- This article is about Dr. Mario's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Dr. Mario. Also, for information about the character of whom Dr. Mario is a clone, see Mario (SSBM).
Dr. Mario (Dr. マリオ, Dr. Mario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and is a clone of Mario, meaning almost all of their moves are exactly alike, though Dr. Mario and Mario do have some differences in their attack physics.
Dr. Mario currently ranks 11th on Melee's tier list for his great combos and overall uniqueness as a fighter, and is, of course, a "clone" of Mario.
How to unlock
- Clearing either Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with Mario without using any continues.
- Playing 100 Versus Mode matches.
Attributes
Dr. Mario is very similar to his original, but there are differences between them. Overall, Dr. Mario is slightly stronger than his counterpart. Dr. Mario's projectile, Megavitamins, can help control approaches, but it moves rather slowly when compared to other projectiles. Dr. Mario is a good edgeguarder due to his Back Aerial, Super Sheet, and the aforementioned Megavitamins. He also has a good aerial game, wavedash, and SHFFL.
He can chain grab some characters and Down Throw to Forward Aerial as a staple KO. Dr. Mario's biggest weakness is his very short recovery. His Super Jump Punch is a predictable recovery move that can be caped and edgeguarded fairly easily, although having a misleadingly large sweetspot range helps this problem. Dr. Mario's Back Throw is ideal for gimp kills when accompanied by edgehogging, since it has powerful knockback.
Moveset
Ground attacks
- Neutral Attack - Dr. Mario does a weak punch forward, followed by a second weak punch. Similar to Mario's from Super Mario 64. Damage in respective order: 3-4%, 2-4%, 5-6%.
- Side Tilt - A kick forward, weaker than Mario's. 8% damage.
- Up Tilt - Dr. Mario punches upwards. Slightly more knockback than Mario's with a different trajectory based on where it hits. If opponents are hit while in front, they will be sent forward. If hit when they're above, they'll go upwards. 10% damage.
- Down Tilt - Does a quick sweeping kick in front of him. Sends foes behind him, unlike his original counterpart. 9% damage.
- Dash Attack - Slides on the ground feet first, has slightly more range than Mario's. Launches foes in a random trajectory. 9% damage.
Smash attacks
- Side Smash - Launches a somewhat short ranged electrical shock from his palm, in a very similar fashion to his original. The closer the opponent is to Dr. Mario, the stronger the attack is. 19% sweetspotted uncharged, 25% fully.
- Up Smash - Headbutts upwards. Slightly more speedy and a little weaker than Mario's. However, there is a hitbox at the top of his head that is stronger. 16% uncharged, 21% fully.
- Down Smash - A very sudden breakdance-like sweep, which is very fast and powerful. 18% uncharged, 24% fully.
Aerial attacks
- Neutral Aerial - Performs a kick. Oddly, the move's power increases the longer it's out, unlike other kicks. 10% when first out, 14% at the very last frames.
- Forward Aerial - Winds up and punches in a downwards arc, though cannot spike. However it is very powerful. 16% damage.
- Back Aerial - Dr. Mario kicks backwards. Good for edgeguarding. 8% damage.
- Up Aerial - Flip kicks upwards, good for juggling fast fallers. 10% damage.
- Down Aerial - Does a drilling kick. 12% if all hits connect.
Throws
- Pummel - Headbutts opponent. 2-3% per pummel.
- Forward Throw - spins opponent once, and tosses them forward with decent knockback. Good for an edgeguarding follow up. 9% damage.
- Back Throw - Spins around three times and tosses the foe behind him, with impressive knockback. 12% damage. This is the second strongest Back Throw in the game, knockback wise, only exceeded by Ness.
- Up Throw - Dr. Mario heaves his opponent upwards, can lead into a combo against fast fallers. 8% damage.
- Down Throw - Slams opponent to ground, good for a short-hopped Neutral Aerial follow up. 6% damage.
Other attacks
- Ledge Attack - Does a somersault and then kicks upwards. 8% damage.
- 100% Ledge Attack - Gets up then does an attack similar to his Forward Tilt. 10% damage
- Floor Attack (front) - Gets up then punches behind him, then in front of him. 6% damage.
- Floor Attack (back) - Gets up and sweeps his legs extremely fast, similar to his Down Smash. 5-6% damage.
Special moves
| Dr. Mario's Special Moves | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Melee | 3DS/Wii U | Ultimate | |
| Standard Special | Megavitamins | ||
| Side Special | Super Sheet | ||
| Up Special | Super Jump Punch | ||
| Down Special | Dr. Tornado | ||
| Final Smash | — | Doctor Finale | |
Taunt
Dr. Mario pulls out a random colored pill, and balances it on his neck and arms before putting it away.
Matchups
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Differences with Mario
- The Super Sheet is longer than the cape and has more lag, making it not as useful as Mario's Cape for recovery.
- His pills do more damage than Mario's fireballs.
- His Down Tilt sends opponents behind him.
- His F-air is not a Meteor Smash like Mario's. It is, however, a strong fist move, similar to Ganondorf`s, except slightly stronger.
- It is harder to break out of his Down B attack.
- He is slightly stronger in terms of damage and knockback.
- His Down B attack sends opponents in a random direction, while Mario's sends upwards.
- Dr. Mario's Forward Smash is stronger if the opponent is closer, which is the opposite of Mario. It also has less range than Mario's.
- Slightly faster air speed.
- Slightly slower on ground.
- Forward Smash deals Electric Damage rather than Fire.
- Mario can wall jump. Dr. Mario cannot.
Recovery Improvement
- Super Sheet - Gives a slight lift. This can be used once in the air to gain altitude, unlike Mario's-- which may be used more than once (Probably because his lift isn't as large as Mario's).
- Dr. Tornado - If one mashes B rapidly while Dr. Mario is spinning, he'll get a slight lift. Hold the Control Stick towards the stage afterwards so the slight altitude gained is not wasted. This can also be used only once in the air to rise.
Techniques
General gameplay
- Pill Rush: Bombard the enemy with a wall of Pills exerted after a short jumped into a fast fall and at ground point. Repeat this three Pill fire sequence while approaching the opponent to render them almost stunned. This technique does not work as well for Mario, due to the Pills added weight and higher bounce.
- Wall of Pain: Use of backward aerials to effectively keep the opponent off the edge. Doctor Mario can use multiple back aerials off the edge, making him an excellent edge guarder.
- Up-B Cancel: Dr. Mario is the only character able to cancel his Up B attack. Within the first four frames, activate the move so the player make Dr. Mario move in the backward direction of where he's facing and quickly move the control stick to the opposite direction. The opponent will be sent up at a trajectory based solely on their weight and Doctor Mario will be able to move. Another way the player can do it is to use Super Jump Punch so Doc would jump backwards and then press the control stick downward during the first few frames of the animation. This can be used to shield cancel and punish the opponent for approaching or for trying to break the player's shield.
- Taunt Cancel: To taunt cancel, the player has to run towards an edge and right before they reach the edge and do the edge animation, taunt and Dr. Mario will just about to throw his pill but he will have it canceled and he would do the edge animation so Dr. Mario can still move after he taunted. This doesn't really help, but the player can use it to show skill.
Throw Combos
Down Throw
- Down Throw + Dr. Tornado - A reliable and basic combo. The Dr. Tornado will send the foe at a random trajectory, making it hard for the foe to counter it.
- Down Throw + Up Tilt + Up Tilt - A basic Up Tilt and Up Tilt, where the first usually doesn't launch the foe in a random trajectory due to close range, but the second one does.
- Down Throw + Up Smash - Reliable against fast fallers between low to mid-high percents, good for leading into aerial follow ups.
- Down Throw + Super Jump Punch - A near-useless combo, but doable nonetheless, where Dr. Mario can use his Up B after his Down Throw, though usually only hits once or twice, and sends him and the foe in opposite directions.
- Down Throw + Neutral Combo - A situational combo where Dr. Mario can just barely connect his Neutral Attacks with a fallen foe.
- Down Throw + Super Sheet - Another situational combo where Dr. Mario can assume the foe will try to dodge roll away from him when they try to fastfall and land, only to have them rolling the other way into a combo.
- Down Throw + Down Smash - This combo usually works at low percents. The foe is almost always hit before they can escape due to the Down Smash's speed.
Up Throw
- Up Throw + Up Tilt - A basic combo, where the foe is sent at a random trajectory due to his Up Tilt physics.
- Up Throw + Up B - If the foe DIs slightly just right immediately after, his Up B can be used for good damage.
- Up Throw + Down B - A DI-able combo, similar to one of his Down Throw combos.
- Up Throw + Up Smash - A basic combo, good for setups and low to mid-low %s
- Up Throw + any aerial - A multi-purpose setup for aerials.
Target Test by DRIN
Many techniques will need to be abused for this, so practice is recommended.
First, as soon as movement is allowed, run to the right. Start moving before the timer begins running. Cape the target below the start, and double jump back to the start platform. Dash right, then use the cape to hit the target inside the open box. The cape's momentum should land Dr. Mario inside, but use the 2nd jump if needed. Double jump back to the start.
Next, jump on to the 2nd platform above. It should be close to the targets on the left side of the metal wall. Dash Jump, cape BOTH TARGETS AT ONCE, and double jump back to the platforms to the left. A F-Air also works for this.
Move to the topmost left platform. Dash Jump, and cape the top left target. On the way down, Cape to hit the other targets. Land on the moving platform. 2 should remain. Move to the rightmost top platform. Dash Jump, use the second jump and at the tip, Up-B. The target should barely be hit. Use DI to drop on to the moving platform below. Suicide drop and hit the last target.
Trophy descriptions
In addition to the normal trophy about Dr. Mario as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Dr. Mario on any difficulty:
- Dr. Mario
- Immaculate in his medical garb, Dr. Mario destroys killer viruses with his amazing vitamin capsules. With his dedicated nurse, Princess Peach, at his side, Dr. Mario spends day and night in his laboratory working on new miracle cures. Somehow he's managed to keep up with all the new viruses that have arisen over the years.
- Dr. Mario
- Dr. Mario (Smash Red)
- There's hardly any difference in the abilities of Mario and Dr. Mario, so choosing is largely a matter of taste. Dr. Mario is a tad slower due to his lack of exercise, but his Megavitamins pack a bit more punch than Mario's Fireballs. The capsules travel on a unique trajectory and make a distinct sound on impact.
- B: Megavitamins
- Smash B: Super Sheet
- Dr. Mario (Smash Blue)
- The differences between Dr. Mario and Mario are more pronounced in some areas than others, but basically they can be played in a similar fashion. While it may be hard to spot the contrasts, they do exist. For example, Dr. Mario's Super Sheet is longer and narrower than Mario's cape, and any opponents hit by Dr. Tornado will fly off in diverse directions.
- Up & B: Super Jump Punch
- Down & B: Dr. Tornado
Alternate Costumes
Gallery
Trivia
- It is possible to hack Mario in Brawl to resemble Dr. Mario. This includes changing his fireballs into pills.
- Dr. Mario and Mario are the only characters in Super Smash Bros. history to have the same exact victory dance (they do a jump and then land with a jumping position).
- Dr. Mario is the only clone whose voice is exactly the same as his original.
- Dr. Mario is the only character who's sex kick does more damage the longer it's out.
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