to unlock Metal Mario and Vampire Wario. It pushed my Dr. Mario skills to the max to have to beat the CPU all the way to Rudy without losing once.
 
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ReyVGM said:
OP, I think you mean "underappreciated gem" and not hidden because, c'mon, it's a Mario game :)
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It may be an exaggeration, but I don't think a lot of people even knew this game existed. This came out at the absolute end of the N64's life without a major marketing push at a bargain bin $30. It didn't even come out in Japan outside of a GCN collection with Panel De Pon.

And then it never was ported to any of the previous Virtual Console services. Just never ported until Nintendo Switch Online.

I certainly didn't know this game existed until NSO.
 
Stopdoor said:
I think one of the strangest things about it's the only Dr. Mario with a 4-player mode, they kind of regressed from that
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It's the only one with a proper story mode, which is essentially the VS. Mode with cutscenes, but still the idea is nice.

Online RX had a 4 player mode but you could only play Virus Buster (you point the Wiimote and drag the pills down.) So it's a pretty damning regression on that front.
 
I never really cared for the core mechanics of Dr. Mario, I vastly prefer basically any other vs puzzle game, and generally am pretty annoyed how much Nintendo pushed it in the past while ignoring all their other far superior properties, however this particular version somehow won me over with its charm and polish alone. I think I rented it when it first came out and had a great time playing against my siblings and got hooked on the single player content, I can't really put my finger on what exactly sets it apart.
 
Ripfeld89 said:
I never really cared for the core mechanics of Dr. Mario, I vastly prefer basically any other vs puzzle game, and generally am pretty annoyed how much Nintendo pushed it in the past while ignoring all their other far superior properties, however this particular version somehow won me over with its charm and polish alone. I think I rented it when it first came out and had a great time playing against my siblings and got hooked on the single player content, I can't really put my finger on what exactly sets it apart.
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Maybe it's because this version focuses on the multiplayer aspect over the classic "clear the board" style of the original Dr. Mario. Dr. Mario is a surprisingly tense versus game, when you're trying to either clear first or knock out your foe with trash something akin to Puyo Puyo but just less tense you know?

And it's definitely the weirdest Dr. Mario game with the most amount of visual variety outside of the stale "Dr. office" aesthetic they have going in every game outside of the mobile game. Though in this case the aesthetic is... "Wario Land 3." Which is triple weird to me.
 
My SO is a Dr. Mario superfan but hasn't played this one yet so I'm thankful for the recommendation and I will definitely pass it along! Glad to hear this is a under-appreciated entry. Speaking of which, there is one other Dr. Mario game with a meaningful story mode, namely Dr. Mario World. My spouse would want me to tell you all that this is the secret best Dr. Mario game, woefully under-appreciated and packed with endless handcrafted puzzle levels with an incredible variety of gimmicks. We both really hope it gets re-released one day. (also, there are Nabbit levels and they're really tough and thrilling.)
 
Nabbit said:
My SO is a Dr. Mario superfan but hasn't played this one yet so I'm thankful for the recommendation and I will definitely pass it along! Glad to hear this is a under-appreciated entry. Speaking of which, there is one other Dr. Mario game with a meaningful story mode, namely Dr. Mario World. My spouse would want me to tell you all that this is the secret best Dr. Mario game, woefully under-appreciated and packed with endless handcrafted puzzle levels with an incredible variety of gimmicks. We both really hope it gets re-released one day. (also, there are Nabbit levels and they're really tough and thrilling.)
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It is a crying shame and a wasted opportunity what happened with World. A puzzle game trapped on mobile and shut down in less than 2 years.
 
Mer.Saloon said:
It is a crying shame and a wasted opportunity what happened with World. A puzzle game trapped on mobile and shut down in less than 2 years.
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It really is unfortunate. Over thousand individually and thoughtfully designed puzzles from devs who really put so much of the Mario franchise into the game with deep care.
 
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Sees a Dr. Mario topic, felt needed to respond

Going through most Dr. Mario made me appreciate certain games over others. But I have to say that Dr. Mario 64 represented a time when Dr. Mario was still seen as a big puzzle game and gets treated like one, because this is the last time a Dr. Mario game properly gets a suite of new features. Things like a Story Mode, 4-player competitive, and new tunes! Most games didn't move the needle a lot, being content with minimal improvements and scaling down (so much that it's digital only).

One Dr. Mario game that I thought would be a solid entry was Dr. Mario Miracle Cure. On the surface it seems like it would be a solid package. Things like: having pre-designed stages! New Miracle Cure to clear stuff! But it felt gutted in some ways. For some reason that game can't let you select the music, or worse: limited levels (e.g.: In Classic, you can't move past level 20, and level 1 is the min level when 0 is normally the lowest level). So yeah, Miracle Cure is solid but it's far from the most definitive entry, meaning that Dr. Mario 64 still reigns over it.

I also find it funny how Dr. Mario 64 is also kind of a Wario Land 3 spinoff too, so it's the spinoff for both Wario Land and Dr. Mario. I wonder if they did this because not only was Wario Land 3 brand-new, but also Dr. Mario needed something to create a story out of and they decided on Wario for some reason. Sensibly the Super Mario series would make more sense to make a story out of, but nope, it's Wario Land that gets spotlighted.

--------------

Oh yeah, I see the praise of Dr. Mario World, and I can't help but agree with it. What is unusual about that game is, because of how conservative Dr. Mario is, Dr. Mario World ended up being so revolutionary in a way that neither Super Mario Run or Mario Kart Tour are from their respective Mario spinoffs. What I mean is that for both of those games, their respective series iterate the games so the innovations are natural (e.g.: Mario Kart Tour has gliding, a feature introduced in Mario Kart 7). So playing those entries is like an extension of the familiar gameplay of the original series.

Dr. Mario World, on the other hand, introduced so much new stuff it feels unreal. For one, it is the first one to introduce the entire Mario cast so Mario (and Luigi) aren't the only ones being doctors. And then it also has a variety of elements that would not be out of place for how Super Mario added new elements to make the game more interesting (like bombs and shells, which are things that Dr. Mario World also have). I daresay that its VS is the highlight. There is a character balance in that mode, and it's also fast paced in a way that traditional Dr. Mario VS is not (it's generally kind of slow).

I also wish that Dr. Mario World would return in some form, but if it can't, at least carry over the positives from that game, like the selection of playable familiar Mario characters, new viruses colours, and the extra elements introduced in World.

Thank you for reading.
 
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