Dr. Mario Online Rx Editor Review

Review: Dr. Mario Rx (Wiiware)



When you first get Dr. Mario Rx you think, "hopefully there is something new that I don't see in an average game." And there is! First off, there are two different types of gameplay. A mode with the Wii Remote held to the side and a mode with point and click methods. Both of these are great fun and I will explain both of them to you.

In the "Dr. Mario" mode, you have the option of playing by yourself, playing against a computer, against a second player, and even online!

For playing by yourself, the game is pretty simple. You set your level and speed at which you would like to play, and then your goal is to get rid of all the viruses. If you stack the pills all the way to the top, you lose. But if you eliminate all of the viruses, then you have completed that level. Then there are your scores. You can view your scores by going to "records" and it will have your single player scores for each speed in which you play the game (low, medium, and high) and the highest level that you have completed under that speed.

When playing against a computer it gets a bit more difficult. You are not only working hard to not stack the pills all the way to the top and to eliminate all of the viruses, you are also having to eliminate the viruses faster then your opponent! This mode also allows you to select you and your opponent's speed and level. This mode is found under the "1 Player" option, as the type of game you want to play.

For "2 Player" mode, you play the game similar to when you play against a computer, but with a little twist. This person is actually real! The variation of playing against a real person is interesting, because that person may be bad at the game, or really good, so it's a really fun multiplayer mode to play when you are just hanging out with one of your friends.

Now it's time that we talk about the online mode. In the online mode you have two different options. You can either add your friends' friend codes and play them, or you can play a random gamer. Playing a random gamer is a pretty cool option, because it really shakes up how you play. Now, you completely have no idea who you are playing, whether they are good or bad, and you only can somewhat tell how good they are from their online score. Your online score works like so:

Every time you win a battle, you get points. Every time you lose a battle, you lose some points. Very similar to Mario Kart Wii's point system, actually. Also, you are allowed to send a demo of the online mode to a friend from this option.

Now to wrap up my discussion on this mode, you have different options of what games you can play for some of the selections.

Classic: In this game, you play a regular game of Dr. Mario where your goal is to eliminate the viruses as fast as you can.

Flash: In this game, your goal rather than to eliminate the viruses, is to eliminate the flashing viruses as quickly as possible. This makes the game a bit more interesting because there are usually less flashing ones than the Classic Mode would have regular viruses. In this mode you have an option of choosing your difficulty level (easy, medium, or hard, rather than the usual 1-20) and choosing your speed (easy, medium, or hard).

Now we move on to the point and click style mode, known as "Virus Buster." In this game mode you can select your level (1-20) and speed (easy, medium, or hard) and play with up to four players! The way that this game works is that you have a bit of a larger screen than in other modes and the pills are a bit bigger. Basically, you all have to move the pills to eliminate the viruses as fast as you can. It is a pretty fun and interesting mode, because you aren't really competing against each other, you are working together. So it really adds a cool co-op style to the game!

Though this may or may not seem like that much in a game, it still is a lot of fun. Rather than having to play this game for 30 minutes like some games make you play, this game can easily be played for quick rounds before you head out to do other things. Which is a very convenient type of game. Though with this in mind, leads to the fact that it won't be as replayable as other games.

One thing that disappointed me with this game was the lack of unlockables. Which would have been nice, because it would be a reason for the in-game records option other than to see how you are doing in the game. The game plays very well and effectively, and has nice colorful graphics to keep you entertained. Which are good factors.

Though the game only has a small number of songs, it is very effective to allow you to select, before each round, the song you want to play in the background. Two options for the sound that are wonderful are the off and the random buttons. These allow you to either have no music in the background, or to have a random song play in the background. I also thought that the little beeps and boops that the pills make were very well placed in the game because it makes it seem more realistic than them just falling into place with no indication of it's landing other than visually seeing it.

With the option of having a total of four games and using your Miis to become the doctors in the game, I thought that Dr. Mario Rx had an "okay" presentation, and definitely one of the more interesting and entertaining game to make its way to the Wii.

Rating	Description
8.4	Presentation
8.7	Graphics
8.1	Sounds
8.7	Gameplay
7.8	Lasting Appeal
8.6	OVERALL (out of 10 / not an average)

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