Tetris & Dr. Mario - 2 Game Cartridge

Tetris is one of my favorite games ever, mainly because every time you play it it's different. The order of the pieces and your own brain determine so much. The object, in case you don't know, is to arrange falling shapes of various designs to fill complete lines. These lines then disappear. You get extra points for clearing more then one line at once. You can either start with nothing and clear as many lines as possible before you run out of room at the top, or you can play until you clear 25 lines. Either way, it's a fun test of reflexes and thinking power.

Not enough fun? Challenge a friend in head to head competition. This is something that was missing from the release on the original Nintendo, so I was thrilled to see it here. I love to play with my friends.

In Doctor Mario, you are shown a screen with some viruses on it. Your goal is to clear the viruses by arranging the vitamin pills that Mario throws in for you. When you have four color blocks the same, they disappear. While this is a fun game, it's basically a variation on Tetris 2, which is what I usually reach for when in the mood for a game like this. It also includes two player options.

Just in case these weren't enough for you, you can challenge a friend to a mix and match game involving Tetris and Dr. Mario.

I have spent many happy hours playing Tetris and its variations, and I don't see that changing in the near future. If these games are up your ally, you won't go wrong by getting this.


I couldn't have asked for anything more!   September 22, 2003
S. Rhodes
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Probably on my top ten SNES games list, Tetris&Dr. Mario is a gem to own on your classic SNES. I'll be a first to admit that I at first only bought this game for Tetris. I didn't play Dr. Mario on the original NES but I knew that Tetris was down right ADDICTIVE! So I was a little reluctant to play Dr. Mario. But when I did that was fun too and just as addictive.

First Dr. Mario. The game shows Mario throwing pills in a jar and you must match the color up with the virus until three of the colors in a row are stacked up. Then the virus disappears. Yep, that's all. 20 levels that you can select right away but the game goes on with no real ending either...just like Tetris.

Tetris, I'm sure many of you have played it before. Whoever thought that making lines could become so addictive? You just place your blocks down until you form a line and then voila the line disappears. What was best about this game for me? THERE IS NO ENDING! You select up to nine levels and there is actually a level 10...and 11....and 12...and 13 etc. The second best part. If you ever lost in Tetris it was mostly YOUR fault not the games fault! It's you who must find the proper place for the block. And please tell me I'm not crazy when I say this, but did anyone else look at tiles in buildings and form pieces from Tetris? Also, did you dream of these blocks falling too? Well, I did because the game was just something branded in my mind and it's really nice to see it released for the SNES.

Both of these games are great in another aspect. The fact that they're both simple. Anyone could play these games and expect to have some sort of mastery at them. I think a lot of video games are actually aimed at male players such as myself and a lot of female gamers can't get into them as easily. Well, this game is easy for anyone to get into. Sure it ain't shoot 'em up style kind of game, and you don't kill anyone but hey it's fun!


Two great classics; one great cartridge   September 5, 2003
DeRosset Myers (St Louis, MO)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

What you see is what you get with Tetris & Dr. Mario. As should have been the case with the official NES version, Tetris is now two-players. Not that ridiculous fake 2-player with a Game Genie where one player moves the blocks while the other rotates, but head-to-head VS. The music in Tetris is a 16-bit representation of the GameBoy version, so music A (Sugarplumb Fairy) and C from NES is not there. Sorry.
Dr. Mario is essentially the same as the NES version, except for 16-bit graphics and music. You still have the two tunes, Fever and Chill.
There is a third mode in this cart aimed at two-play. You start in one game, then go to the other. It's neat, but nothing special.
The controls remain faithful to there NES and GameBoy counterparts which can be good or bad.
-Crosspad moves pills in Dr. Mario, blocks in Tetris, and selector in the menu screens.
-Button advances in the menu screens and rotates obects clockwise in both games.
-Button B cancels in menu screens and rotates objects counter-clockwise in both games.
-Start pauses the game.
-The Y, X, L, R, and Select buttons do nothing.


The classics, on your SNES!   March 6, 2003
T. Burns
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

It's great to see a game that can actually mix these two puzzle games from the NES. In Mixed Match, two players can compete in a race to get the most lines in Tetris (Type-A) after completing a stage of Tetris (Type-B) and a stage of Dr. Mario. Besides that, Tetris and Dr. Mario are two of the best of the classic puzzle games out there. It is great to be able to play them on the SNES if you missed out on your chance to get them while they were games for the NES.