Developer: Nintendo R&D1 Publisher: Nintendo

Released: April 9, 2001 Rated: E 8/10

It’s very rare that a Nintendo product, particularly one released in such a distantly bygone era and coming from its main development house, can be described as “what it says on the tin.” Even more rare is the adage that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If there is a case of either of these on the N64 though, it’s probably Dr. Mario 64. A surprising late release that often seems to fly under the radar, Dr. Mario 64 is a pretty natural extension of the original Dr. Mario into the standards of the system’s other puzzle games, offering a wide smattering of expected gameplay modes, a light but inconsequential story mode, and most importantly, four-player multiplayer. All this based around the gameplay that was done right a decade earlier in one of Mario’s earliest gambits to dominate in every genre of gaming. 

Gunpei Yokoi and Takahiro Harada’s take on the falling block puzzler was an unsurprising smash hit on NES and, even more so, GameBoy when it released in 1990 and while it doesn’t have as much in common with Tetris as you might expect at first glance, it’s a similarly addicting experience once you start to understand the rules and some of its initial quirks. Matching up four blocks of the game’s three colors hits upon the mission statement of any good puzzle game, as it seems like the easiest thing in the world to do, until you start playing. Becoming your own worst enemy with last-second doubts or begging the game for the piece you need are the familiar experiences that lead to feeling like you just need one more chance to get it right and inevitably being unable to put the controller down. Though I don’t think I could ever choose Dr. Mario over Tetris or Pokémon Puzzle League personally, the fact that it presses so many of the same buttons is a clear testament to the quality of the base gameplay. 

And if you’ve played any of those other big releases in the puzzle genre around this time, you’ll probably know what’s on the menu in Dr. Mario 64. Marathon, score attack, head to head, and Dr. Mario’s classic single-screen puzzle mode. Though they’re not unique to Dr. Mario, the two most notable gameplay formats are the single player story and the four player multiplayer. The latter is welcome simply for it being the standard of the N64, adding another quality option to the party-friendly system. The former, though, probably isn’t exactly as exciting as it might sound, even if it does offer a finite start-to-finish experience. It’s quite reminiscent of the story in Magical Tetris Challenge, a largely inconsequential excuse to go up against a series of AI opponents. Though it certainly is fun to see not only a renewed rivalry between Mario and Wario, but the return of some Wario Land 3 characters that don’t have anything else on their resumes. 

As a puzzle game, there’s understandably not a ton going on visually for 90% of the game. The character sprites are nice. They have some decent little animations and the story cutscenes have some charm with a style that uses little papercraft cutout versions of the characters. Music is far more prevalent here, with some excellent renditions of the original Dr. Mario tracks included to make sure your long sessions are only a grind because of the gameplay. No grinding your teeth because the music is drilling into your brain, too. 

Dr. Mario 64 is exactly what you’d want from Dr. Mario, on your N64. It’s not hiding any big remix of the formula, but it’s not lacking for features either. Most importantly, there’s good music and four player competition to be had, so it has no trouble checking off the most important boxes for a puzzler on the N64. It hasn’t made a convert out of me personally for my preferred game in the genre, but has done a solid job of acquanting me with the series and seeing the appeal. 

Continuing Legacy

When Dr. Mario comes up, it’s usually kept simple with the original NES version or something closely resembling it, such as its many ports and inclusions in compilations (alongside Panel de Pon). Dr. Mario 64 is, however, available on the Nintendo Switch Online service. Unfortunately, as far as sequels and further evolutions of the formula, Dr. Mario has had multiple entries since this one, but only as digital releases. As a result, Dr. Luigi, Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure, Dr. Mario: Online Rx, and even the mobile-only Dr. Mario World are completely inaccessible, leaving the original format as the only surviving rendition of this gameplay, and not any of the evolutions or new game modes that made those titles so well-received. 

Additional Information

Saves: Cartridge

Compatible With: None

Players: 1-4

Print Guides: None

Aggregate Critical Reception (GameRankings): 70.03%, based on 10 reviews

Other Releases: NA Exclusive

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