Dr. Mario

Those nasty viruses have returned. Dr. Mario, vitamin pills in hand, is ready to eliminate them once more. In addition to the ever-popular 2-player game, now you can challenge the computer in the guise of the Blue, Yellow or Red Virus. A direct clone of a NES original, Dr Mario gives one or two players the chance to play doctor in a Tetris-y pill-rotating fashion. Variously - colored germs are scattered around the play area and must be wiped out by dropping pills to create lines of four matching colors horizontally or vertically. Played alone, the game is one of (more or less) quiet concentration. Adding a second player, however, transforms the dynamic entirely: it becomes a ruthless battle where anything goes. The small but key factor responsible is that completing lines on your side means random gunk gets dropped on your opponent's side, messing everything up. The graphics are better than the somewhat weedy ones of the original, and the music is a distinct improvement over the NES's beepy tunelets. A fine two-player game, Dr Mario can nonetheless cause tempers to flare so have fun, but remain friends!