Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario
North American NES box art
Developer(s)Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Producer(s)Gunpei Yokoi
Designer(s)Takahiro Harada
Composer(s)Hirokazu Tanaka
SeriesDr. Mario
Platform(s)NES, Arcade, Game Boy, Super Famicom (Satellaview, Nintendo Power), Game Boy Advance
Release
July 27, 1990
  • Game Boy
    • JP: July 27, 1990
    • NA: October 1990
    • EU: April 30, 1991
    NES
    • JP: July 27, 1990
    • NA: October 1990
    • PAL: June 27, 1991
    Arcade
    • NA: August 1990
    Super Famicom
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNintendo VS. System, PlayChoice-10

Dr. Mario is a 1990 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and designed by Takahiro Harada. The soundtrack was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka.

It is a falling block puzzle game, in which the player's objective is to destroy the viruses populating the on-screen playing field by using colored vitamin capsules that are automatically tossed into the field by Dr. Mario. The player manipulates the falling capsules, to align the same colors, which destroys viruses. The player progresses through the game by eliminating all the viruses on the screen in each level.

Dr. Mario was a commercial success, with more than 10 million copies sold worldwide across all platforms. It received generally positive reviews, appearing on several lists of "Best Nintendo Games of All Time". It has been ported, remade, or had a sequel on every Nintendo home console since the NES, and on most portable consoles, including a re-release in 2004 on the Game Boy Advance in the Classic NES Series. It was modified into minigames in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!, Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!, and Brain Age: Concentration Training. Dr. Luigi is a spin-off for Wii U, released on December 31, 2013, as part of the Year of Luigi celebration.