Company: Nintendo

Year: 1990

Type: Puzzle

Number Of Players: 1-2 simultaneous

Story: MY NAME IS DR. MARIO
Hi everybody! I'm Mario. How's it going? Over the last few years, I've been involved in some pretty wild adventures. Now, believe it or not, I work in the virus research lab at the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital. Today I'm about to begin my research as usual.

"Dr. Mario, something terrible has happened!"
"What's wrong, nurse Toadstool?"
"One of the experiments has gone out of control. The viruses are spreading quickly!"
"Oh no! We've got to do something! I have just developed a new vitamin that should be able to take care of it. I sure hope this stuff works!"

My take on the story; you play the highly profitable dollar-making Mario character, in a very lame DR-based story specifically made to cash in on him some more, even though that sounds negative, my cousins, [who introduced me to this game and the first puzzle game I ever played], would probably not have got it without Mario in it, so good thinking Nintendo.

Hmm, looking at the story it says..."One of the experiments has gone out of control. The viruses are spreading quickly!", what's with this?! Has Toad gone mad?! Did the princess authorize the creation of deadly germs? Is this a bio-weapon to use against the Koopa clan?! Why didn't they use it?! Could the Princess still be charged with war-crimes?! Could this threat contaminate the Earth again?!?! Can the C.D.C. protect use from it?!?!?!?!?!?!!??!!?!

We may never know.

It is a pretty well thought out NES puzzle game, it has a tone of options with a easy interface, you can change darn near everything, music, sound, speed. players, only thing missing, which is not needed is a option to change the control layout, but its already simple and easy enough to play so that option is not really needed, combine that with addictive-as-Tetris puzzle playing and you got yourself a darn good game.

Play Control: A

Doesn't handle much better than this, which is a must for precision puzzle games.

Graphics: B+

Gets a little simple on the graphic area, but that's good, it doesn't need to be detailed, like the viruses, you know basically what they should look like, they don't need to be crystal clear, what graphics they do have, mainly the game screen layout,[no background needed for this game], is well drawn.

Sound: -B Not much for sound, just the occasional blip and bloop, but this has the best effects out of all the puzzle games I've played

Music: A

Even though you are limited to two music styles in the game, both are real good, between alternating with other games in your collection, you'll enjoy this one for years.

Theme and Fun: A+

Excellent, well thought out NES game with a lot of fun, grab a friend [or enemy] for most of your enjoyment in the two-player mode.

Frustration: B- Even though its a cool NES game it has its problems, like the speed does get too fast, [yeap I played the hard mode several times and am disappointed with my performance], and the stages in the latter area get way to thick, it is usually by chance only that you can beat it when its filled to the top.

Repetition: B+

Gets real repetitive after a while, especially if you play it a lot like I did when I first got it, but it passes if you let yourself cool down with another NES game, check out Jackal.

Replay Value: A

Yeap, this game, although boring at times, still has that kick more than ten years after it was released, get it for a long lasting NES game.

Final Pluses: Hmm, what isn't good about this game?! email me if you know because I'm having trouble finding it.

Final Minuses: Hardly any flaws in this game, actually the one I thought of years ago hasn't come up for a while, so this is pretty blank.

Changes: None, why mess with near perfection?!

Overall: A Final Note: Get this game. If you don't have it already, you'll regret missing it the last ten years.

And a last note sent to me from Toad, he said: "BEWARE THE GERMS, BEWARE, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Value; get it loose for around $3-4, for it complete would be around $8 and don't forget the bio-suit.