Dr. Mario Manual Write-Up By Starsky 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 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 !" CONTROLLER FUNCTIONS Moves vitamin capsules left and right. Pressing down drops a vitamin capsule down quikly. On the menu screen, the Control Pad moves the cursor. A Button: Rotates vitamin capsules to the right (clockwise). B Button: Rotates vitamin capsules to the left (counterclockwise). START Button * Starts the game. * Pauses and unpauses during game play. SELECT Button * Moves cursor to the title screen. If you press the A Button, B Button, START and SELECT at the same time, the game will reser and return to the title screen. STARTING THE GAME After you power up the game, you'll see the title screen. Here, you can select a 1 or 2 PLAYER game by using the SELECT Button. (To play a two player game, you must use a Game Link cable and another Game Boy with a Dr. Mario game.) Then press the START Button to move to the menu screen. * VIRUS LEVEL The higher the number, the more viruses you start with. Move the arrow by using the Control Pad. * SPEED This controls the speed at which the vitamin capsules drop. You can select from LOW, MED and HI. * MUSIC TYPE Choose between two musical selections: FEVER and CHILL. You can also turn the music OFF if you wish. After making your selections, press the START Button to begin playing. In the 2 PLAYER mode, both players can set their options as they wish. You can use this to give one player a handicap. YOU is you, COM is your competitor. HOW TO ELIMINATE VIRUSES As the vitamin capsules drop use the A or B Button to rotate them. Try to match up four of the same color in a vertical or horizontal row. If you do this, all four will disappear. With a little practice you'll be able to get rid of all of the viruses ! < # is black, @ is gray, o is white, a . to the left means a virus, else a vitamin capsule> EXAMPLE 1 @ @ @#.@ => .@ .@ # ---------- ---------- Four of the same color are in a vertical row. These four disappear, taking the virus with them. EXAMPLE 2 .@ .@ => o@ .@oooo .@o@ ---------- ----------- Four of the same color are in a horizontal row. These four disappear, but the virus remains because it is a different color. Types of vitamin and viruses There are six type of vitamin capsules: ## @@ oo BlackBlack GrayGray WhiteWhite #@ o# @o BlackGray WhiteBlack GrayWhite There are three types of viruses: .# Black .@ Gray .o White * Advice from Dr. Mario Mastering continuous capsule elimination. <+ means a capsules/virus just disappearing> #o #+ o + o => + => + #o #+ + # # + # #@ # #@ + #@ --------- --------- --------- The white The remaining Another column column vitamins fall. disappears. disappears. This is what we call continuous capsule elimination. It doesn't just have to be two rows or columns. You can eliminate three, four or even more! This is a very important tactic in the 2 PLAYER game. HOW TO PLAY A 1 PLAYER GAME Dr. Mario destroys the viruses by throwing vitamin capsules into the contaminated bottle. When all of the viruses in a bottle are destroyed, you progress to the next stage. If the bottle gets filled all the way to the top, the game is over. Scoring: You receive points when you destroy a virus. The points depend on the SPEED setting and the number of viruses destroyed at once. ----------------------------------------- # of detroyed LOW MED HI viruses ----------------------------------------- 1 100 200 300 2 200 400 600 3 400 800 1200 4 800 1600 2400 5 1600 3200 4800 6 3200 6400 9600 ----------------------------------------- Even if you destroy more than six viruses at once, you will only receive points for destroying six. * Advice from Dr. Mario: * Watch the title screen for a while. It will show you a demonstation game that will help you get the hang of the game plays. * You will see something special each time you clear level 5, 10, 15 or 20 at the MED or HI level. * The speed that the vitamin capsules drop increases slightly after every 10 capsules. * When starting out, you will do much better if you try to lay the vitamin capsules flat rather that on their ends. HOW TO PLAY A 2 PLAYER GAME Using the GameLink cable, you can enjoy Dr. Mario in a special 2 PLAYER mode. (0) Before starting play You need the following before starting a 2 PLAYER game. - 2 GameBoy units - 2 Dr. Mario Game Paks - 1 GameLink cable (1) Connect the GameLink cable as shown on the left and make sure that both Game Paks have been inserted correctly. Then turn both power switches ON at the same time. (2) On the title screen select 2 PLAYER with the SELECT Button and press START. Note: If step (1) is not done correctly, or if the GameLink cable is pulled out and inserted while both units are on, the game may stop. If this happens, simply turn both GameBoy Units OFF and turn them on again. The GameBoy that selected 2 PLAYER mode can be used to make selections on the menu screen. Both players will have a bottle on their screen. The first player to destroy all of their viruses wins and receives a crown. A player can also win a game if the other player's bottle fills up to the top. The first player to earn three crowns wins the entire match. * Advice from Dr. Mario: If you eliminate two or more rows or columns at once, some random pieces will fall down on your opponents screen. One piece will fall for every row or column you eliminate (from two to four). The maximum drop is four pieces, even if you drop more rows or columns.