Tetris & Dr. Mario

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Tetris & Dr. Mario
Tetris & Dr. Mario box art
Developer Nintendo R&D 1
Publisher Nintendo
Platform(s) SNES
Release date USA December 30, 1994[?]
South Korea 1994[1]
Europe July 25, 1995[2]
Player's Choice:
USA September 1, 1997[3]
Language(s) English (United States)
Genre Puzzle
Rating(s)
ESRB:K-A - Kids to Adults
ACB:G - General
Mode(s) 1–2 players
Format
Super NES:
Game Pak
Input
Super NES:
Serial code(s) USA SNS-ATFE-USA

Tetris & Dr. Mario is a compilation game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. It contains enhanced remakes of Tetris and Dr. Mario. Additionally, it includes a "Mixed Match" mode that transitions between the two games as the players progress, beginning at Tetris's B-Type mode before switching to Dr. Mario, then Tetris's A-Type mode and so on. The game also earned a Player's Choice label.

The game's remake of Dr. Mario was later released on the Satellaview as Dr. Mario BS Version 「Dr.マリオBS版」 and was broadcast between March 1997 and June 2000, as well as on the Nintendo Power cartridge format and on the Super NES version of LodgeNet as simply Dr. Mario.

Gameplay[edit]

Tetris[edit]

Gameplay of Tetris Mode from Tetris & Dr. Mario.
Gameplay of Tetris mode

In Tetris mode, players must arrange various tetrominos across a board in order to create straight lines. Each tetromino falls from the top of the screen and must be assembled at the bottom. Once the player creates a line, that row disappears. The game is endless, so there is no specific way to "win." The player loses the game if a tetromino touches the top of the board. Tetris has an A-Mode, which gives the player an empty board to fill themselves, and a B-Mode, which gives the player a partially filled board that they must work around. B-Mode also gives the player the option to change the height of the board.

Tetris features the options of a one-player game, a two-player game, and a single-player mode where a computer is used as an opponent.

Dr. Mario[edit]

See also: Dr. Mario (game) § Gameplay

Dr. Mario mode features slight differences from original releases. Aside from enhanced graphics and music, the game also adds a Vs. Computer mode, which gives the player the option to fight against the blue, yellow, or red virus. The blue virus represents an easy computer, while the yellow and red viruses represent medium and hard, respectively.

Mixed Match[edit]

Gameplay of Mixed Mode in Tetris & Dr. Mario
Gameplay of Mixed Match. The first player advanced to the next level and is now playing Dr. Mario while the second player is still on the first stage playing Tetris.

In this game's exclusive Mixed Match mode, players play through three modes within a time limit, starting with Tetris's B-Mode where a specified number of lines must be cleared, followed by Dr. Mario where all the available viruses must be eliminated, and finally ending with Tetris's A-Mode, which is endless. Unlike in the individual Tetris and Dr. Mario modes, there is no single-player version, and it can be played with only two players where there is no option to play against a computer player. Within this mode, players cannot disrupt their opponents as a result of clearing multiple lines with a single piece. If the player loses one of the modes as a result of filling up one of the middle columns, the progress within that mode is reset and the score for it is also reset to zero. The player who scores the higher total number of points across the three modes is the winner, but if both players score the same total number of points, the result is a draw.

There are two options for Mixed Match: Game Start and Options. The former allows the player to choose the Handicap, Play Time (three, five, or seven minutes), and Music (three different music themes, plus an option to turn it off). For this game's handicap in Game Start, the settings for all three modes are as follows:

Handicap Tetris-B Dr. Mario Tetris-A
Easy
  • Level: 3
  • Height: 1 (3 lines)
  • Clear Lines: 10 lines
  • Virus Level: 2 (12 viruses)
  • Speed: Low
Level: 3
Medium
  • Level: 5
  • Height: 3 (8 lines)
  • Clear Lines: 15 lines
  • Virus Level: 4 (20 viruses)
  • Speed: Med
Level: 5
Hard
  • Level: 7
  • Height: 5 (12 lines)
  • Clear Lines: 20 lines
  • Virus Level: 6 (28 viruses)
  • Speed: Hi
Level: 7

Selecting Options allows the player to configure the settings for both players individually, although changing the music requires going to Game Start to do so, just by highlighting the desired music option. The settings include the following and their respective limits:

  • Tetris-B
    • Level: 0–10
    • Height: 0–5 (starts with 0, 3, 5, 8, 10, and 12 lines, respectively)
    • Clear Lines: 1–30
  • Dr. Mario
    • Virus Level: 0–20 (starts with four viruses at level 0, increased by four more viruses per extra level)
    • Speed: Low / Med / Hi
  • Tetris-A
    • Level: 0–10
  • Play Time: 1–30 (minutes)

Controls[edit]

  • +Control Pad (left/right): Move falling tetromino/capsule
  • +Control Pad (down): Drop tetromino or capsule
  • A Button: Flip falling tetromino/capsule clockwise
  • B Button: Flip falling tetromino/capsule counterclockwise
  • Start Button: Start/pause the game
  • Select Button: During Tetris, toggle the "NEXT" block display on or off

X Button, Y Button, L Button, and R Button are unused, but in the dummied out options menu, there is a Controller Setup menu that allowed for setting up a function for those buttons.[4]

Characters[edit]

  • Dr. Mario (playable)
  • Fever (enemy and opponent in Vs. Computer mode)
  • Chill (enemy and opponent in Vs. Computer mode)
  • Weird (enemy and opponent in Vs. Computer mode)

Gallery[edit]

Box art[edit]

Screenshots[edit]

Media[edit]

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Tetris & Dr. Mario media.
Help:MediaHaving trouble playing?

Staff[edit]

Main article: List of Tetris & Dr. Mario staff

References in later games[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning Notes
Italian Tetris e Dr. Mario[5] Tetris and Dr. Mario
Korean 테트리스 & 닥터 마리오[1] Tetris and Dr. Mario

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Dentifritz. Tetris & Dr. Mario (KR). Scanlines16.com (French). Retrieved June 6, 2024. (Archived June 6, 2024, 20:19:29 UTC via archive.today.)
  2. ^ Tetris & Dr. Mario. The Mushroom Kingdom. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  3. ^ Nintendo E3 1997 Press Kit. Nintendo of America (English). Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  4. ^ Tetris & Dr. Mario on TCRF
  5. ^ Tetris & Dr. Mario GIG's Italian manual cover