Did you know it's flu season? If you haven't seen the "Get Your Flu Shots Here!" signs in your area, they will probably be popping up very soon. Did you know Mario has a history of battling viruses, even the flu virus, with vitamins?
Dr. Mario Online Rx was released on May 26, 2008 as a WiiWare title on the Nintendo Wii. The game released at a price point of 1,000 Wii Points, which is $10. The game was developed by Arika and published by Nintendo, and received and ESRB rating of "Everyone" with no content listed for parents/gamers to be aware of.
A portion of the description for Dr. Mario Online Rx reads, "The doctor is in! Mario takes a break from his adventuring ways and once again dons his stethoscope for a new generation of germ-battling mayhem. In addition to the classic mode of using vitamins to exterminate viruses, you'll find two battle modes and an online multiplayer mode where you can hone your skills against players from around the world."
So with flu season upon us, how many hours Wii owners have spent battling viruses in Dr. Mario Online Rx? Let's take a look!
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The Brew
Dr. Mario Online Rx has about 102,581 Wii owners that have reported battling viruses through the Wii's Nintendo Channel, with 1,246 days possibly reported.
The game's average play-time per day/session reported is 1 Hour 20 Minutes.
Dr. Mario Online Rx's "professional" review score average is 72.95%, based on 19 reviews on GameRankings.com. While the game was released world-wide through the WiiWare service, just the United States' release of Dr. Mario Online Rx has made Nintendo about $1,025,810, just based on the number of players that have reported data and the game's $10 price point.
Caffeinated Thoughts
If we compare the average play-time per day/session reported for the game, to that of time spent at a real-life doctor's appointment with the doctor, I believe Dr. Mario Online Rx comes out as the better choice.
The real-life time spent with a doctor per visit is said to be between 8-20 minutes, depending on a the type of appointment/visit. Considering my copay is $30 just for a "primary" doctor's visit, I would probably be better off paying $10 for Dr. Mario Online Rx and using the other $20 to buy some vitamins to help build my immune system and fight off viruses. Though I rarely get a flu shot, that may change this year with the two little guys in the house.
I have not played Dr. Mario Online Rx, or any games from the Dr. Mario series. Mrs. Coffee though has played one of the games from the series, but she doesn't remember exactly which one. When I asked her about it she said, "I just remember the vitamin pills being two different colors, and you had to match up the colors. I also remember it supposedly played like Tetris, even though I had never played Tetris."
As for the reported game-play hours, I think the game's average hours "Per Person" being 26 Hours 3 Minutes is incredible for a game that only costs $10, and I think it clearly shows that Wii owners really enjoy this game.
Questions
Have any of you played Dr. Mario Online Rx, and if so, is it a game you still play from time-to-time? Also, is it a WiiWare game you would recommend to new Wii owners looking for a quality title?
If you have played games from the Tetris series and the Dr. Mario series, do you favor one of the series more than the other? Or, does each game series offer enough unique game-play elements to keep them different and fresh from the other?
If any of you are interested in Dr. Mario Online Rx, you can actually purchase an "Online Game Code" for it directly from Amazon.com by clicking the image below!
