Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Dr. Mario in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
---|---|
Universe | Mario |
Other playable appearances | in Melee in SSB4 |
Availability | Unlockable |
Final Smash | Doctor Finale |
“ | He has more attack and launch power than Mario, but his jump and recovery is not as good. Pro tip: You can repeatedly press the B button when using his down special, Dr. Tornado, to float a bit! | ” |
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site |
Dr. Mario (ドクターマリオ, Doctor Mario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially confirmed as playable on June 12th, 2018. Dr. Mario is classified as fighter #18.
As in Smash 4, Charles Martinet's portrayal of Mario from Brawl was repurposed for Dr. Mario in Ultimate.
How to unlock
Complete one of the following:
- Play VS. matches, with Dr. Mario being the 62nd character to be unlocked.
- Clear Classic Mode with Mario or any character in his unlock tree, being the seventh character in his unlock tree after Roy.
- Have Dr. Mario join the player's party in World of Light.
With the exception of the third method, Dr. Mario must then be defeated on New Donk City Hall.
Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
Dr. Mario has been overall buffed in Ultimate. His damage output has been increased substantially throughout his moveset, now being able to rack up damage far more reliably than in Smash 4. His recovery, while still being rather lackluster, has nevertheless improved slightly; his Doctor Tornado has less ending lag, allowing him to act out of it sooner, and the re-addition of directional air dodges gives him another option to possibly extend his recovery. Dr. Mario has received a few nerfs, however, with one of them being a small decrease to his already sub-par mobility, given the nerfs to his air speed and jump height.
Compared to Mario, Dr. Mario is still a slower and stronger clone of him. However, he is not classified as an Echo Fighter, likely due to debuting in Melee like Pichu and Young Link rather than SSB4 or Ultimate as with the Echo Fighters. Aside from having an updated idle animation, an altered animation for his side special, as well as receiving a new back throw and downward aerial, he does not appear to have been further decloned. He has also received many of the same changes as Mario.
Aesthetics
- As with all veterans returning from Smash 4, Dr. Mario's model features a more subdued color scheme. Like Mario, his hair and clothing now feature simple detailing, with his head mirror's headband reverting back to a cordovan brown from his design in Super Smash Bros. Melee, instead of a dark taupe gray.
- The inside of Dr. Mario's pants are now slate grey instead of white.
- Dr. Mario has a new idle animation with less exaggerated bouncing. It no longer reverts to Mario's idle when holding an item.
- Dr. Mario's helpless animation is altered slightly, with his body faced more towards the screen.
- The victory animation where Dr. Mario rubs his chin now has him tap the toe of his shoe on the ground before contemplatively rubbing his chin.
- The victory animation where Dr. Mario throws Megavitamins now has him looking towards the camera with a happy expression when holding the Megavitamins in his hands.
- The victory animation where Dr. Mario poses with his stethoscope is now more exaggerated.
Attributes
- Like all characters, Dr. Mario's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
- Dr. Mario dashes slightly faster (1.3312 → 1.397792).
- Dr. Mario walks slightly faster (0.9152 → 0.917301).
- Dr. Mario's air speed is slower (0.9292 → 0.9238784).
- Dr. Mario jumps lower.
Ground attacks
- Jab deals more damage.
- Jab was reverted to match Mario's, meaning that it can now jab lock.
- The last hit of neutral attack comes out faster and goes higher. These changes allow it to connect better from the first two hits.
- All tilt attacks deal more damage.
- Dash attack deals significantly more damage.
- Dash attack travels further.
- Dash attack has an altered animation that no longer lowers Dr. Mario's hurtbox, which prevents him from sliding under certain attacks unlike his previous dash attack.
- All smash attacks deal significantly more damage.
- The electricity produced from Dr. Mario's forward smash is now magenta/lavender instead of light blue. That electricity also stems out from the player being hit with his forward smash.
- Down smash's animation has been altered, resembling both the Sweep Kick move from Super Mario 64, and the break dance Mario performs on the cover of Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.
Aerial attacks
- All aerials have less landing lag.
- All aerials deal more damage.
- Forward aerial has a different animation, with Dr. Mario now punching downwards with his opposite hand and twisting around afterwards instead of flipping.
- Dr. Mario has a new down aerial, a downward stomp similar to that of Captain Falcon and Ganondorf, as opposed to a drill kick. Compared to the old down aerial, it deals more damage, has reduced ending lag, has a larger autocancel window and can meteor smash.
- However, the new down aerial has slower start-up, less active hitbox and lacks a landing hit.
Throws/other attacks
- Pummel deals less damage but is noticeably faster.
- Pummel has a slightly different animation: Dr. Mario now uses one hand during his pummel instead of both of his hands like in previous installments, to keep consistent with his grab animation.
- All throws deal more damage.
- All of Dr. Mario's throws have been altered with more exaggerated animations.
- Dr. Mario has a new back throw where he heaves the opponent overhead behind him.
- The new back throw is slightly faster.
- The new back throw doesn't have a collateral hit.
Special Moves
- Megavitamin:
- Dr. Mario no longer opens his mouth when using Megavitamin.
- Megavitamins deal more damage and knockback.
- Because of this higher knockback, it can no longer jab reset.
- Megavitamins are slightly larger.
- Super Sheet:
- Super Sheet has an updated animation to differentiate it from Cape. The sheet now starts flat on the floor, with Dr. Mario lifting it up above his head. This now indicates the move's better vertical reach.
- Like Mario's Cape, Super Sheet forces opponents to show their back side while they're using their moves, whether if their stance is mirrored or not.
- Super Sheet deals slightly more damage.
- Super Jump Punch:
- Super Jump Punch deals slightly more damage.
- Dr. Tornado
- Dr. Tornado now hits seven times instead of four, and deals much more damage.
- Dr. Tornado now has super armor during start up.
- Dr. Tornado has less ending lag. This improves its safety and makes it better as a recovery option offstage.
- Dr. Mario now opens his hands when using the move, and he rises slightly upwards on the ground
- Dr. Tornado has a vortex form around Dr. Mario when used.
- Dr. Tornado has a slightly altered animation in the air.
- Dr. Mario appears to be much angrier than in the previous game when unleashing Doctor Finale.
Classic Mode: Colorful Treatment Plan
Dr. Mario's opponents are all trios of the same character in red, blue, and yellow costumes, referencing the three viruses: Fever, Chill, and Weird.
Round | Opponent | Stage | Music | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mr. Game & Watch Team | Flat Zone X | Chill (for 3DS / Wii U) | |
2 | Kirby Team | Green Greens | Fever | |
3 | Yoshi Team | Yoshi's Island | Chill (Brawl) | |
4 | Wii Fit Trainer Team | Wii Fit Studio | Fever | |
5 | R.O.B. Team | Battlefield | Chill (for 3DS / Wii U) | |
6 | Wario Team | Luigi's Mansion | Tetris: Type A | |
Bonus Stage | ||||
Final | Master Hand | Final Destination | Master Hand | On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand, and the track Master Hand / Crazy Hand plays during the battle. |
Role in World of Light
Although Dr. Mario does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. Dr. Mario has his own awakening battle separate from that of Mario, who appears in the opening cutscene.
Alternate costumes
Gallery
Dr. Mario idling on Wuhu Island.
Taunting on Mario Galaxy.
Attacking Link with his forward smash on New Pork City.
Jumping in Mushroomy Kingdom.
Tossing a Megavitamin on Moray Towers.
Holding a Fairy Bottle while running towards Link on Great Bay.
Taunting next to Little Mac on Tomodachi Life.
Snared by Mimikyu on Pictochat 2.
Using his down aerial on Wario on Skyworld.
Performing Doctor Finale on Wii Fit Studio.
Character Showcase Video
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Trivia
- With Link and Young Link now representing different incarnations of Link and Zelda and Sheik now representing different incarnations of Princess Zelda, along with Zero Suit Samus briefly transforming into her Varia Suited form for her Final Smash, Dr. Mario is the only playable character to represent an alternate identity for another character with no gameplay connection between the two.
- During Luigi's character showcase trailer, Dr. Mario's Super Sheet uses Mario's Cape animation, rather than the new animation specific to Dr. Mario.
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first Smash Bros. game where Dr. Mario is not holding his Vitamins in his official art.
- Dr. Mario's official art resembles one of the victory animations he has in Super Smash Bros. 4.
- One of the images on the Smash Bros. website shows Dr. Mario and Link, with the former holding a Fairy Bottle and the latter laying face-down. This is a reference to the fact that Fairies are a healing item in the The Legend of Zelda series, alluding to Dr. Mario's status as a doctor.
- This is further joked with in Dr. Mario's highlight video, in which he fights King Dedede on top of Onett's Drugstore.
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first Smash game to feature Dr. Mario and have his inclusion be planned from the start.