The stage and gameplay of Dr. Mario have remained mostly intact from other installments in the series. The playing surface is covered with germs of three different hues. The player attempts to align the pill halves with germs of the same color as the pill halves that have been dropped, which are of a random color. If you get at least four germs or pill halves of the same color in a row, everything in that line will vanish. This applies to any combination of colors. The gameplay continues until the player either eliminates all of the germs on the field or brings the stack of pills to the top.
The game includes one-on-one multiplayer modes that may be played both offline and online. There is a game called Classic that pits players against one other and has the same victory conditions as the single-player mode. There is also a mode called Flash that pits players against each other and sees who can get rid of their germs first. Playing online can be done against strangers or against those already on your friend list. You can send a buddy who owns a Wii but does not have a copy of Dr. Mario Online Rx an invitation to download a trial version of the game, which can only be used to compete against other players who possess the full version.
Offline play with one to four people can be done cooperatively in a game called Virus Buster, which is based on Dr. Mario. After making its debut in Brain Age 2 as a version of Dr. Mario operated by a stylus, the character has now been updated to use the pointer on the Wii Remote to grab and move pills, with the B button serving to rotate them. In this mode, drugs and bacteria appear to be much larger than usual.
