Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Dr. Mario (SSBU): Difference between revisions

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*{{Sm|Lui$|USA}} - One of the first Dr. Mario players to garner any noticeable results, placing 33rd at {{Trn|GENESIS 6}} with solo-Dr. Mario, 17th at {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 5}} with mostly Dr. Mario, and 33rd at {{Trn|Frostbite 2019}} using Dr. Mario to defeat {{Sm|ESAM}}. However since mid-2019 he has dropped Dr. Mario in favor of other characters.
*{{Sm|Lui$|USA}} - One of the first Dr. Mario players to garner any noticeable results, placing 33rd at {{Trn|GENESIS 6}} with solo-Dr. Mario, 17th at {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 5}} with mostly Dr. Mario, and 33rd at {{Trn|Frostbite 2019}} using Dr. Mario to defeat {{Sm|ESAM}}. However since mid-2019 he has dropped Dr. Mario in favor of other characters.
*{{Sm|Meowscarada|USA}} - The best Dr. Mario player in the United States' online metagame. They placed highly at several online events such as 2nd at {{Trn|Frame Perfect Series 2: ONLINE}} and 7th at {{Trn|Smash Out Breast Cancer}} and was ranked 37th on the [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v6]]. Although their activity has largely been in-region in the post-online metagame, they nonetheless have seen strong results, such as placing 2nd at {{Trn|Ignition 300}} defeating some of the Midwest's best players including {{Sm|skittles}} and {{Sm|Ikan}}.
*{{Sm|Meowscarada|USA}} - The best Dr. Mario player in the United States' online metagame. They placed highly at several online events such as 2nd at {{Trn|Frame Perfect Series 2: ONLINE}} and 7th at {{Trn|Smash Out Breast Cancer}} and was ranked 37th on the [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v6]]. Although their activity has largely been in-region in the post-online metagame, they nonetheless have seen strong results, such as placing 2nd at {{Trn|Ignition 300}} defeating some of the Midwest's best players including {{Sm|skittles}} and {{Sm|Ikan}}.
*{{Sm|Winder|France}}: The best Dr. Mario player in Europe. With strong performances at majors such as 25th at {{Trn | ICARUS 2023}}, 33rd at {{Trn | Tech Republic VI}}. And super regionals such as 17th at {{Trn | SLY LAN}} and 33rd at {{Trn | WANTED S5 C1 - ALL STAR}}.
*{{Sm|Winder|France}} - The best Dr. Mario player in Europe. With strong performances at majors such as 25th at {{Trn | ICARUS 2023}}, 33rd at {{Trn | Tech Republic VI}}. And super regionals such as 17th at {{Trn | SLY LAN}} and 33rd at {{Trn | WANTED S5 C1 - ALL STAR}}.
*{{Sm|Shissho|Japan}} - One of the two best Dr. Mario players in Japan. He notably won the 256-entrants regional {{Trn|KOWLOON 1}} over {{Sm|Paseriman}} and {{Sm|Munekin}}, and has also placed highly at several majors, including 17th at {{Trn|Kagaribi 9}} and 25th at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 10}}.
*{{Sm|Shissho|Japan}} - One of the two best Dr. Mario players in Japan. He notably won the 256-entrants regional {{Trn|KOWLOON 1}} over {{Sm|Paseriman}} and {{Sm|Munekin}}, and has also placed highly at several majors, including 17th at {{Trn|Kagaribi 9}} and 25th at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 10}}.
*{{Sm|Tsumusuto|Japan}} - One of the two best Dr. Mario players in Japan. He is the only Dr. Mario player who had ever finished top 8 at a major, placing 3rd at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 9}}, and has also finished strongly at several majors, including 17th at at {{Trn|Sumabato SP Ultimate}} 33rd at {{Trn|Umebura SP 6}} and {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 13}}. He was ranked 115th on the [[OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse]].
*{{Sm|Tsumusuto|Japan}} - One of the two best Dr. Mario players in Japan. He is the only Dr. Mario player who had ever finished top 8 at a major, placing 3rd at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 9}}, and has also finished strongly at several majors, including 17th at at {{Trn|Sumabato SP Ultimate}} 33rd at {{Trn|Umebura SP 6}} and {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 13}}. He was ranked 115th on the [[OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse]].

Revision as of 00:02, September 25, 2023

This article is about Dr. Mario's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Dr. Mario.
Dr. Mario
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Dr. Mario SSBU.png
MarioSymbol.svg
Universe Mario
Other playable appearances in Melee
in SSB4

Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Doctor Finale
Tier D+ (79)
Dr. Mario (SSBU)

Dr. Mario (ドクターマリオ, Doctor Mario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially revealed on June 12th, 2018 alongside R.O.B., Duck Hunt, and the rest of the returning roster. While Dr. Mario remains a close clone of Mario, he is not classified as an Echo Fighter. As such, Dr. Mario is classified as Fighter #18.

As in Super Smash Bros. 4, Charles Martinet's portrayal of Mario from Super Smash Bros. Brawl was repurposed for Dr. Mario in Ultimate.

Dr. Mario is currently ranked 79th out of 82 on the Ultimate tier list, placing him in the lower half of D+ tier and making him a bottom five character. Despite being buffed overall, this is a drop from his placement in Smash 4, where he was ranked 48th out of 54, and is his worst placement in the series. Dr. Mario's playstyle is effectively a slower yet stronger version of Mario's. As a result, all of his moves possess better KO potential and/or damage output compared to Mario, while he keeps most of Mario's frame data, which allows him to perform short yet effective combos. In addition, Dr. Mario has several strong yet effective KO options in his arsenals, including Super Jump Punch, Dr. Tornado, most of his aerials, and back throw. This means players have to play more carefully when close to Dr. Mario, as a single whiff could lead into a deadly punish.

However, Dr. Mario's weaknesses outshine many of his strengths. His most notable weakness is his poor mobility, which cripples his neutral game and makes him vulnerable to camping. In addition, as his playstyle largely revolves around him getting close to his opponent, his poor mobility also makes it harder for him to avoid retaliation from opponents, as Dr. Mario's short range means he is vulnerable to moves with long range or disjoints. Finally, Dr. Mario's recovery, while improved, is still one of the worst in the game, as its short range and his slow air mobility makes him vulnerable to gimping.

Overall, Dr. Mario is a character that has good frame data and strong damage output and KO potential, but his sluggish movements cause him to rely more on a bait-and-punish playstyle. Although his represenation has remained below average for most of the game's lifespan, he has nonetheless seen success from players such as Shissho and Tsumusuto.

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 7th character unlocked 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. In World of Light, he is fought on the Ω form of Mario Bros.

Attributes

As a clone of Mario, Dr. Mario is a middleweight that can wall jump. Like his normal self, Dr. Mario also has excellent frame data: when not counting special moves, the overall start-up lag of his normal moveset is very fast. As a result, Dr. Mario is both difficult to punish and very effective at punishing. Although the two share an overwhelming number of identical animations and even the exact same values for certain attributes (weight, falling speed, fast falling speed and gravity), Dr. Mario nevertheless has a number of traits that differ from his normal self. Like Mario, Dr. Mario's height is below-average.

Dr. Mario functions like a stronger, yet slower Mario, owing to the implementation of multipliers to the majority of his moveset and some of his attributes. Most of Dr. Mario's moveset deals 1.176× more damage compared to Mario's moveset. Conversely, his full hop height is 0.85× lower; his walking and dashing speeds are 0.7942× slower; his air speed, air acceleration, short hop height, and double jump height are 0.7648× lower. Most of the multipliers result in Dr. Mario being distinctly affected by passive equipment physics from Super Smash Bros. 4, in which he specifically possesses a +22 Attack value and a -65 Speed value.[1] Although Dr. Mario's lower jump height makes his short hop more effective than Mario's, these modified attributes collectively render his overall mobility as sub-par. His wall jump and ledge jump also cover less distance as a result. Conversely, Dr. Mario's higher overall damage output results in him being noticeably more efficient at KOing in comparison to Mario.

Other noticeable differences between Dr. Mario and Mario are seen in their movesets and, by extension, their playstyles. Although Dr. Mario's overall frame data is only very slightly slower than Mario's (if even at all), his higher overall damage output and slower overall mobility make him unable to use a healthy balance of offense and defense like his normal self. Instead, Dr. Mario is much better suited to a bait-and-punish playstyle. On a related note, Dr. Mario's combo game is less varied and consistent compared to his normal self's, especially with regard to aerial combos. Despite this, his combos deal respectable damage in spite of their fairly short lengths, similarly to characters like Incineroar.

Dr. Mario's grounded moveset has plenty of utility in spite of his slow speed. Neutral attack is Dr. Mario's fastest attack, and the first two hits can lock opponents. Forward tilt is a great get-off-me option, and possesses situational KO potential at very high percentages unlike Mario's version. Up tilt is a decent anti-air and juggling tool that can KO at very high percentages, and it can also combo into itself, neutral aerial, up aerial, back aerial and Super Jump Punch, but is not as effective as a combo starter as his down tilt; however, the move's horizontal range is shorter than in Smash 4, and its hitboxes start from a higher position, allowing shorter, crouching or prone characters to potentially low-profile the move. Down tilt is one of Dr. Mario's best combo starters; although it is short-ranged, it is very reliable at a wide range of percentages, with its lower knockback scaling compared to Mario's even allowing it to combo at percentages where Mario's would not work, and depending on the percentage, it can lead into neutral attack, forward tilt, up tilt (only on certain characters), itself, up smash (only on certain characters), down smash, neutral aerial, up aerial, back aerial and Super Jump Punch. His dash attack has vertical knockback, allowing it to serve as a combo starter but hindering its edgeguarding potential. His forward smash, while slower than his other smash attacks, is extremely powerful for an attack of its speed, especially if the sweetspot connects; unlike Mario's, it possesses the electric effect, has shorter range, and the sweetspot and sourspot hitboxes are swapped around. Up smash functions more similarly to Luigi's version than to Mario's version, as it launches the opponent diagonally instead of vertically, and will launch them in the opposite direction of where Dr. Mario is facing as long as they are in front of him; compared to Luigi's, however, it launches at a lower angle, and it has lower base knockback than both Mario and Luigi's up smashes. Nevertheless, up smash's launch angle does make it much better at edgeguarding or setting up edgeguards than both Mario and Luigi's versions, and its higher damage output and knockback scaling compared to both of them also makes it a highly lethal KOing option. His down smash is his fastest smash attack, hitting on both sides (with the back hit being stronger than the front hit), and like Mario's version, it is useful for punishing rolls.

Like Mario, Dr. Mario possesses a decent grab game. His overall grab range is average, but each of his grabs have minimal start-up and ending lag. Forward throw is useful for initiating edgeguards; back throw is one of the strongest back throws in the game; up throw is a decent combo starter that can combo into up tilt (certain characters only), up aerial, neutral aerial, back aerial and Super Jump Punch; and down throw is his most effective combo throw, being able to combo into up tilt (certain characters only), up smash (certain characters only), neutral aerial, up aerial, back aerial, Super Jump Punch and Dr. Tornado depending on the opponent's percentage.

Like his normal self, Dr. Mario's air game is above-average. Neutral aerial is a "reverse sex kick": its clean hitbox deals minimal damage and knockback, whereas its late hitbox deals more damage. Thanks to it hitting on frame 3 and having low landing lag, its clean hitbox is ideal for set-ups. Conversely, its late hitbox is decent at edgeguarding, due to its long hitbox duration and larger hitbox than the late hit of Mario's equivalent move. Forward aerial has considerable start-up lag, but its clean hitbox makes it one of the strongest aerials in the game; as such, it is lethal when SHFFed against unwary opponents that are near the edge. Back aerial is also fast, auto-cancels in a short hop, and possesses a powerful clean hitbox, traits which collectively make it viable for KOing, edgeguarding and approaching. Up aerial's horizontal launching angle grants its beginning and ending frames decent combo potential into Super Jump Punch and back aerial, respectively, at low to medium percentages. This angle also makes its beginning frames capable of edgeguarding, unlike his normal self's up aerial. However, up aerial's launch angle also makes it much less effective at starting combos when SHFFed or juggling compared to Mario's. His new down aerial, while having slow startup, is a powerful meteor smash, making it an excellent option for edgeguarding; it is also an extremely solid combo starter with an extremely wide range of follow-ups on grounded opponents depending on their percentage, including neutral attack, forward tilt, up tilt, down tilt, dash attack, forward smash, up smash, down smash, grab, all aerial attacks (including itself), Super Jump Punch and Dr. Tornado.

With regard to special moves, Megavitamins travel farther in the air without landing compared to Mario's Fireball, and they bounce twice instead of three times; they also have altered knockback, allowing for a wider range of follow-ups. Super Sheet has more vertical range but less horizontal range than Cape, but its aerial version completely lacks the stalling effect of Mario's version, completely removing its recovery potential; it also has a 1.6× reflection multiplier, making reflecting projectiles with it more rewarding compared to doing so with Mario's Cape.

Unlike F.L.U.D.D., Dr. Tornado is an effective recovery option, with repeated mashing of the special move button allowing Dr. Mario to rise upward with it. It also deals damage. When coupled with its high damage output, very high knockback scaling and autolink angle, it is useful for edge-guarding, warding off edgeguarders, and even out-prioritizing attacks, and it also possesses excellent KO potential. However, Dr. Tornado's much shorter range makes it much riskier to use for edgeguarding compared to F.L.U.D.D. Due to Super Jump Punch consisting of a powerful clean hitbox and a weak late hitbox instead of multiple hitboxes like Mario's, it actually functions more similarly to Ryu's Shoryuken or Marth's Dolphin Slash instead. As a result, its clean hitbox makes it a viable KOing option unlike Mario's. Super Jump Punch is also an extremely effective out of shield option thanks to its frame 3 startup, much like Mario's version.

However, Dr. Mario's flaws are significantly more noticeable in comparison to Mario's. The most prominent one is his lackluster mobility, which hinders his ability to approach opponents, and renders him vulnerable to zoning and circle camping from characters with strong projectile games and high mobility, respectively, similarly to Ganondorf and Incineroar; unlike those two characters, however, Dr. Mario has an effective projectile in Megavitamins, a smaller hurtbox, effective out of shield options, and a decent reflector in Super Sheet, giving him a better defensive game in comparison. Additionally, Dr. Mario shares Mario's notable weakness of having short range in his attacks, which can give him trouble against characters with long or disjointed hitboxes; whereas Mario's faster mobility allows him to somewhat circumvent this weakness, especially against characters with poor mobility and/or frame data, Dr. Mario is less capable of weaving in and out of his opponent's range, making such characters much more difficult for him to deal with. Dr. Mario's sluggish mobility compounds another notorious weakness—his recovery. Despite being able to wall jump and the fact that Dr. Tornado is a much better recovery option than Cape, the combination of his slow air speed, low jump height, slow air acceleration and Super Jump Punch's mediocre travel distance results in his recovery being predictable like Mario's.

Due to his overall recovery granting noticeably less vertical distance compared to Mario's, Dr. Mario is very vulnerable to gimping and edgeguards. As a result, it is optimal for him to read the opponent when trying to return to the stage, as well as knowing when and how to make use of Dr. Tornado, which has a huge amount of ending lag (33 frames, aerial version) and cannot sweetspot edges. Due to his short recovery distance, any sufficiently strong attacks, particularly semi-spikes, may launch him too far away to recover properly. Lastly, Dr. Mario is outclassed in certain aspects by other characters: in particular, Zero Suit Samus has much better overall mobility; Shulk has much more range; and Snake is much better at zoning.

Overall, Dr. Mario's strengths are outweighed by his weaknesses. His fast frame data enables him to pressure, combo and/or punish the opponent effectively at close range, while his above-average damage output makes him capable of KOing easily. Unlike Mario, however, his slow mobility hinders his neutral game so much that he is largely reliant on baiting and punishing. By extension, his sub-par recovery makes him a less capable edgeguarder compared to his normal self, and he retains his normal self's lack of range as well.

Differences from Mario

Despite not being an Echo Fighter of Mario, Dr. Mario is still a close clone of Mario. There is currently no confirmed reason for this oddity, though it is likely due to Dr. Mario debuting in Melee rather than SSB4 or Ultimate as with the other Echo Fighters.

Dr. Mario uses external modifiers to most of his stats rather than directly modifying them, so he sports subpar mobility compared to Mario. However, Dr. Mario compensates for his slower mobility with another external multiplier that increases the damage of his attacks in comparison, as all of his attacks deal noticeably more damage without any compensation on knockback, which enables him to KO more easily as a result.

Aside from that, Dr. Mario also has other differences in his moveset. These include a few moves not cloned from Mario, such as back throw, down aerial and Dr. Tornado, as well as many moves with altered functionality, such as his dash attack launching upward, his up smash launching opponents behind him, his forward smash possessing an electric effect, his neutral aerial being a "reverse sex kick," his forward aerial not being a meteor smash, his Megavitamins not being absorbable and Super Jump Punch being a powerful singular hit at the cost of less vertical distance. Despite the aesthetic similarities, the different properties of the aforementioned moves, as well as his altered attributes, are enough to noticeably change Dr. Mario's playstyle compared to Mario's, although not quite to the same extent as Luigi.

Aesthetics

  • Change Dr. Mario is slightly less vocal than Mario. Some of his attacks also emit different sound effects.
  • Change Dr. Mario's on-screen appearance, taunts, idle poses and victory poses are different from Mario's.
  • Change Dr. Mario's defeated/No Contest animation is different from Mario's. Mario has a new animation in which he looks slightly to the left with a smiling expression, while Dr. Mario retains his animation from Smash 4, which is identical to Mario's from Brawl and Smash 4 (and like the latter, features him with a neutral expression), except that Dr. Mario looks directly in front of himself.

Attributes

  • Buff Dr. Mario's idle animation is much less exaggerated than Mario's. This gives him a consistently lower stance as a result.
  • Change Some of Dr. Mario's raw properties are modified as if he were wearing equipment of +22 attack and -65 speed in Smash 4.[1]
    • Buff The damage outputs of Dr. Mario's attacks use a 1.176× multiplier. As a result, he is significantly stronger than Mario. However, this multiplier does not apply to reflected projectiles or items, and the base damage of his moves can also differ from Mario's.
      • Nerf However, this limits his combo game.
    • Nerf Dr. Mario's walking speed, dashing speed and initial dash speed use a 0.7942× multiplier; while his short hop height, double jump height, air speed, air acceleration and air friction use a 0.7648× multiplier. As a result, Dr. Mario is significantly less mobile than Mario.
      • Change Dr. Mario's lower short hop makes it easier for him to pressure opponents with short hops and use short hop aerials against grounded opponents, but limits his ability to perform two aerials in a short hop.
  • Nerf Dr. Mario's full hop height is 15% lower than Mario's (36.33 → 30.8805), although it does not use a mobility multiplier.
    • Nerf Despite this, the mobility multiplier is used when using shooting items, which makes it 35% lower than Mario's (36.33 → 23.6174064).
  • Nerf Dr. Mario's wall jump covers significantly less height, hindering his recovery.
  • Buff Dr. Mario walks faster when carrying heavy items.
  • Buff Dr. Mario's traction is slightly higher than Mario's (0.102 → 0.106), making it slightly easier for him to punish out of shield.

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff The first two hits have different base damage values (2.2% → 2.5% (hit 1), 1.7% → 1.5% (hit 2)), resulting in the move dealing slightly more base damage in total (7.9% → 8%).
    • Buff The first hit's hitboxes are further out (Z offset: 6u/8.7u/12u → 6.7u/9.3u/12.5u), improving its range.
    • Nerf The second hit's hitboxes are not attached to Dr. Mario's arm, giving it less range.
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt has higher base damage (7% → 9%) with knockback scaling not fully compensated (70 → 65). When combined with Dr. Mario's damage multiplier, this gives the move KO potential near the ledge.
  • Up tilt:
    • Buff Up tilt has higher base damage (5.5% → 6.3%), further improving its damage racking and KO potential when combined with Dr. Mario's damage multiplier and making it safer on hit at low percents.
      • Nerf However, it loses its combo potential earlier as a result.
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff Down tilt's sweetspot is larger (3.2u → 3.5u), making it easier to land.
      • Nerf However, this makes the sourspot (which combos for longer) harder to connect with.
    • Buff It has less knockback scaling (80 → 55), and inflicts 3 additional frames of hitstun. When combined with Dr. Mario's damage multiplier increasing the move's damage output, this makes it a more damaging and effective combo starter that loses its combo potential later.
    • Change Its foot sweep visual starts earlier and has a different routine, more closely tracking his foot's current position.
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Dash attack's clean hit has higher base damage (8% → 9.8%), further improving its damage output. Its hitlag was also compensated (1.25x → 1x).
    • Change It launches the opponent vertically, whereas Mario's launches them horizontally. It also deals less knockback (100 base/43 scaling → 90/38). These differences make it effective for combos at low percentages, but incapable of effectively edgeguarding.
  • Forward smash:
    • Change Dr. Mario's forward smash's sweetspot and sourspot are on his arm and electricity respectively, whereas Mario's are on the flame and his arm respectively. This means Dr. Mario's forward smash does more damage and knockback at closer range than it would at farther range.
    • Nerf It has lower knockback scaling (105 (sourspot)/99 (sweetspot) → 100/94), partially compensating for the increased damage.
    • Nerf It has noticeably less range (outer hitbox size: 5u → 3.7u), making it incapable of 2 frame punishing opponents.
    • Change It has an electric effect, whereas Mario's has a flame effect. This makes it capable of hurting Olimar's Red Pikmin and makes it safer on shield, but makes it incapable of hurting Yellow Pikmin or instantly detonating explosives, and makes it easier to DI.
  • Up smash:
    • Change Up smash launches at a lower angle (83° → 120°), allowing it to KO opponents horizontally, but weakening its vertical KO and anti-air potential.
    • Change It has altered knockback (32 (base)/94 (scaling) → 0/117), making it combo more consistently at lower damages while still making it stronger at higher damages. However, this also makes it unsafe on hit at low percents and combo less consistently at mid percents.
    • Buff It lasts one frame longer compared to Mario's (frames 9-12 → 9-13), increasing its range in front of him.
  • Down smash:
    • Change The sweeping visual on down smash is purple and white, rather than yellow, blue and white.

Aerial attacks

  • Neutral aerial:
    • Change Dr. Mario's neutral aerial deals more damage and has higher knockback the longer it is active, whereas Mario's functions oppositely. This makes the move capable of instantly starting combos and makes it more effective at punishing, but removes its KO confirms and makes it less useful as an instant combo finisher and combo breaker.
    • Buff The late hit has larger hitboxes (2.8u/2.8u → 3.6u/3.6u).
    • Buff The late hit has higher base damage than Mario's clean hit (8% → 10%) with higher knockback scaling (90 → 100). Combined with the damage multiplier, this allows it to KO under 120% at the edge.
    • Buff It autocancels earlier (frame 39 → 34).
    • Nerf It has more landing lag (6 frames → 7).
  • Forward aerial:
    • Change Dr. Mario's forward aerial launches the opponent diagonally, whereas Mario's meteor smashes them. This makes it very effective at KOing on-stage, but much worse at edgeguarding and makes it less effective at starting combos on landing.
    • Buff The clean hit has higher base damage (14% → 15%), improving its KO potential even further.
    • Nerf The early and late hits have lower base damage (12% (early)/10% (late) → 10%/9%).
    • Change The sweeping visual commences a frame earlier, and the last frame of the visual is absent.
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff Back aerial's clean hit has higher base damage (10.5% → 12%) with knockback partly compensated (12 (base)/106 (scaling) → 10/95).
      • Nerf However, it loses its combo potential earlier as a result.
    • Buff The clean hit and late hit both have a longer duration (2 frames → 3 (clean), 3 frames → 5 (late)).
    • Nerf The clean hit has smaller hitboxes (4.5u/5.9u → 4.2u/5.4u), reducing its range.
    • Nerf It has more landing lag (6 frames → 10).
  • Up aerial:
    • Change Up aerial launches at a lower angle (75° → 45°), severely weakening its combo potential but granting it edgeguarding potential.
    • Buff It has noticeably higher base damage (7% → 10.2%) with knockback scaling compensated (135 → 100), further improving its damage output.
    • Nerf It has more landing lag (6 frames → 8).
  • Down aerial:
    • Change Dr. Mario's down aerial is a double foot stomp, whereas Mario's has been Mario Tornado since Brawl. Unlike Mario's, it consists of a singular, strong hitbox instead of several weaker, looping hitboxes.
    • Change It can meteor smash and send opponents horizontally instead of vertically. This makes it very good at edgeguarding, tech-chasing and starting combos, but less effective at KOing on-stage and extending/finishing combos.
    • Buff It has reduced landing lag (15 frames → 13).
    • Nerf It has significantly increased startup lag (frame 5 → 14) and more ending lag (frame 38 → 43).
    • Nerf It lacks a landing hit.
    • Nerf It has significantly smaller hitboxes.
    • Change Dr. Mario is silent when performing this move, unlike Mario.

Throws and other attacks

  • Forward throw:
    • Nerf Forward throw has less knockback scaling (65 → 60), preventing it from reliably KOing despite the damage multiplier.
  • Back throw:
    • Change Back throw has a different animation: Dr. Mario heaves the opponent off the ground and above his head, then tosses them away behind him, as opposed to swinging them around multiple times.
      • Buff Compared to Mario's back throw, Dr. Mario releases the opponent earlier (frame 44 → 30), making it harder to DI and increasing its consistency.
      • Nerf However, its FAF remains unchanged, increasing its ending lag.
      • Buff It has higher knockback scaling (66 → 68). Combined with the damage multiplier, this makes it considerably stronger than Mario's.
      • Nerf It lacks a collateral hitbox.
  • Up throw:
    • Nerf Up throw has reduced knockback scaling (72 → 65), making it incapable of KOing reliably despite the damage multiplier, while possessing inferior combo potential due to Dr. Mario's lower jumps.
  • Down throw:
    • Change Down throw launches at a higher angle (68° → 80°) and has altered knockback (40 (base)/90 (scaling) → 75/45). While this makes its combo potential into up and back aerials more consistent and allows it to combo earlier and for longer, it makes other followups like down tilt and neutral attack impossible.
  • Nerf Dr. Mario's floor attacks and edge attack have decreased base damage (front and back floor attacks: 7% → 6% (both hits), trip floor attack: 5% → 4.3% (both hits), edge attack: 9% → 8.51%). As a result, his floor attacks deal roughly the same damage as Mario's despite the damage multiplier.
    • Buff However, Dr. Mario's edge attack still outdamages Mario's version despite its lower base damage, thanks to his attack multiplier.

Special moves

  • Megavitamins:
    • Buff Unlike Fireball, Megavitamins cannot be absorbed by moves like Ness's PSI Magnet.
    • Change Megavitamins bounce higher (bounce speed: 1.4 (min)/1.6 (max) → 1.65/2, restitution: 0.97 → 1).
    • Change It launch at a higher angle (361° → 65°), and deals more knockback (35 (base)/20 (scaling) → 60/40 (clean), 28 (base)/15 (scaling) → 55/40 (mid), 22 (base)/10 (scaling) → 50/40 (late)), improving its setup potential but hindering its jab reset and edgeguarding potential.
    • Change Its hitbox is longer and thinner (size: 2.4u/2.2u/2u → 1.7u/1.7u/1.7u, Y offset: 0 → -1.7—1.7), better matching the shape of a capsule.
    • Change It deals more hitlag (0.6× → 1×) improving its safety but making it easier to DI/SDI.
    • Change It does not have a flame effect unlike Fireball. This makes it capable of hurting Olimar's Red Pikmin, but renders it incapable of instantly detonating explosives.
  • Super Sheet:
    • Change Compared to Mario's Cape, Super Sheet's hitbox is positioned slightly upward. This results in it having slightly more vertical range, but slightly less horizontal range.
      • Nerf While the Super Sheet's slightly higher hitbox can make the move somewhat easier to land while airborne, this is a situational advantage at best, and a rather poor trade-off compared to Mario's greater horizontal range. Dr. Mario's Super Sheet effectively covers less area overall.
    • Change It has altered hitbox placements.
    • Change It has a different animation where Dr. Mario swings the sheet upward, highlighting its increased vertical reach.
    • Change Unlike aerial Cape, aerial Super Sheet does not stall Dr. Mario. This makes it more effective at B-reversing, but unusable for recovery.
    • Change The reflect box is positioned closer and higher up (Y offset: 6.5 → 8, Z offset: 8 → 6.5), combined with its larger size (6.5u → 7.7u) it has more vertical range, and less horizontal range.
      • Buff It covers more of Dr. Mario's hurtbox.
    • Buff Its hitbox has a longer duration (frames 12-14 → 12-16).
    • Buff It reflects for slightly longer (frames 9-20 → 9-22).
    • Buff Projectiles reflected by Super Sheet do more damage (1.5× → 1.6×).
  • Super Jump Punch:
    • Change Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch consists of a clean hitbox and a late hitbox, whereas Mario's consists of several looping hitboxes. However, the angle of the attack remains the same as Mario's on all hitboxes, which makes it launch diagonally upon startup.
      • Nerf Due to this, Dr. Mario's variant is much less safe on hit at lower percents and is not as deadly of a stage spike until higher ones.
    • Change It has altered hitbox placements.
      • Buff The hitbox is overall considerably larger, making it easier to use out of shield.
    • Buff Due to its higher damage output, the clean hit is significantly more effective for KOing when not near the upper blast line and makes it an untechable stage spike at high percents.
    • Nerf It travels a much shorter distance, making it less effective for recovery.
    • Nerf Unlike Mario's, Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch lacks intangibility on start-up.
    • Change It has a wider array of angles (max angle change: 12° → 18°), though this is nullified by the significant distance reduction.
    • Change Cappy does not appear, and it does not produce Coins upon contact.
  • Down special:
    • Change Dr. Mario retains Dr. Tornado as his down special, whereas Mario's has been F.L.U.D.D. since Brawl.
    • Buff Unlike F.L.U.D.D., Dr. Tornado deals damage, making it a very viable KO move at higher percents.
    • Buff Compared to F.L.U.D.D., Dr. Tornado is significantly more effective for recovery.
    • Nerf Compared to F.L.U.D.D., Dr. Tornado has significantly less range and is less important to his neutral game as a result.
    • Nerf Due to lacking a powerful windbox that pushes opponents away, it is less effective at gimping.
  • Doctor Finale:
    • Change Doctor Finale produces 2D and 3D Megavitamin-based effects and emits Megavitamins' contact sound effect, whereas Mario Finale produces 3D fiery effects and emits a burning sound effect.
      • Change It does not have a flame effect as a result.
    • Change Its hitboxes are longer and thinner, better matching the shape of a capsules.
      • Nerf The shorter vertical range of its hitboxes allows for a wider spacing between Megavitamins, making it easier to miss opponents.
      • Nerf Its hitboxes are gradually expanding.
    • Change It launches at a averaged angle (20°-50° → 28°-36°) and has altered knockback.
    • Nerf It deals higher base damage per hit (2/2.5/3 → 3/3.2/3.4/3.6 (front), 2.3/2.5/2.6/2.8 (back)), but has longer gaps between hits (7 frames → 9) and a shorter duration (frames 65-224 → 65-214 (front), 79-214 (back)). As a result, it only hits 17 times instead of 24, and despite using a damage multiplier, the maximum damage it deals is significantly reduced (74% → 65.3856%).

Misc.

  • Change Dr. Mario has a different pose when trapped inside of Steve's Minecart, being the same as Luigi's.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Dr. Mario was previously a poorly regarded character in SSB4 due to a large combination of factors, including his lackluster mobility and short range granting him a poor neutral game, as well as his abysmal recovery and limited combo game, the latter especially compared to his regular incarnation. Likely due to these factors, Dr. Mario has been buffed in the transition to Ultimate, though not enough to raise his standing.

One of Dr. Mario's biggest buffs was to his already above-average damage output; all of his moves deal much more damage (excluding his pummel and get-up attacks), which further supplements his damage-racking game and his previously inconsistent KO ability. His recovery, while still poor, has nevertheless improved slightly; Dr. Tornado has increased distance, and the readdition of directional air dodges gives him another option to possibly extend and mix up his recovery. Additionally, Dr. Mario has a new down aerial and back throw; the former can now meteor smash opponents much like Mario's forward aerial, giving him an option that he notoriously lacked in the previous game. Meanwhile, the latter, albeit losing its collateral hitbox, has gained more knockback, now being among the strongest of its kind and even stronger than Mario's own.

Dr. Mario's entire special moveset has also seen numerous buffs. Megavitamins now deal enough damage and knockback to cause opponents to tumble, and launch at a higher angle, making them viable as a combo starter and even giving them the ability to set up KOs. Super Sheet has a higher reflection multiplier compared to Mario's Cape, and Super Jump Punch deals more knockback, making a superior KO move and deadlier out of shield option. However, Dr. Tornado was buffed significantly; outside of its improved recovery potential, it has gained heavy armor on startup if used on the ground, which makes it useful for tanking through attacks and breaking pressure. Additionally, it deals more damage and knockback, to the point it has gained notoriety for being able to KO offstage effectively at very low percentages; combined with its increased distance, it is now a deadly edgeguarding option. As a result of the improvements to Dr. Tornado, coupled with his revamped down aerial, Dr. Mario's edgeguarding game is now much more powerful in its own right.

In spite of this, Dr. Mario has received a few nerfs. Most notably, Dr. Mario's already sub-par mobility is slightly worse, given the nerfs to his air speed and jump height; while his mobility otherwise remains largely unaltered from his previous appearance, Dr. Mario is now much slower in comparison to the rest of the cast, especially considering most other fighters have received buffs to their mobility. He also shares some other nerfs with Mario, such as up tilt's hitbox placement adjusted, giving it inferior range in front of and underneath him, and his grabs having increased ending lag, hindering their utility and combos.

Compared to Mario, Dr. Mario is still a slower and stronger clone of him. Aside from having an updated idle animation, slightly higher traction compared to Mario, an altered animation for his side special, as well as receiving a new down aerial and back throw, he has not been further decloned. He has also received many of the same changes as Mario.

Overall, Dr. Mario's damage-racking potential has increased and his recovery is safer and slightly better overall, though none of his buffs have benefitted him enough to raise his tier list placement significantly. He also retains many of his weaknesses from SSB4, such as short range, poor mobility, and awful recovery, none of which were toned down in game updates. Thus, despite performing better in Ultimate, Dr. Mario has not improved significantly from his appearance in SSB4, which is made more egregious when coupled with the buffs other veterans have received and the introduction of plentiful, more powerful DLC characters Dr. Mario struggles against. Ultimately, despite his buffs, Dr. Mario is worse relative to the cast in Ultimate.

Aesthetics

  • Change Dr. Mario's model features a more subdued color scheme. Like Mario, the fabric of his clothes features greater detailing, and his head mirror's headband is cordovan brown instead of a dark taupe gray like in Melee. The inside of his pants is also slate grey instead of white. Additionally, Dr. Mario has a slightly darker skin tone.
  • Change Dr. Mario has a new idle animation with less exaggerated bouncing and his head turned more toward the screen, similar to the one he had in Melee. It no longer reverts to Mario's idle when holding an item.
  • Change Most, if not all, of Mario's aesthetic and animation changes also apply to Dr. Mario:
    • Change Dr. Mario has become drastically more expressive in this game, to an even greater degree than its predecessor, or the rest of the cast. In particular, he will sometimes smile and appear whimsical or happy in battle, in line with his canon depiction, although he still looks serious and with angry brows most of the time. In contrast, Dr. Mario will also make much angrier expressions than before, particularly when he is preparing to throw someone or when grabbing onto a ledge.
    • Change Walking, air dodge, helpless, skidding, and ledge-hanging animations have changed. Additionally, Dr. Mario now faces the screen instead of away while sleeping.
    • Change Dr. Mario's mustache now moves during certain animations, such as while falling.
  • Change The idle pose where Dr. Mario pounds his fist into his palm has been slightly altered; he now smiles during it.
  • Change All of Dr. Mario's victory poses have been slightly altered.
    • Change The victory animation where Dr. Mario rubs his chin has him tap the toe of his shoe on the ground before contemplatively rubbing his chin.
    • Change The victory animation where Dr. Mario throws Megavitamins has him looking towards the camera with a happy expression when holding the Megavitamins in his hands.
    • Change The victory animation where Dr. Mario poses with his stethoscope is more exaggerated.
  • Change Dr. Mario once again has his own section in the Sound Test, much like in Melee.

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Dr. Mario's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
  • Buff Dr. Mario's damage modifier has been increased (+15 → +22), meaning that the damage output of all attacks has been increased from 1.12x to 1.176x and slightly higher KO power as a result.
  • Nerf Dr. Mario's mobility modifier has been decreased (-50 → -65). Due to Dr. Mario's movement speed being relatively unchanged from his previous appearance, he hardly benefits from the universal mobility buffs, and is slower relative to the roster as a result of most other characters receiving such buffs, in a manner similar to Ryu and the Mii Gunner.
    • Buff Dr. Mario runs slightly faster (1.3312 → 1.397792).
      • Buff His initial dash is also faster (1.3312 → 1.5375712), although it is the 2nd slowest in the game.
    • Buff Dr. Mario walks slightly faster (0.9152 → 0.917301).
    • Nerf Dr. Mario's air speed is slower (0.9292 → 0.9238784).
    • Nerf Dr. Mario's short hop (14.171785912 → 13.414592) and midair jump (29.356105712 → 27.785184) cover less distance.
  • Buff Dr. Mario's full hop no longer uses an external multiplier and covers greater distance (29.356105712 → 30.8805).
  • Buff Dr. Mario's traction is much higher (0.045 → 0.106), allowing him to punish out of shield more easily. It is slightly higher than Mario's.
  • Change Dr. Mario's gravity is slightly lower (0.08715 → 0.087).
  • Nerf Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
  • Nerf Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35).
  • Buff Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 27 → 26).
  • Buff Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
  • Nerf Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 53).

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff Consecutive uses of the first hit of neutral attack are faster (11 → 6 frames).
    • Buff The first two hits transition into the subsequent hits noticeably faster (frame 10 → 5 (hit 1), 6 (hit 2)) and have less ending lag (FAF 23 → 20 (hit 1), 25 → 22 (hit 2)), no longer being slower than Mario's.
    • Buff The third hit comes out faster (frame 7 → 3) and goes higher, allowing it to connect better from the first two hits.
      • Nerf However, its total duration was not fully compensated (FAF 36 → 34), giving it more ending lag.
    • Buff The third hit has increased base knockback (45 → 60).
    • Nerf All hits have a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.8× (hit 1), 1.2× (hit 2), 2× (hit 3)), giving opponents more time to SDI each hit and DI the last hit.
    • Nerf All hits have smaller hitboxes (3u/2.8u/4u → 1.2u/1.5u/1.8u (hit 1), 3u/2.8u/4u → 1.8u/3u/4u (hit 2), 5u/2.5u/2.5u → 4.3u/2.5u/2.6u (hit 3)).
    • Change The first two hits no longer use set knockback (30 set/100 scaling → 25/20/10 base/30/20 scaling (hit 1), 30/20/15 base/35/25/15 scaling (hit 2)), and have altered angles (60°/70°/80° → 361°/180° (hit 1), 70°/78°/88° → 361° (hit 2)). This allows them to lock, and gives them jab cancel setups at high percents, but causes them to connect less reliably.
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt deals slightly more damage (7% → 9%).
    • Buff Forward tilt has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 26). Combined with the increased shieldstun for ground attacks, this makes it much safer on shield.
    • Change It has much more base knockback (8 → 55), but less knockback scaling (100 → 65). This makes it significantly safer on hit at low percents, but removes its ability to lock, and reduces its KO potential from across the stage.
  • Up tilt:
    • Nerf Up tilt has an altered animation with the spinning uppercut starting from a higher and closer position, noticeably reducing its range in front of Dr. Mario, to the point where it can no longer hit most characters on the ground unless they are very close.
    • Change Its animation has been flipped, with Dr. Mario spinning toward the screen rather than away from it.
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff Down tilt's sweetspot takes priority over the sourspot.
    • Buff It has less knockback scaling (80 → 55) and has gained a hitstun modifier of 3, significantly improving its combo ability, to the point of possessing KO setups at high percents.
    • Change Its animation has been flipped, with Dr. Mario spinning toward the screen rather than away from it.
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Dash attack's clean hit deals more damage (8% → 9.8%) with knockback scaling not fully compensated (42 → 38), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff The hitboxes are placed farther from Dr. Mario (Z offset: 4.4u/4u → 5.4u/4.9u), improving its horizontal range.
    • Buff It has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 1.875×, which when combined with the increased shieldstun for grounded attacks makes it safer on shield.
    • Buff The late hit has a slightly bigger hitbox (2.6u → 2.7u).
    • Nerf It has a different animation where Dr. Mario's head is positioned higher, his legs extend farther from him, and he gets up during the ending lag instead of staying sit. This prevents him from sliding under certain attacks, and makes him easier to hit overall.
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff Forward smash deals consistent damage across all angles (14%/17% (forward), 14.7%/17.85% (up), 14.42%/17.51% (down) → 14.7%/17.8% (all)), increasing it overall, with knockback scaling minimally compensated on the unangled (96 → 94) and downward angled (96 → 95) versions.
    • Change The electricity produced from Dr. Mario's forward smash is magenta/lavender instead of light blue.
  • Up smash:
    • Change Up smash launches at a more vertical angle (130° → 120°), which allows it to KO earlier onstage and function better as an anti-air punishment tool, but makes it more vulnerable to LSI and worsens its KO ability near the ledge.
    • Change Its animation has been flipped, with Dr. Mario facing toward the screen rather than away from it.
  • Down smash:

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials have less landing lag (12 frames → 7 (neutral), 28 → 17 (forward), 16 → 10 (back), 14 → 8 (up), 21 → 13 (down)).
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff Neutral aerial's late hit deals more damage (8% → 10%) and has more knockback scaling (90 → 94), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff The late hit has larger hitboxes (3u → 3.6u).
  • Forward aerial:
    • Change Forward aerial has a different animation, with Dr. Mario punching downward with his opposite hand and twisting around afterwards instead of flipping.
  • Up aerial:
    • Buff Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 32 → 31).
    • Buff It deals more damage (7% → 8.7%) and knockback (9 base/100 scaling → 10/114), giving it much more KO ability, without drastically reducing its combo ability due to its reduced lag.
    • Buff It auto-cancels earlier (frame 18 → 17).
    • Nerf Its hitboxes have a shorter duration (frames 4-8 → 4-7).
  • Down aerial:
    • Change Dr. Mario has a new down aerial: a downward stomp similar to that of Captain Falcon. It consists of only one hit instead of five.
    • Buff It has a shorter total duration (FAF 52 → 43), making it safer to use offstage.
    • Buff It deals more damage (1.7% (hits 1-4), 3% (hit 5); 9.8% total → 12%), with knockback not fully compensated (50 base/120 scaling → 10/100), and has a sweetspot that meteor smashes opponents, while the sourspot launches them at a lower angle (45° → 270°/361°). Combined with its previous changes, this allows it to start combos onstage at various percents, while also improving its edgeguarding ability, being as strong as Mario's forward aerial.
    • Buff It auto-cancels much earlier (frame 45 → 35), allowing it to auto-cancel in a short hop.
    • Buff It has larger hitboxes overall (4.5u/3.2u (hits 1-4), 5.5u/3.7u (hit 5) → 5.2u/4.5u).
    • Nerf Down aerial has more startup with a shorter hitbox duration (frames 11-27 → 14-17), which also increases its ending lag despite its total duration being reduced.
    • Nerf It no longer possesses a landing hit.

Throws and other attacks

  • Grabs:
    • Nerf All grabs have increased ending lag (FAF 29 → 35 (standing), 36 → 43 (dash), 34 → 37 (pivot)).
    • Nerf Dash and pivot grab have slightly more startup lag (frame 8 → 9 (dash), 9 → 10 (pivot)).
    • Nerf Dash grab has slightly less range (Z2 offset: 10.6u → 10.4u).
  • Pummel:
    • Buff Pummel deals more hitlag (5 frames → 14), but has significantly less startup (frame 16 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 24 → 7), shortening its duration.
    • Nerf It deals much less damage (3.25% → 1.3%).
    • Change It has a slightly different animation: Dr. Mario uses one hand during it instead of both of his hands like in previous installments, to maintain consistency with his grab animation.
  • Change All of Dr. Mario's throws have been altered with more exaggerated animations.
  • Change The speed of Dr. Mario's throws is no longer weight-dependent. This improves their combo potential on heavyweights, but reduces it on lightweights.
  • Forward throw:
    • Change Its animation has been altered, with Dr. Mario turning on the opposite direction faster, but the second half of the spin is slower and he tosses the opponent more exaggeratedly.
  • Back throw:
    • Change Dr. Mario has a new back throw: he heaves the opponent overhead behind him.
    • Buff It releases opponents faster (frame 44 → 30), making it harder to DI.
      • Nerf However, its total duration remains unchanged, increasing its ending lag.
    • Buff It has more knockback scaling (60 → 68). In combination with Dr. Mario's higher damage multiplier, this turns it into one of the strongest back throws in the game.
    • Nerf It no longer possesses a collateral hit.
  • Up throw:
    • Buff Up throw has increased combo ability due to Dr. Mario's faster jumpsquat and jump speed.
    • Change It has a different animation where Dr. Mario faces horizontally rather than towards the screen, and holds the opponent by their chest instead of lifting them on their back before throwing, more closely resembling Mario's Upward Cap Throw from Super Mario Odyssey.
  • Down throw:
    • Buff Down throw has increased combo ability due to Dr. Mario's faster jumpsquat and jump speed.
    • Change Dr. Mario no longer performs a front flip after throwing the opponent. He also slams the opponent more forcefully and with a single arm instead of two.
  • Floor attack:
    • Nerf Floor attacks deal less base damage (front and back floor attacks: 7 → 6 (both hits), trip floor attack: 5 → 4.3 (both hits)), meaning that they deal roughly the same damage as Mario's.
  • Edge attack:
    • Buff Edge attack deals more base damage (7% → 8.51%).

Special moves

  • Megavitamins:
    • Buff Megavitamins has less ending lag (FAF 53 → 50), improving its safety.
    • Buff It launches at a higher angle (361° → 65°), deals much more knockback (35 base/20 scaling → 60/40 (clean), 28/15 → 55/40 (mid), 22/10 → 50/40 (late)), and has a higher hitlag multiplier (0.3× → 1×). Alongside the previous change, this greatly improves the move's camping and followup abilities.
      • Nerf Due to these changes, however, it can no longer lock opponents.
    • Buff Megavitamins are slightly larger, and have been given an extended hitbox to match their size, increasing their range despite the hitbox itself being smaller overall (2u (clean)/1.8u (mid)/1.6u (late) → 1.7u).
    • Change The pills are generally less bouncy (bounce speed: 1.8 (min)/2.2 (max) → 1.65/2).
    • Nerf It has received negative shield damage (0 → -2.5 (clean)/-2 (late)), effectively dealing half its usual damage to shields.
    • Change Dr. Mario no longer opens his mouth when using Megavitamins on the ground.
  • Super Sheet:
    • Buff Projectiles reflected by Super Sheet have a higher damage multiplier (1.5× → 1.6×).
    • Buff It no longer gives the opponent super armor on hit.
    • Buff The Super Sheet now deals knockback and hitstun to opponents grabbing the ledge.
    • Nerf The reflective hitbox is smaller (9u → 7.7u), and has been moved forward (2 → 6.5). As such, it can no longer cover behind Dr. Mario, making it less safe to use.
      • Buff Although, it is easier to reflect projectiles that otherwise would have stopped short of Dr. Mario.
    • Nerf The reflective hitbox has more startup with a shorter duration (frame 6-22 → 9-22), although it has a new function causing it to start two frames earlier (frame 7) if a projectile is very close to Dr. Mario at the time. This slightly reduces its safety.
      • Buff In the same circumstances, the entire move loses two frames of startup, allowing the offensive hitbox to come out earlier (on frame 10) and reducing the move's total duration.
    • Nerf The animation is considerably longer (41 frames → 58). In the air, this increases the amount of time Dr. Mario's air mobility is restricted if the move is not interrupted.
    • Change It always forces opponents to show their backside while they are using their moves; this even works to characters with mirrored stances, such as another Dr. Mario, causing them to turn away from the screen.
    • Change Super Sheet has an updated animation to differentiate it from Cape. It starts flat on the floor, and Dr. Mario lifts it up above his head. This better indicates the move's higher vertical reach compared to Mario's Cape.
  • Super Jump Punch:
    • Buff Super Jump Punch's clean hit has slightly more knockback scaling (100 → 105).
    • Nerf The clean hit's hitbox is no longer extended towards Dr. Mario. Thanks to the new jostle mechanics, it does not induce a blindspot despite the reduced range.
    • Change The window to reverse Super Jump Punch is shorter, no longer being reversible during the clean hit. This makes it easier to angle vertically, but harder to recover with when facing away from the stage.
    • Change The clean hit has a lower hitlag multiplier (1.5× → 1×).
    • Change Super Jump Punch has an altered landing animation where Dr. Mario lands on his feet, like in Melee, as opposed to his back.
  • Dr. Tornado:
    • Buff Dr. Tornado hits seven times, up from five, and deals much more damage (1.2% (hits 1-4); 7.8% total → 1.6% (hits 1-6); 12.6% total).
    • Buff It has gained percent-based heavy armor during frames 2-9 when used on the ground, with a threshold of 10%.
    • Buff It has larger hitboxes (3.5u/4.2u → 4u/4.5u (looping hits), 6u/6u → 6.5u/6u (last hit)).
    • Buff It gains more height via button mashing, improving Dr. Mario's recovery.
    • Buff The looping hits have shorter gaps between them (6 frames → 4), different angles (90°/180° (grounded), 90°/366° (aerial) → 90°/105°/367°), a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.5×), and use set knockback for all their hitboxes, allowing them to connect much more reliably despite their increased SDI multiplier (1× → 1.2×).
    • Buff The last hit has more knockback scaling (130 → 154), which combined with its increased damage greatly improves its KO potential.
    • Nerf The looping hits are only active for one frame each, instead of being fully active throughout and using a rehit rate (frames 10-33 → 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30).
    • Change Dr. Mario opens his hands when using the move, and rises slightly upwards on the ground.
    • Change It has a vortex form around Dr. Mario when used, much like Luigi Cyclone.
  • Doctor Finale:
    • Buff At the start of Doctor Finale, nearby opponents will be slowed down more, and for longer.
    • Nerf The Megavitamins have a shorter duration with a faster travel speed (260 frames → 210). This makes them more likely to drop opponents, and makes them worse at timing out offstage opponents.
    • Change Damage from each hit is dealt solely based on how long the attack has been out, with the Megavitamins becoming more powerful as the attack continues. This makes the front Megavitamin worse early during the Final Smash, but the back Megavitamin stronger later during it.
    • Change Dr. Mario sports an angrier expression than in the previous game when unleashing Doctor Finale.

Update history

Dr. Mario has been buffed overall by game updates. After a few minor changes in preceding patches, Dr. Mario received a number of useful buffs in update 7.0.0. Down tilt gained noticeable adjustments to its knockback and hitstun, improving its combo potential significantly. Forward tilt and late neutral aerial's damage outputs were increased noticeably at the cost of slight knockback compensation, which improved their spacing and KO potentials, respectively. Down aerial gained more active frames, which improved its consistency and edgeguarding potential. Lastly, clean Super Jump Punch's knockback was increased, which heightened its already considerable strength.

Afterwards, update 13.0.0 granted Dr. Mario other substantial buffs. Two of his most important tools in the neutral game, neutral aerial and up aerial, gained noticeable increases to their knockback and damage output, respectively. Other pivotal moves in Dr. Mario's moveset were also improved: down aerial is 2 frames faster overall, Super Sheet's reflection hitboxes gained more active frames, and Dr. Tornado's heavy armor activates earlier.

Overall, Dr. Mario fares better than he did at the launch of Ultimate. However, the competitive scene's general opinion is that his normal self still outshines him in nearly every category.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 1.1.0

  • Buff The reflection damage multiplier for Super Sheet has been increased (1.5x → 1.6x).
  • Buff Super Sheet's reflector has more range (6.5u → 7.7u).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.0.0

  • Nerf Megavitamin has received negative shield damage (0 → -2.5 (clean)/-2 (late)), effectively dealing half its usual damage to shields.
  • Buff Super Sheet no longer puts opponents into hitstun during ledge return vulnerability, increasing his combo potential.
  • Buff At the start of Doctor Finale, nearby opponents will be slowed more (10 → 20), and for longer (60 frames → 85).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 7.0.0

  • Buff Forward tilt deals more base damage (7% → 9%), with knockback scaling not fully compensated (70 → 65).
  • Buff Down tilt has less knockback scaling (80 → 55), and inflicts 3 additional frames of hitstun. This significantly improves its combo potential, granting it KO setups into Super Jump Punch at high percents.
  • Buff Neutral aerial's late hit deals more base damage (8% → 10%), with knockback scaling not fully compensated (102 → 94).
  • Buff Down aerial has a longer hitbox duration (frames 16-17 → 16-19).
  • Buff Super Jump Punch's clean hit has more knockback scaling (100 → 105).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 8.0.0

  • Buff Doctor Finale deals more damage (2.7%, 2%, 2.9%/2.2%, 3.1%/2.3%, 3.3%/2.5% → 3%, 2.3%, 3.2%/2.5%, 3.4%/2.6%, 3.6%/2.8%).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 13.0.0

  • Buff Late neutral aerial has higher knockback scaling (94 → 100).
  • Buff Up aerial deals more damage (8.7% → 10.2%), with its knockback scaling compensated (114 → 100).
  • Buff Down aerial has less startup lag (frames 16-19 → 14-17). Its total duration was also subsequently reduced (FAF 45 → 43).
  • Buff Super Sheet's hitbox has a longer duration (frames 12-14 → 12-16).
  • Buff Grounded Doctor Tornado gains super armor earlier and for a longer period of time (frames 5-9 → 2-9).

Moveset

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

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack Jab (ジャブ) / Straight (ストレート) / Kick Up (けりあげ) 2.94% The Punch + Punch + Kick combo from Super Mario 64. Useful for spacing and comes out quickly. The first and second hits can also jab lock.
1.764%
4.704%
Forward tilt Middle Kick (ミドルキック) 10.584% A wheel kick. It deals average knockback, but it is enough to KO at around 150% at the ledge.
Up tilt Uppercut (アッパーカット) 7.4088% A spinning uppercut. Can combo into itself at low percentages, and into aerials at higher percentages. At high percentages (around 140%-150%), it can serve as a KO option, although it fails to hit most short opponents due to its high hitbox placement. It vaguely resembles the second hit of the Mega Glove's combo from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
Down tilt Spinning Low Kick (スピニングローキック) 5.88% (foot), 8.232% (leg) A legsweep. A great combo starter, as it can combo into up aerial, Super Jump Punch, and Dr. Tornado, all of which serve as KO confirms.
Dash attack Sliding (スライディング) 11.5248% (clean), 7.056% (late) The Slide Kick from Super Mario 64. Launches opponents vertically unlike Mario's version, which can potentially make it a combo starter if hit late.
Forward smash Defibrillator (心臓マッサージ, Cardiac Massage) 17.2872% (electricity), 20.9328% (arm) A palm thrust that produces a small burst of electricity. Deals immense damage and knockback, giving it great KO potential. Its sweetspot is located on Dr. Mario's arm. One of the stronger forward smashes in the game, and one of Dr. Mario's most viable KOing options. Its electric properties also make it safer on shield compared to Mario's, especially if spaced.
Up smash Ear, Nose, and Throat (スマッシュヘッドバット, Smash Headbutt) 16.464% An upward arcing headbutt. Unlike most up smashes, this one launches opponents horizontally in the opposite direction he is facing. Renders Dr. Mario's head intangible for a short time. The horizontal angle allows the move to combo into itself at low percentages and KO earlier at the ledge, although it weakens its potential as an anti-air and punishment tool.
Down smash Break Spin (ブレイクスピン) 11.76% (front), 14.112% (back) A breakdancing version of the Sweep Kick from Super Mario 64. Dr. Mario's fastest smash attack, making it a rather useful defensive option. Its back hit is stronger, and can punish ledge stalls effectively. It can also semi-spike with above-average knockback, making it a great edgeguarding tool.
Neutral aerial Dr. Kick (ドクターキック) 5.88% (clean), 11.75% (late) A flying kick. It is a sex kick that has the unique property of having its late hit being stronger than its clean hit. Its clean hit can jab lock and start combos, while its late hit has surprisingly high knockback for a sex kick, KOing at the edge at around 130%.
Forward aerial Dr. Punch (ドクターグーパンチ) 11.76% (early), 17.64% (clean), 10.584% (late) An overhand. Unlike Mario's version, it does not have a meteor smash hitbox. It has slow startup (tied with his down aerial for the slowest of his other aerials), high ending and landing lag, and is the only aerial that cannot autocancel in a short hop, but it has extremely high diagonal knockback when hit clean, making it one of the strongest forward aerials in the game. Can KO middleweights as early as 70% near the edge.
Back aerial Drop Kick (ドロップキック) 14.112% (clean), 8.232% (late) A dropkick. Comes out quickly and has above-average knockback, which makes it a viable edgeguarding and KO move and a reverse aerial rush option. Can also chain into itself at low percents, or set up tech-chase situations.
Up aerial Air Slash (エアスラッシュ) 11.9952% A bicycle kick. The move launches diagonally unlike Mario's up aerial, which can be ideal for edgeguarding mixups. However, this renders it unusable for juggling and lengthy combos past low percentages. It can be used twice in a single short hop, or the second up aerial can be replaced with a neutral aerial instead. Despite its very quick startup, it works well as a KO option at high percentages, especially offstage.
Down aerial CLEAR! (全力メテオキック, Full Power Meteor Kick) 14.112% A double foot stomp. While it has noticeable startup, it deals consistent damage and can powerfully meteor smash opponents when hitting with the sweetspot on his legs. It has a sourspot on his hips, which launches away instead. On grounded opponents, the meteor hitbox can open up many KO confirms, notably with forward aerial, back aerial, Super Jump Punch and Dr. Tornado.
Grab Grab (つかみ) Reaches out. Has average range and above-average speed.
Pummel Grab Headbutt (つかみヘッドバット) 1.5288% A headbutt. Moderately fast.
Forward throw Swing-Around Throw (ふり抜き投げ) 9.408% Spins and throws the opponent away. Can be used to set up an edgeguard, or combo into dash attack against certain characters at 0%. Decently quick. It is also slightly stronger than Mario's forward throw, as it can KO middleweights at around 178% at the edge of Final Destination, which is about 10% earlier.
Back throw Airplane Throw (ヒコーキ投げ) 12.936% Dr. Mario heaves the opponent over him and then throws them diagonally. Combined with its high damage and knockback, it is one of the strongest back throws in the game, having potential to even surpass Ness' back throw by a small margin when at the ledge. Can KO middleweights at around 109% near the edge of Final Destination with good DI.
Up throw Throw Up (スルーアップ) 8.232% Heaves the opponent upward. Can put the opponent into a juggling situation. Can combo into up aerial and Dr. Tornado at low percentages. It can KO middleweights at around 224% on Final Destination, which is about 5% earlier than Mario's up throw. Due to its new animation, it heavily resembles the Upward Cap Throw from Super Mario Odyssey.
Down throw Hospital Bed (スルーダウン, Throw Down) 5.88% A body slam. As it launches opponents directly upward unlike Mario's version, it is one of Dr. Mario's best combo starters, being useful for initiating aerial combos. It even has KO setups into up aerial, forward aerial, back aerial, Super Jump Punch and Dr. Tornado, although the latter four followups are reliant on reading the opponent.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7.056% Punches behind himself and then in front of himself while getting up.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7.056% Performs a modified version of the Sweep Kick from Super Mario 64 before getting up.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5.0568% Performs a side kick behind himself and then in front of himself while getting up.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  10.00776% Performs a dropkick while climbing up. Identical to Mario's, though it deals more damage.
Neutral special Megavitamins 5.88% (early), 4.704% (late) Throws a Megavitamin. Useful approach and pressure option. Unlike Fireball, it cannot be absorbed, bounces on a different trajectory, and lacks a flame effect. It launches opponents slightly upward, which can potentially set up a combo. At higher percents, it can even set up for a KO confirm if timed correctly.
Side special Super Sheet 8.232%, 1.6× (reflection) Flips a white sheet upward. It reflects projectiles and reverses enemies, as well as reversing the opponent's controls for a brief instant. However, it does not stall Dr. Mario's descent in midair, making it useless for recovery unlike Cape. Compared to Mario's version, Dr. Mario's Super Sheet has slightly increased vertical reach in exchange for slightly lower horizontal reach, and has a longer hitbox and reflecting duration along with a higher reflection multiplier. In essence, it is better for reflection in exchange for bringing less utility.
Up special Super Jump Punch 14.112% (clean), 7.056% (late) A jumping uppercut. Unlike Mario's (which deals multiple hits), Dr. Mario's version consists of a powerful main hit that hits once, with a weaker late hit. It functions better as an attack than a recovery option, as it has great KO potential and fast startup, which can make it a deadly out of shield option. However, it travels a short distance compared to Mario's version.
Down special Dr. Tornado 1.8816% (hits 1-6), 3.528% (final hit) Rapidly spins around, trapping opponents and damaging them with a series of discus clotheslines and spinning backfists before assuming a spread-eagle position to launch them. Can hit up to seven times, with the final hit sending opponents diagonally. This move can be used to aid in recovery, as mashing the B button will make Dr. Mario rise up. The maximum height that can be gained from this move is greater than that of Super Jump Punch, although this requires extremely fast button mashing. It gains good vertical and horizontal distance if mashed fast enough. As an attack, it is notorious for being able to KO very early at the sides of the stage (around 45% at earliest) due to its extremely high knockback growth on its last hit. As such, it is a deadly edgeguarding tool, although it is a bit risky due to Dr. Mario's poor recovery.
Final Smash Doctor Finale 3.528%/3.7632%/3.9984%/4.2336% (front), 2.7048%/2.94%/3.0576%/3.2928% (back) Rears his arms back before thrusting them forward to generate and launch two gigantic Megavitamins, which trap and repeatedly damage any opponents in their path. Compared to Mario Finale, the front Megavitamin deals more damage than the back Megavitamin, and the Megavitamins don't deal flame damage.

Announcer calls

On-screen appearance

  • Stands behind a wall of Megavitamins, which then start to disappear starting from the top to reveal him. Has his eyes closed until all of the Megavitamins are gone, in which he opens them and assumes fighting stance.

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Looks to the ground and rubs the sole of one of his shoes to the floor.
  • Side taunt: Pulls out a randomly colored Megavitamin, rolls it down his arm, uses his shoulder to toss it into the air, and then catches it.
  • Down taunt: Balls one of his fists and lightly pounds his shoulder.

Idle poses

  • Rolls his neck as if stretching it.
  • Pounds his fist into his palm.

Crowd cheer

Cheer (English) Cheer (Japanese/Chinese) Cheer (Italian) Cheer (Dutch) Cheer (French)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Go - Doc! Iii-sha! (Doc-tor!) Doctor Mario curali tutti! Dok! Dok! Dr. Mario! Doc - teur Mari - o!
Cheer (German) Cheer (Spanish) Cheer (Russian) Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Dok - tor Mari - o! Dooooctor Mario! *claps 5 times* Dok - tor -- Mari - o! Doc - tor Mari - o!

Victory poses

  • Left: Throws two randomly colored Megavitamins in different directions, dusts his gloves, pulls out two more Megavitamins of the same color, and smiles.
  • Up: Waves his stethoscope in front of himself, off to his side, then to the other, and then back in front of himself.
  • Right: Taps his shoe on the ground, contemplatively rubs his chin and then suddenly glances at the screen while continuing to rub his chin.
A flourished remix of the Course Clear Fanfare used in Super Mario Bros.

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Dr. Mario players (SSBU)

Tier placement and history

In the early metagame, opinions on Dr. Mario remained largely the same as it was in Super Smash Bros. 4. Although his power, out of shield options, and damage racking capabilities were improved in the transition to Ultimate, his sluggish speed, atrocious recovery, and mediocre range indicated that his worst weaknesses were still largely unaddressed, leaving him with poor matchups against characters such as Palutena, Shulk, and Lucina. Although players such as Lui$, Locus, and Oryon saw success with the characters, most would either drop the character or relegated him to a secondary, worsening his poor representation. As a result, most players, including Dark Wizzy and Mr.R, viewed Dr. Mario as a low tier, with some going as far as to say that he was one of the worst characters in the game. The current tier list reflects this, as Dr. Mario is ranked just above the likes of King Dedede, Little Mac, and Ganondorf.

Despite this negative perception, however, Dr. Mario still saw glimpses of success thanks to the efforts of dedicated mains, including Tsumusuto in Japan and Mabel during the online metagame. Furthermore, Dr. Mario received buffs from game updates that improved his combo and punish games. This left his true viability up to debate, with players such as Nairo and Leffen believing Dr. Mario was potentially a mid tier fighter, while other players maintained that he was still a low tier fighter due to improvements to other fighters, as well as the introductions of Min Min, Steve, and Sephiroth. Nevertheless, Dr. Mario's perception has improved since the early metagame, although he is unanimously agreed to be inferior to Mario.

Classic Mode: Colorful Treatment Plan

Dr. Mario's congratulations screen.

In reference to the three viruses, Fever, Chill, and Weird, Dr. Mario's opponents are trios consisting of red, blue, and yellow alternates of a particular fighter.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Mr. Game & Watch (SSBU)Mr. Game & Watch (SSBU)Mr. Game & Watch (SSBU) Mr. Game & Watch Team Flat Zone X Chill (for 3DS / Wii U)
2 Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU) Kirby Team Green Greens Fever
3 Yoshi (SSBU)Yoshi (SSBU)Yoshi (SSBU) Yoshi Team Yoshi's Island Chill (Brawl)
4 Wii Fit Trainer (SSBU)Wii Fit Trainer (SSBU)Wii Fit Trainer (SSBU) Wii Fit Trainer Team Wii Fit Studio Fever
5 R.O.B. (SSBU)R.O.B. (SSBU)R.O.B. (SSBU) R.O.B. Team Battlefield Chill (for 3DS / Wii U)
6 Wario (SSBU)Wario (SSBU)Wario (SSBU) Wario Team Luigi's Mansion Tetris: Type A References his rivalry with Wario in Dr. Mario 64, as well as Wario's bad diet and hygiene in the WarioWare series.
Bonus Stage
Final Master Hand Final Destination Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity)
Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)
On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Note: Every stage plays a track related to Dr. Mario or from the Tetris universe, no matter what universe the stage originates from.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Dr. Mario has Fever accompany the credits.

The spawn positions in Round 1 were changed in version 12.0.0. Player 1 Dr. Mario starts on the second floor of the building on Flat Zone X (which was Player 2's position beforehand) instead of on the floor in front of the building. Player 2 starts on the ground level right underneath Player 1 instead of on the second floor. The Mr. Game & Watch Team was moved slightly forward.[2][3] Dr. Mario is overall further away from the Mr. Game & Watch Team in single-player mode, which means the round will take slightly longer than average.

Role in World of Light

Finding Dr. Mario 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.

Dr. Mario can be awakened in a cloud that is found on a pathway connected by a ribbon that also leads to a city-like area.

Fighter Battle

No. Image Name Type Power Stage Music
18
Dr. Mario SSBU.png
Dr. Mario
Shield
Shield
3,400 Mario Bros. (Ω form) Fever

Spirit

Dr. Mario's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Dr. Mario has been unlocked. Unlocking Dr. Mario in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

In Spirit Battles

Conditions in italic aren't listed on the Spirit Battle preview screen.

As the main opponent

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
592
SSBU spirit Dr. Stewart.png
Dr. Stewart F-Zero Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Neutral
9,500 Mute City SNES (Battlefield form) •Item: Food •Timed battle (1:30)
•The enemy heals over time
•Items will be pulled toward the enemy
Mute City (Original)
736
SSBU spirit Dr. Crygor.png
Dr. Crygor WarioWare Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
R.O.B. R.O.B. (SSBU)
Wario Wario (SSBU)
Grab
3,400 WarioWare, Inc. (hazards off) N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win Mike's Song
752
Hal emmerich
Hal Emmerich Metal Gear Solid Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
•Giant Metal R.O.B. R.O.B. (SSBU)
Shield
4,500 Prism Tower N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy tends to avoid conflict
•The enemy is metal
Yell "Dead Cell"
867
SSBU spirit Dr. Light.png
Dr. Light Mega Man Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU) (160 HP)
Mega Man Mega Man (SSBU) (160 HP)
Shield
10,000 Wily Castle (Battlefield form) N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
Stamina battle
•The enemy tends to avoid conflict
Mega Man 2 Medley
873
SSBU spirit Dr. Wily.png
Dr. Wily Mega Man Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU) (50 HP)
•Metal Mega Man Mega Man (SSBU)×8 (100 HP)
Attack
12,600 Wily Castle (hazards off) N/A Stamina battle
•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd
•The enemy is metal
Mega Man 2 Medley
1,132
from the game's files
Hockey Players Ice Hockey Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong (SSBU)
Luigi Luigi (SSBU)
Attack
1,500 Pokémon Stadium (Ω form) •Slippery Stage •The stage's platforms are very slippery Core Luge Short hockey player
1,135
SSBU spirit Andy.png
Andy Advance Wars Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
•Tiny Snake Snake (SSBU)×8
Grab
3,400 Halberd (Ship deck) •Health Recovery
•Item: Exploding Types
•The enemy is healed when the enemy's at high damage
•Defeat an army of fighters
Filled with Hope
1,195
from the game's files
Sick Beats Doctor Rhythm Heaven Series North America
Rhythm Paradise Series PAL
Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Shield
2,200 Wrecking Crew •Assist Trophy Enemies (Ghosts)
•Hazard: Poison Cloud
•The stage is covered in a poisonous cloud
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
Chill (Brawl)
1,214
from the game's files
Dr. Kawashima Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! Series North America
Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? Series PAL
Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Neutral
3,800 PictoChat 2 (hazards off) •Assist Trophy Enemies (Dr. Kawashima) •Hostile assist trophies will appear Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!
1,216
drlube
Dr. Lobe Big Brain Academy Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU)
Neutral
3,400 PictoChat 2 •Hazard: Low Gravity
•Hazard: High Gravity
•All fighters have reduced jump ability
•Gravity is reduced after a little while
Title Theme - Big Brain Academy
1,266
SSBU spirit Plague Knight.png
Plague Knight Shovel Knight Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Grab
1,900 Unova Pokémon League •Item: Bob-omb •The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power
•Items will be pulled toward the enemy
•The enemy is easily distracted by items
Flash in the Dark (Dr. Wily Stage 1)
1,319
from the game's files
Professor Riggs & Plaise & Lerna North America
Professor Gerry, Plaise, & Lerna PAL
Nintendo Labo Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Bayonetta Bayonetta (SSBU)
•Tiny Young Link Young Link (SSBU)
Neutral
2,500 Paper Mario •Attack Power ↑
•Defense ↑
•The enemy has increased defense after a little while
•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while
Title Theme - Super Mario Maker Professor Riggs North America
Professor Gerry PAL
1,390
SSBU spirit Seteth.png
Seteth Fire Emblem Series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Villager Villager (SSBU)
Neutral
4,200 Garreg Mach Monastery (Cathedral) N/A •Timed battle (1:00)
•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd
•The enemy has increased power for the first part of the battle
Chasing Daybreak

As a minion

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
1,344
SSBU spirit Gruntilda.png
Gruntilda Banjo-Kazooie Series •Giant King Dedede King Dedede (SSBU) (250 HP)
•Giant Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU) (40 HP) Dr. Mario (SSBU) (45 HP) Dr. Mario (SSBU) (50 HP)
Attack
13,900 Find Mii (Ω form) •Hazard: Poison Floor •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The floor is poisonous
Stamina battle
•The enemy starts the battle with a Star Rod
•Reinforcements will appear during the battle
Vs. Klungo Klungo
1,421
SSBU spirit Alfyn & Therion.png
Alfyn & Therion OCTOPATH TRAVELER Sheik Sheik (SSBU)
Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Attack
9,200 Distant Planet (Battlefield form) •Hazard: Poison Floor •The floor is poisonous
•The enemy's melee blows will heal them when they hit
Save the World, Heroes! Alfyn

Alternate costumes

Palette swap (SSBU)
Dr. Mario (SSBU) Dr. Mario (SSBU) Dr. Mario (SSBU) Dr. Mario (SSBU) Dr. Mario (SSBU) Dr. Mario (SSBU) Dr. Mario (SSBU) Dr. Mario (SSBU)

Gallery

Fighter Showcase Video

Trivia

  • With Link and Young Link now representing different incarnations of Link, Zelda and Sheik now representing different incarnations of Princess Zelda, and Zero Suit Samus now 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, namely Mario, with no gameplay connection between each other in Ultimate.
  • During Luigi's character showcase trailer, Super Sheet uses Cape's animation instead of its new animation. Additionally, the sheet is unanimated and is attached to Dr. Mario's left arm.
  • Ultimate is the first Super Smash Bros. game where he is not holding a Megavitamin in his official art.
  • Ultimate is the first Smash game to feature Dr. Mario and have his inclusion be planned from the start. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Dr. Mario was a late development addition to pad out the roster. In Smash 4, Dr. Mario was originally going to be an alternate costume of Mario, but remained a clone as a last minute decision in order to appeal to his fanbase from Melee.
  • Using Megavitamins and pausing the game the moment the projectile appears in Dr. Mario's arm reveals that it will always appear completely red before changing to a randomized color one frame later.
  • Prior to version 2.0.0, Dr. Mario's down aerial was named Bone Drill, a name arguably more fitting for his down aerial in Smash 4. The current name, CLEAR!, references the message appearing when a level is completed in the original Dr. Mario, as well as the shout paramedics give when using defibrillators.
  • Dr. Mario's section in the Sound Test is functionally identical to that of Mario's, with some voice clips not used by Dr. Mario (such as "Let's-a go!" from Mario's on-screen appearance) being removed.
    • Unlike Mario, Dr. Mario's Star KO voice clip is listed before his heavy knockback voice clips rather than after after them, matching the order of the other base roster characters excluding Pikachu and Roy.
    • The voice clips of Dr. Mario's forward aerial, back throw, double jump, Doctor Finale, and Home-Run Bat swing are omitted despite Dr. Mario using them in-game.
  • Dr. Mario is the only character with custom equipment incorporated into his attributes.

References