- Game Versions
- Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
First, Do Harm: Introduction
In the Dark Knight Returns we come across a Batman who returns 10 years after his retirement. Batman is way slower and, as a result, relies far more on brute force and quick tactics. This somewhat obscure and completely out-of-place literary reference sums up Dr. Mario.
Mario went to Woohoo Hooniversity to get his M.D. He took a residency at Mushroom Kingdom General Hospital. Years of studying, loan negotiations, and the stress that comes with both have taken its toll on his already worn body, but technical training and anatomy courses have taught Mario how to heal...and how to better harm.
Doctor Mario is much different than he was in Melee, where he was actually rated as superior to Mario. Despite this he is also much less cloney than he was and has a more distinct playstyle and flavour. Dr. Mario is basically what happens when Mario trades speed for power; he is deceptively strong for a character of his weight class. Dr. Mario can land some wicked hits while remaining a small, agile target. Mario is a bit of a showman; Dr. Mario is far more conservative and relies on practical, damaging combos.
A lot of people are quick to discount the Doc, either because they view him as a pointless clone or they are disappointed that he is not up to par with his melee incarnation. Doc is also far behind Mario in the tier list and only recently made a recovery from rock bottom. Don't let this dissuade you from using the Dr. though. If anything all of this is an advantage, you can really take people by surprise.
I am going to try to be thorough although this may mean that certain sections will have some overlap. Hopefully something positive and illuminating should emerge.
Alternative Medicine: Playstyle
I think Doctor Mario is more of a standalone character this time around but, for our purposes, he is best judged as an alternative to Mario.
Mario is well balanced: he has a good recovery, good speed, good damage and knockback, ok weight, good grabs, a solid air-game including a spike, and nice specials that includes a spammable projectile.
Doctor Mario, by contrast has a bad recovery, workable speed, great damage and knockback, ok weight, good grabs, a very solid air-game, and nice specials that includes a spammable projectile.
Some things are the same but the differences make Mario and the Doctor very different characters. Some of their combos are also the same, especially combo starters, but they diverge once you get into more elaborate ones.
Now lets try to itemize the differences and their consequences:
I would say that Dr. Mario plays in phases, depending on where the match stands. If your opponent is below 35% you should be able to pull off combos and hammer them until they hit about 50-60%. After this point it becomes a more conventional fight. Once the opponent gets above 90% (give or take) they enter Doc's KO range, at which point it is all about getting in a well placed surgical hit that does the trick. If this surgical hit fails to kill them it will usually damage them enough that you gain another viable kill move (the u-special for instance!)
Grey's Anatomy: Moveset
Doctor's Orders: Match-Ups
This section doesn't need much of an intro I hope...I will say that generally certain strategies exist for certain classes of character but, of course, there are always devils residing in details.
Mario: the differences between mario and doc are readily apparent in this match-up. Mario is an acrobat and will keep you on your toes. You may be slower, but your attacks are just as fast for the most part. Feel free to force Mario to trade hits with you; Doc's damage adds up faster. Expect a lot of fireball-pill fights and keep the sheet handy. Your pills are far more variable in trajectory so you have the edge. Mario will try to use FLUDD, the cape, and his fair spike to ruin your day so when recovering try to approach the edge from below (although not so close that you enter fireball range). Mario's d-smash can make recovery harder since it has a low trajectory.
Samus: The iron lady has reach and some pretty vicious vertical combos herself. Most of samus' combos are built on grappling or dash attacks: the grabs are FAR easier to punish. Samus, like other rangers, is vulnerable to pill spam/pill rush; her natural response is to use missiles or the charge beam, either of which doc can cape. If samus has a fully charged shot close the gap with a quick pill rush enough so that you can reflect it without samus having time to shield. Samus' d-smash is her quickest response to threats and it will send you in a low-arc.
Dr. Mario: Focus on building combos and sending out damage. Expect lots of pill fights. Try to keep the rival dr. between you and the edge: your d-smash makes a fine killing move here. Not sure what else I can stress beyond aggressive stage control and a pharmacy of pills. Reading this guide should give the edge here c;
Ganondorf: The king of evil has way more reach and power than the doctor but he is slower and a way bigger target. A mobile Dr. should be able to weave in and out and land devastating u-tilt based combos. Don't take many chances with ganondorf and rely on your d-smash for a good sweep that will send him in a low arc off-stage. Pills are your best friend in this match-up and an unhealthy overdose of them will wear down ganon and force him to undertake risky approaches. Take care to avoid getting hit by ganon's f-tilt at all costs. This straight leg kick will send you far and low- the doc cannot recover.
Lucario: On the one hand a Lucario at high percents can be easily dispatched with one good move. On the other hand Dr. Mario lacks the moves to quickly kill a Lucario at low percents (barring the cape) before the latter becomes a serious threat. Tread carefully here and take it slowly with the pills: don't rack up more damage than is necessary. Try to KO as early as possible, obviously. Remember that you can cape aura sphere AND force palm.
Jigglypuff: Jigglypuff can outdo you in the air and fire off some wicked hits. I recommend leading with short hopped bairs here: they hit hard and can out-range jigglypuff pretty well. Pills dropped high can also serve a nice anti-air function. Doc can Reliably kill Jiggly pretty early, but jiggly can wall of pain doctor mario off the edge with immense ease so do your best to avoid being sent offstage.
King Dedede: Gordos tend to travel at a similar arc to pills so Doc has a great defense against them. If you would prefer you can also reflect them with the cape. Give dedede plenty of space and be wary of his d-smash, grab game and standard special. Doc can win projectile fights and pull off terrifying u-tilt combos since Dedede falls very fast. Still, it will take a solid hit to actually kill Dedede since his recovery is nigh perfect.
Doctor Up: Techniques & Tips
Here are a few trade secrets that can sharpen up your game.
To be continued...
In the Dark Knight Returns we come across a Batman who returns 10 years after his retirement. Batman is way slower and, as a result, relies far more on brute force and quick tactics. This somewhat obscure and completely out-of-place literary reference sums up Dr. Mario.
Mario went to Woohoo Hooniversity to get his M.D. He took a residency at Mushroom Kingdom General Hospital. Years of studying, loan negotiations, and the stress that comes with both have taken its toll on his already worn body, but technical training and anatomy courses have taught Mario how to heal...and how to better harm.
Doctor Mario is much different than he was in Melee, where he was actually rated as superior to Mario. Despite this he is also much less cloney than he was and has a more distinct playstyle and flavour. Dr. Mario is basically what happens when Mario trades speed for power; he is deceptively strong for a character of his weight class. Dr. Mario can land some wicked hits while remaining a small, agile target. Mario is a bit of a showman; Dr. Mario is far more conservative and relies on practical, damaging combos.
A lot of people are quick to discount the Doc, either because they view him as a pointless clone or they are disappointed that he is not up to par with his melee incarnation. Doc is also far behind Mario in the tier list and only recently made a recovery from rock bottom. Don't let this dissuade you from using the Dr. though. If anything all of this is an advantage, you can really take people by surprise.
I am going to try to be thorough although this may mean that certain sections will have some overlap. Hopefully something positive and illuminating should emerge.
Alternative Medicine: Playstyle
I think Doctor Mario is more of a standalone character this time around but, for our purposes, he is best judged as an alternative to Mario.
Mario is well balanced: he has a good recovery, good speed, good damage and knockback, ok weight, good grabs, a solid air-game including a spike, and nice specials that includes a spammable projectile.
Doctor Mario, by contrast has a bad recovery, workable speed, great damage and knockback, ok weight, good grabs, a very solid air-game, and nice specials that includes a spammable projectile.
Some things are the same but the differences make Mario and the Doctor very different characters. Some of their combos are also the same, especially combo starters, but they diverge once you get into more elaborate ones.
Now lets try to itemize the differences and their consequences:
- Doctor Mario has slightly higher jumping which gives him a vertical advantage with a little more room to pull off combos
- Doctor Mario has much less ground and air speed, giving him far less horizontal momentum and meaning he can't give chase very well. His pills still allow him a safe approach at least.
- Dr. Mario's recovery is worse than Mario's and among the worst in the game. While the Dr. Tornado provides some rise and run the loss of the cape's stall and a lack of umph from the Up-B hamper him.
- Dr. Mario's moves deal more damage and kill earlier. Accordingly he can rack up damage a lot better and punish very well. Doc's F-Smash in particular is a great kill move although it has slightly less range than Mario's.
- Megavitamins are a little stronger than fireballs and have more stun. Whereas fireballs hug the ground, megavitamins bounce at variable angles depending on their fall height. Accordingly megavitamins are much better projectile for defense and they are better at gimping recoveries. I also feel like megavitamins cause more hitstun although I need to investigate this...
- Super Sheet is faster, stronger, and apparently bigger than Mario's cape, making it a more viable option in combat and in reflecting projectiles. Unfortunately it has no use in recovery which really hampers Doctor Mario's game.
- Super Jump Punch is no longer a multihit and behaves more like a sex kick. The initial hit is pretty lethal and the sourspot afterwards can reliably harass airborne opponents.
- Dr. Mario doesn't go on vacation so he has no need for FLUDD. He has the good ol' fashioned Doctor Tornado. Its a nice multihit and can supplement your recovery although it doesn't provide a great deal of vertical or horizontal support like the Luigi Cyclone (see Techniques below for some tips on supplementing the tornado).
- Doc's throws have a little bit more potency too them. This can actually work against your favor though: Mario can set up with his d-throw better than Doc can. That being said the throws are still reliable, with u- and d-throws good for set-up and the b-throw great for stage control.
- Doc's nair is a reverse sex kick (I think it is totally unique in this regard). Instead of having a brief moment of high damage followed by endlag with less damage it starts off weak and then gets stronger as it tapers off. This is a nasty surprise that is useful for disruption, especially when coupled with a fast fall. Its not the bread and butter of his air game (that would be his bair), but it is the mayo that holds it all together.
- Whereas Mario's fair is a fun spike, Doc's fair is...well...not a spike. While this prevents Doc from getting sneaky kills I actually prefer Doc's fair. It hits hard and comes out just fast enough to surprise people. It kills pretty well off-stage too, although no matter where you use the attack it can be pretty risky.
- Mario's tornado got relegated to his dair, but Doc retains the old school drill kick. The hitbox on this seems narrower (its still not shabby) but this move has a little more thrust and priority that makes it safer to land with and intercept an attack. When I fastfall I like to use the nair, when I am caught falling normally I prefer this option.
I would say that Dr. Mario plays in phases, depending on where the match stands. If your opponent is below 35% you should be able to pull off combos and hammer them until they hit about 50-60%. After this point it becomes a more conventional fight. Once the opponent gets above 90% (give or take) they enter Doc's KO range, at which point it is all about getting in a well placed surgical hit that does the trick. If this surgical hit fails to kill them it will usually damage them enough that you gain another viable kill move (the u-special for instance!)
Grey's Anatomy: Moveset
Doctor's Orders: Match-Ups
This section doesn't need much of an intro I hope...I will say that generally certain strategies exist for certain classes of character but, of course, there are always devils residing in details.
Mario: the differences between mario and doc are readily apparent in this match-up. Mario is an acrobat and will keep you on your toes. You may be slower, but your attacks are just as fast for the most part. Feel free to force Mario to trade hits with you; Doc's damage adds up faster. Expect a lot of fireball-pill fights and keep the sheet handy. Your pills are far more variable in trajectory so you have the edge. Mario will try to use FLUDD, the cape, and his fair spike to ruin your day so when recovering try to approach the edge from below (although not so close that you enter fireball range). Mario's d-smash can make recovery harder since it has a low trajectory.
Samus: The iron lady has reach and some pretty vicious vertical combos herself. Most of samus' combos are built on grappling or dash attacks: the grabs are FAR easier to punish. Samus, like other rangers, is vulnerable to pill spam/pill rush; her natural response is to use missiles or the charge beam, either of which doc can cape. If samus has a fully charged shot close the gap with a quick pill rush enough so that you can reflect it without samus having time to shield. Samus' d-smash is her quickest response to threats and it will send you in a low-arc.
Dr. Mario: Focus on building combos and sending out damage. Expect lots of pill fights. Try to keep the rival dr. between you and the edge: your d-smash makes a fine killing move here. Not sure what else I can stress beyond aggressive stage control and a pharmacy of pills. Reading this guide should give the edge here c;
Ganondorf: The king of evil has way more reach and power than the doctor but he is slower and a way bigger target. A mobile Dr. should be able to weave in and out and land devastating u-tilt based combos. Don't take many chances with ganondorf and rely on your d-smash for a good sweep that will send him in a low arc off-stage. Pills are your best friend in this match-up and an unhealthy overdose of them will wear down ganon and force him to undertake risky approaches. Take care to avoid getting hit by ganon's f-tilt at all costs. This straight leg kick will send you far and low- the doc cannot recover.
Lucario: On the one hand a Lucario at high percents can be easily dispatched with one good move. On the other hand Dr. Mario lacks the moves to quickly kill a Lucario at low percents (barring the cape) before the latter becomes a serious threat. Tread carefully here and take it slowly with the pills: don't rack up more damage than is necessary. Try to KO as early as possible, obviously. Remember that you can cape aura sphere AND force palm.
Jigglypuff: Jigglypuff can outdo you in the air and fire off some wicked hits. I recommend leading with short hopped bairs here: they hit hard and can out-range jigglypuff pretty well. Pills dropped high can also serve a nice anti-air function. Doc can Reliably kill Jiggly pretty early, but jiggly can wall of pain doctor mario off the edge with immense ease so do your best to avoid being sent offstage.
King Dedede: Gordos tend to travel at a similar arc to pills so Doc has a great defense against them. If you would prefer you can also reflect them with the cape. Give dedede plenty of space and be wary of his d-smash, grab game and standard special. Doc can win projectile fights and pull off terrifying u-tilt combos since Dedede falls very fast. Still, it will take a solid hit to actually kill Dedede since his recovery is nigh perfect.
Doctor Up: Techniques & Tips
Here are a few trade secrets that can sharpen up your game.
- Spin Doctor: When playing on the 3DS it can sometimes be hard to hit B fast enough to gain lift with the tornado; in such cases it may actually hinder your recovery. If you are having trouble with this use the tornado BEFORE your use your second jump. Once the tornado is over immediately press the jump button and Doc should get a jump in before he loses too much air. This can give you just the right push that you need, and it also shakes things up a bit for would be edge guarders.
- Pill Rush: Oh wait this isn't melee is it? Yeah....Nevermind, although I guess the general principle of using pills to approach is a good idea...Just be sure to send lots and lots of pills so that the opponent can never be to sure when you might snap
To be continued...
