Dr. Mario (SSBM)

Dr. Mario in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	D (11) (North America) D (12) (Europe)

“	There's hardly any difference in the abilities of Mario and Dr. Mario, so choosing is largely a matter of taste.	”
—Description from Dr. Mario's trophy.

Dr. Mario (Dr. マリオ, Dr. Mario) is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

This is his first 3D appearance as well as his first appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series, as he stems from a series of Mario puzzle games. As a clone of Mario, Dr. Mario and Mario have nearly identical movesets with obvious differences in attack physics.

Dr. Mario currently ranks 11th on the Melee tier list, at the top of the D tier, four places higher than Mario's rank and his best placement in the series. His relatively high mid-tier placement is a consequence of his combo ability with overall uniqueness as a fighter, such as an unusual-functioning reverse-sex kick. His approach options are also very good, with a long wavedash and a good air game, as well as a very good SHFFL. Dr. Mario also has a good projectile, which itself can be used to aid his approach. However, Dr. Mario's primary weakness is his abysmal recovery, which is one of the worst in the game, due to its predictability and few methods of increasing its distance. Dr. Mario also suffers from lack of range in his attacks, leaving him vulnerable against characters with disjointed hitboxes such as Donkey Kong and Marth, of which the latter arguably serves as his worst matchup.

How to unlock

To unlock Dr. Mario, players need to complete either Classic or Adventure Mode as Mario without using any continues Alternatively, players can play 100 VS. matches.

Dr. Mario is fought on Princess Peach's Castle, with the track "Dr. Mario" playing.

Attributes

Dr. Mario is essentially a stronger version of Mario (that despite claims from his Smash trophies within the game, is not slower in any form except for his neutral ground attack). Both have the same dashing speed and falling speed, yet most of Dr. Mario's attacks deal greater damage and knockback than Mario's. Dr. Mario has a slightly faster air speed, rendering his combo potential and aerial approach superior. True to having relatively low traction and a slightly above average falling speed, Dr. Mario has a rather long wavedash. A low short hop, above average falling speed, and low lag aerials give Dr. Mario a good SHFFL, improving his air game. In addition, Dr. Mario has a good number of reliable finishers: a fast forward smash with no sourspots that can KO opponents under 100%, an up smash that is faster than Mario's and has low knockback to set up more combos, and forward aerial, sometimes referred to as "The Fist", which is a very powerful aerial with a large, lasting hitbox, that can KO opponents under 120%, and is relatively easy to combo into. Dr. Mario also has a great projectile, Megavitamins. Their bounciness and slow horizontal speed creates a temporary defensive wall that deters his enemy's approach. Although designed to be like Mario's fireballs, which are fast moving and weak, Megavitamins deal surprisingly high damage (8% each) and high hitstun, opening up far more opportunities for combos if Dr. Mario is quick to capitalize on them. Dr. Mario can strategically manipulate his jumping prowess while shooting Megavitamins to perform the Pill Rush technique, maintaining at least two Megavitamins on the stage for stage control and defensive purposes.

Dr. Mario also has some properties unique to him that make him a more capable fighter. His neutral aerial attack is a sex kick, but is the only one that increases in damage and knockback the longer it is held out, making it a good SHFFL and edge-guarding option, as well as a reliable horizontal finisher at high percentages. Dr. Mario's up tilt is a good juggling option, dealing decent damage and low knockback. His back aerial is one of Dr. Mario's best edge-guarding and approach options, semi-spiking with high base knockback and low ending lag. His down tilt sends opponents behind him and has more hitstun than Mario's, making it a moderately useful combo starter. Super Sheet, like Mario's cape, turns enemies around without dealing knockback, limiting the effectiveness of their recoveries and allowing for possible gimps and quick KO's.

Like Mario, Dr. Mario has a good grab game; his up and forward throws can set up combos and chain throws, while the latter can also act as a potential KO move at very high percentages. Dr. Mario's back throw, like Mario and Luigi's, is a very powerful throw (more powerful than Mario's and Luigi's), being effective for setting up edge guards at high percentages, and acting as a reliable KO move at very high percentages.

Dr. Mario also has his flaws. While powerful, the majority of the sweetspots in Dr. Mario's attacks are short-ranged. His forward smash is a notable example, where its reach is among the worst for a forward smash attack, requiring Dr. Mario to be right next to the opponent to land it. Similarly, his up smash is also rather close ranged.

Yet his greatest weakness is his abysmal recovery. A combination of predictability, poor distance covered, and few options to extend it makes it one of the worst in Melee. Although he has above average air speed, he also has above average falling speed, lowering his horizontal air movement. Super Jump Punch grants below average vertical distance and poor horizontal distance. Button mashing Dr. Tornado is a decent stalling tactic and can mindgame edge-guarding opponents, but grants negligible net vertical and horizontal distance. His Super Sheet, being not as effective as Mario's cape, only grants minor vertical distance once in the air.

Overall, Dr. Mario is a solid character with fast, relatively powerful attacks with great edgeguarding ability and good approaching options. As long as players can stay on the stage during the battle and keep their opponents within arm's reach, there is little an opponent can do against him.

Differences with Mario

Since Dr. Mario is ranked higher than Mario, he performs better overall, as his attacks are much more powerful. He can also spike foes with his up smash, albeit only if they are on the ground, and high KO potential on aerial foes. He can KO earlier than Mario, especially due to his throws being much stronger, with his back throw being among the strongest throws in the game.

However, Dr. Mario's recovery is worse since he cannot wall jump, his Super Sheet (side special) only lifting him up once and gains minimal height on usage, and both his Super Jump Punch and Dr. Tornado specials don't gain as much distance in the air in comparison to Mario's up and down specials. Furthermore, even though Dr. Mario boasts much more damage and KO potential than Mario, his forward smash's hitbox has less horizontal reach, requiring him to be closer to his opponents to make efficient usage of it. His combo game is also worse than Mario's, as his up and down tilts have different launch angles, his down aerial lacks a landing hitbox, his neutral aerial's sourspot is much harder to hit with, and his throws' higher power make them less effective at setting up. Despite this, he has the aforementioned up smash, and his up special can be cancelled, making this nerf negligible. His range is also worse overall.

Despite this, the numerous advantages that he has over Mario makes him a solid choice in Melee, placing in the upper middle tier.

Aesthetics

• Dr. Mario's taunt, idle animation, and two of his victory poses are different.

Attributes

• Dr. Mario's air speed is slightly faster (0.84 → 0.9), improving his ability to approach opponents.
• Dr. Mario is heavier than Mario (PAL 98 → 100).
• Dr. Mario cannot wall jump, making his recovery worse than Mario's.
• Dr. Mario's body hurtbox is slightly bigger than Mario's, making him easier to hit.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack deals more damage (10% → 13%).
• Neutral attack has more startup (frame 2 → 3) and ending lag than Mario's.
• Forward tilt has less startup and ending lag and a longer hitbox duration (Frames 5-7 → 4-8).
• Forward tilt deals slightly less damage and knockback.
• Dr Mario's up tilt consists of clean and late hitboxes and the clean hitbox launches opponents at the Sakurai Angle. This grants it spacing potential when clean, but significantly hinders its combo potential. Conversely, this improves its combo potential when late, but hinders its safety.
• Up tilt has a longer duration (Frames 4-12 → 4-13).
• Dr. Mario's down tilt sends opponents behind him at a semi-spike angle (80° → 150°) and has slightly increased knockback (10 (base)/80 (growth) → 20/82). This allows it to set up edgeguards, but significantly reduces its combo potential.
• Dash attack has less knockback growth (50 → 30), making it weaker. This improves its combo potential, but hinders its safety.
• Dash attack has less animation frames (48 frames → 43), but still has the same IASA frames as Mario's, keeping the ending lag identical.
• Forward smash deals more damage (18% → 19%) and has slightly stronger knockback (25 (base)/95 (growth) → 30/97), making it the fifth most powerful forward smash in the game. Additionally, it also lacks a sourspot.
• Forward smash has significantly shorter reach, making it significantly harder to connect with.
• Forward smash lacks transcendent priority and deals electric damage instead of flame damage.
• Up smash has a sweetspot when late that deals more damage (15% → 16%) and knockback overall and spikes grounded foes. This greatly improves its combo potential on grounded opponents, but significantly hinders its KO potential. However, on aerial opponents, the opposite is true.
• Up smash has larger hitboxes (3.2 → 3.6), slightly improving its range.
• The early and clean hits of up smash deal slightly less knockback (32 (base)/97 (growth) → 35/95), hindering their KO potential.
• Down smash deals marginally more knockback (base 40 → 45) and damage (16% and 10%/12% → 18%/17% and 15%/13%). Additionally, its second hit has a slightly longer duration (frame 14-15 → 14-16), enabling it to punish rolls better than Mario's.
• Down smash has less reach (12u/6.8u (front) and -10.8u/-6u (back) → 10u/6u and -10u/-6u).
• Down smash has a 'cone' effect instead of a smoke effect.

Aerial attacks

• Dr. Mario's aerials have more landing lag (16 frames → 18 (neutral); 21 frames → 25 (forward); 15 frames → 18 (back and up); 23 frames → 24 (down).
• Dr. Mario's neutral aerial does more damage and knockback the longer it's out, while it does less damage and knockback when it first comes out. Overall, Mario's sweetspotted neutral is in between Dr. Mario's neutral aerial's sweet and sour spots. Also, when it first comes out, it has a larger hitbox than Mario's, but afterwards it gets smaller than Mario's neutral aerial. Lastly, it has a slightly altered animation where Dr. Mario sticks his leg completely out, while Mario's is at an angle.
• Sweetspotted neutral aerial does more damage than Mario's (12% → 14%).
• Neutral aerial has a slightly shorter duration (3-32 → 3-31).
• Dr. Mario's forward aerial deals 1-2% more damage (15% → 17%/16%) and sends opponents at a different angle (280° → 60°) that can reliably KO at 80-100%. It also deals significantly more knockback (30 (base)/70 (growth) → 50 and 40/100). It's less risky to use as a finisher than Mario's since Dr. Mario does not need to be offstage for it to be effective.
• Dr. Mario's forward aerial is slightly less useful for edgeguarding due to lacking meteor smash hitboxes.
• Back aerial is a semi-spike, unlike Mario's (361° → 28°), and its higher base knockback significantly improves its spacing potential.
• Back aerial has a slightly shorter duration (6-17 → 6-16). It also has higher base knockback but much less scaling, making it less effective for comboing and KOing.
• Up aerial deals 1% less damage (11% → 10%), making it slightly weaker. This hinders its gimping potential, but improves its combo potential.
• Down aerial's maximum damage output is much higher, improving its combo ability. It also has a different launch angle (94° → 80°), improving its gimping potential.
• Down aerial has smaller hitboxes than Mario's, lacks a landing hitbox, and the last hit has set knockback.

Grab and throws

• Dr. Mario's grabs have less disjoint due to him lunging forward more and the range not being properly compensated. Additionally, dash grab has slightly less range behind Dr. Mario.
• Forward and back throws have knockback growth (65 → 72), improving their KO potential.
• Up throw has more knockback growth (72 → 80). While this improves its KO ability, this also limits its follow-up potential at higher percentages, though its still very effective and fast-fallers, especially the lighter ones; it additionally cannot chaingrab as effectively.
• Down throw has more knockback growth (30 → 40). Like the up throw, except it can never KO under realistic circumstances, and as a result, it has less combo potential overall.

Special moves

• Megavitamin deals more damage (6% → 8%) than Mario's Fireball and has a larger hitbox.
• Unlike Fireball, Megavitamin does not have a flame effect.
• Megavitamins travel slower (1.5 → 1.4).
• Megavitamins uses the normal and virus line clear sound effects from the NES release of Dr. Mario.
• Super Sheet deals more damage and has more vertical range than Cape.
• Super Sheet has less horizontal range. Super Sheet also only keeps Dr. Mario once in the air, making it less useful for recovering.
• Super Sheet, Super Jump Punch, and Dr. Tornado grant less momentum than Mario's respective moves.
• Super Jump Punch deals stronger knockback and can be cancelled, which can be use to set up into other moves.
• Super Jump Punch only has one intangibility frame (Frames 3-6 → 3) and cannot be cancelled into a wall jump since Dr. Mario cannot wall jump.
• Super Jump Punch overall deals less damage when all hits connect.
• Super Jump Punch does not make a coin sound effect.
• Dr. Tornado does more knockback than the Mario Tornado, improving its KO potential.
• Dr. Tornado hits 5 times instead of 7 and the last hit launches opponents in a random direction (commonly horizontally) instead of vertically. Dr. Mario also lacks a voiceclip when performing the move.

Moveset

Dr. Mario's aerial attacks. Click on one of them to see their respective subpage.

For a gallery of Dr. Mario's hitboxes, see here.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			4%	A weak punch forward, then a second weak punch, then a strong kick forward.
			3%
			6%
Forward tilt	↗		9%	Kick straight forward. Is stronger than Mario's and has less ending lag.
	→		8%
	↘		7%
Up tilt			10% (clean), 8% (late)	Punches upwards. Slightly more knockback than Mario's with a different trajectory based on where it hits. If hit from the front, the opponent gets launched diagonally forward, and if hit from above, the opponent will be launched upwards. When sent on the former trajectory, it can set up edgeguards, while on the latter trajectory, it's easy to combo into an aerial.
Down tilt			9%	Kneels down and sweeps his leg low to the ground. Sends foes behind him, unlike Mario's.
Dash attack			9% (clean), 8% (late)	Slides on the ground feet first, has slightly more range than Mario's. Launches foes in a different trajectory compared to Mario's.
Forward smash	↗		20%	Launches a somewhat short-ranged electrical shock from his palm, in a very similar fashion to his clone. In comparison with Mario's, it has no sourspot, and is quite stronger, being able to reliably KO under 100%.
	→		19%
	↘		18%
Up smash			16% (clean), 13% (late)	Headbutts upwards. Slightly faster, but a little weaker than Mario's (if hit on an aerial foe, it will be stronger than Mario`s). Unusually, the hitboxes has spike properties, though it only work on grounded opponents. Just like Mario, Dr. Mario's head is intangible while the hitboxes are out.
Down smash			18%/17% (front), 15%/13% (back)	Does a breakdancing sweep kick. Deals more damage if the opponents hits Dr. Mario's feet. Considered to be his best KO move.
Neutral aerial			10% (clean), 14% (late)	Does an inverted "sex kick". Oddly, the move's power increases the longer it's out, unlike other sex kicks.
Forward aerial			17% (sweetspot), 16% (sourspot)	Winds up and punches in a downwards angle, though unlike Mario's, it does not have a meteor smash hitbox; instead, it has high vertical knockback being capable of KOing at 120%. Has a slightly weaker sourspot on Dr. Mario's hand. While it a very powerful KO option (in fact, it is his most powerful attack), it is rather sluggish (hits on frames 18-22 and its IASA is on frame 60), being hard to land on its own. While Dr. Mario has setups for the move in his throws, they are not fully reliable and require successful reading of the opponent's DI for landing the fair.
Back aerial			8% (clean), 7% (late)	Kicks backwards. Very good for edgeguarding, with very fast start-up and ending lag, having high base knockback (43), and hitting opponents in a semi-spike trajectory (28 degrees).
Up aerial			10%	Does a flip kick upward. A good move for juggling fast-fallers.
Down aerial			3% (hits 1-7)	Does a downwards drill kick. The attack has set knockback and does not contain a landing hitbox, unlike Mario's.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Headbutts opponent. Relatively slow.
Forward throw			9%	Spins opponent once, and tosses them forward with decent knockback. Good for an edgeguarding follow-up attack.
Back throw			12% (throw), 8% (collateral)	Spins around three times and tosses the foe behind him, with impressive knockback, being stronger than Mewtwo's back throw and the second strongest back throw in the game, only behind Ness's back throw.
Up throw			8%	Heaves his opponent upwards. Can lead into a combo against fast fallers, notably into a fair for a KO.
Down throw			6%	Slams opponent to ground. Good for a short-hopped nair follow up. Weirdly, the move's knockback on Mr. Game and Watch is affected by port priority; if the Dr Mario player has the higher port (closer to P1), then the knockback will be normal; if he has the lower port, however (closer to P4), then the knockback will behave in the same manner as Fox's down throw.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and punches behind him, then in front of him.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Swirls around in a similar fashion to his down smash.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6% (body), 8% (legs)	Does a somersault and then kicks upward onto the stage.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			10%	Gets up then does an attack similar to his f-tilt.
Neutral special		Megavitamins	8%	Throws pills forward, similar to Mario's fireballs. However, they have a unique bounce arc, fall faster, do more damage, are randomly colored, and have distinctive sounds used from the original Dr. Mario game.
Side special		Super Sheet	10%/12%	Flicks a white cape forward very similar to Mario's Cape, which reverse opponents (causes them to face in the opposite direction) and can reflect projectiles. The differences are that the Super Sheet is longer and deals more damage, but has less lag and moves Dr. Mario up only once, making it less useful for recovery. The attack can also be used to shift the direction of an opponent who is trying to recover, such as Fox using his Fire Fox. In this case, they will be turned around, and will instead jump backwards, missing the ledge. Has transcendental priority.
Up special		Super Jump Punch	5% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-4), 3% (hit 5)	Performs a jumping uppercut diagonally upward. It is very similar to Mario's, but does less damage and has fewer hits. Also, the sound effect is different than the usual sound made when Mario grabs a coin. Mainly a recovery move.
Down special		Dr. Tornado	3% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-3), 3% (hit 4 ground), 1% (hit 4 air), 4% (hit 5)	A spinning tornado attack, similar to Mario's, but is a little stronger and deals less hits. The move traps the opponent in a tornado, hitting them constantly, before knocks them back. While Mario's knocks opponents into the air, Dr. Mario's knocks them in a random direction. Dr. Mario can hover in the air using this move by repeatedly pressing the B button while using it, but it only works once without landing. Has transcendent priority on all but the last hit.

Taunt

• Pulls out a randomly colored Megavitamin, rolls it down his arm, uses his shoulder to toss it into the air, then catches it.

Can be canceled by performing it right before running off of a ledge.

Idle pose

• Exercises his neck by moving his head in circles.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Gooooooo Doc!	Doc-tor! *claps three times*
Pitch	Male	Male

Victory poses

An orchestrated cover of the iconic "Level Completed" music from Super Mario Bros..

• Holds out his stethoscope and points it to his right, to his left, and finally towards the screen.
• Throws two pills, dusts his hands off, and then pulls out the same pills he already threw while laughing triumphantly.
• Does a short spin-jump and lands in a strong-man pose, shouting "Here we go!" Shared with Mario.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Dr. Mario professionals (SSBM)

Active

•  Boss
•  Eagle - Best Dr. Mario in Denmark.
•  Franz - Best active Dr. Mario main in America. Placed top 64 at GENESIS 5 and has wins over Captain Faceroll and Squid.
•  Kevorkian
•  Liberate
•  Mr. Lemon
•  OTG
•  Reason
•  SmashMac

Inactive

•  Bob$
•  Captain Jack
•  S-Royal - Was considered one of the best Dr. Mario players during the "Golden Age", He switched to Fox after coming back from a hiatus in 2015
•  Caveman
•  HomeMadeWaffles
•  SchlimmShady - Has switched to Captain Falcon.
•  Shroomed - Was considered the best Dr. Mario before dropping him for Sheik. Constantly got Top 8 places at major tournaments.
•  Velocity

Tier placement and history

Initially, Dr. Mario was considered an inferior version of Mario due to his slower attacks and worse recovery, with Mario ranked higher than Dr. Mario in the tier list (usually one spot above Dr. Mario). Many smashers such as Captain Jack began to show Dr. Mario's better attributes, such as better punish options than Mario. In 2005, Dr. Mario was recognized as a better character than Mario, placing at least one spot higher than him in the tier lists to come. However, even with evolutions in Dr. Mario's game, representation of him at tournaments was not very notable, with rarely anyone placing high enough to win money just using Dr. Mario.

It was not until 2011 when Shroomed showed Dr. Mario's powerful grab game and projectile game, placing consistently in top 8 at national tournaments such as Apex 2013 and EVO 2013. Although Shroomed no longer mains Dr. Mario exclusively and reserves him for specific matchups, Dr. Mario was still considered a solid high tiered character, sitting at 9th place at the top of the High tier almost making it into the top tier in the eleventh tier list. However, with the decline in results and notoriety from other Dr. Mario players in the current metagame, and even Shroomed himself claiming that he's not as viable now, Dr. Mario has fell to 11th place in the current tier list, at the top of the mid-tiers.

In Single Player modes

In Classic Mode

Upon being unlocked, Dr. Mario can appear in one on one battles, in a team with Luigi or as an ally, as a giant character or as a metal character. In all appearances, his stage is Mushroom Kingdom.

In Adventure Mode

Adventure Mode makes no concessions to Dr. Mario when he is unlocked. Unlike some other characters, the track Dr. Mario does not play on any stages.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Dr. Mario and his allies are fought on Mushroom Kingdom II. In these cases, the track Dr. Mario plays.

In Event Matches

Dr. Mario appears in the following event matches:

• Event 35: Time for a Checkup: As Luigi, the player must fight against a CPU team consisting of Dr. Mario and Peach, the latter in her white costume, on Yoshi's Story. All characters have one life each, and the event must be completed in three minutes.
• Event 49: All-Star Match Deluxe: Dr. Mario is the first opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on the Mushroom Kingdom stage with a stock of 2 while Dr. Mario has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other five characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage: Falco, Pichu, Young Link, Roy and Ganondorf.

Ending Images

• 

  Classic Mode.

• 

  Adventure Mode.

• 

  All-Star Mode.

Trophies

In addition to the normal trophy about Mario as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing both Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with 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 10/90

Dr. Mario [Smash]

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]

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

• 

  Classic

• 

  [Smash]

• 

  [Smash]

Alternate costumes

Trivia

• Dr. Mario is the only character in the series to have a sex kick that gets stronger the longer it is out.
• Dr. Mario and Young Link are the only two characters in the game that can taunt cancel.
• The trophy in Melee explains that Dr. Mario is slower due to his "lack of exercise". However, in Smash 4 the explanation given is "his doctor's coat is heavier".
• Dr. Mario is actually not slower than Mario in any terms of mobility, making the trophy's description in Melee misleading.
• Dr. Mario is the only clone to weigh the same as his original counterpart (100 units); Falco and Ganondorf are heavier than Fox and Captain Falcon, respectively, and Young Link, Pichu, and Roy are lighter than Link, Pikachu, and Marth, respectively, though, he is heavier than Mario in the PAL version of the game.
  • Technically, Roy also counts towards this trait, as he weighs the same as Marth in PAL regions, where he is lighter in NTSC regions.
• Dr. Mario is the only playable character in the game to have a unconvential spike (being his up smash).