Dr. Fire Mario And Dr. Fire Peach - Is The Mario Franchise Running Out Of Ideas?

Remember the hype for Dr. Mario World last summer [6] [17] [18]? Not too long ago, it was announced that two new doctors will be the newest selectable characters in Dr. Mario World [1] [2] [3]. Can you guess who they are? Why yes, Dr. Fire Mario and Dr. Fire Peach! And yes, I know right? Even though I understand that they need to be referred as “doctors” for the sake of the app’s identity as a mobile app within the Dr. Mario series, but this has left me believing that Nintendo may be running out of ideas for the Mario franchise at this point [1], but it is probably not the first time as it has been steadily growing for almost thirty-nine years [5]. Another sign of Nintendo running out of ideas could be Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy as babies in doctor attires in Dr. Mario World [17] [18], which is a sign I would honestly agree with. But since Nintendo has decided to start a new decade with two “new” playable characters to put into their mixed medical kit for modern mobile devices [17], I think it is about time I express a fairly neutral stance on it as someone who has been a Nintendo fan for years.

So the plumbers and the princesses were all sent to medical school when they were babies? Quite weird. [18]

But as for this, is this scraping the bottom of the barrel? [2] [3]

The roster in Dr. Mario World just screams, “Hey! Let’s make everyone a doctor because it’s Dr. Mario for crying out loud!” without any self-awareness whatsoever [17] [18]. Since when did Bowser take enough time to get Wendy, Ludwig and Bowser Jr. into medical school?! I really like the designs of Peach and Daisy’s doctor outfits and I think Wario and Waluigi’s doctor outfits are quite well designed too [16] [17]. However, I feel as if Dr. Rosalina’s appearance does not have much effort put into it as it is just her regular attire with a doctor’s coat and a stethoscope tacked onto it, unlike Dr. Peach and Dr. Daisy’s doctor outfits that are more appropriate for the occupation [17] [18]. I would not trust Dr. Dry Bowser as my doctor, even though his coat is at least interesting as it is light grey with some ripping [18]. I know a roster of characters dressed as doctors suits the title of the app and they all at least have unique abilities to spice up the gameplay, but the way a few of them are wearing very basic doctor accessories is unfortunately quite uninspired, including Dr. Fire Mario and Dr. Fire Peach [18].

More effort was put into these costumes for Daisy, Wario, and Waluigi. They look very ideal for doing the duties of a doctor. [18]

Simply tacking a white doctor’s coat and a stethoscope onto a character’s usual attire is not really inspiring. [18]

I was up for Princess Peach’s fire dress from Super Mario 3D World to return in the Mario franchise someday [12], but not like this. Do not get me wrong. Signs of the medical couple of fire’s ability are present in the new trailer [3], but the doctor’s coats and stethoscopes that are just slapped onto their outfits are quite distracting. Well, it may not be as distracting as…dare I say it…Dr. Bowsette [4]. Some of us may have seen Peachette, the fusion of Peach and Toadette from New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe as a sign of Nintendo running out of ideas, but at least she can be a sign of Toadette seeing Peach as a role model, thus indicating a loyal bond between them [22] [23]. Dr. Fire Mario and Dr. Fire Peach just seem rather pointless, aside from being doctors just for the sake of fitting in the app’s roster. I know that a similar statement applied to Pink Gold Peach in Mario Kart 8 as there is still yet to be a reason for her existence in the main Mario games and I strongly believe it should be clearly established in a future instalment [7] [8] [9] [20].

I would have like Dr. Fire Peach’s design more if the characters designers took Dr. Peach’s outfit and changed the colours of the skirt and coat to shades of red. [18]

As a fan of the Mario franchise, I know Nintendo can think more creatively than this. [3]

I am terribly sorry to make this statement, but the ability to throw fireballs from your hands and the occupation of a doctor do not blend together very well [2] [3]. I know that Dr. Fire Mario and Dr. Fire Peach have perfect control over their powers and can at least not harm their innocent allies with them [3], but my point still stands. The only time such a combination could work quite well in real life is when a patient needs enough heat to recover from hypothermia…as long as the fire doctor does not set the patient on fire. What other uses of fire would be practical for treating an illness? Even a university student who has studied medicine for five years and dreams of becoming a doctor would agree with me. I believe a fusion of Peach’s fire dress and her biker outfit from Mario Kart Wii would be a more reasonable combination as it seems like quite a missed opportunity to feature that in Mario Kart 8 or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe when she receives a fire flower on a bike or ATV [7] [8] [10] [12]. What’s next? Dr. Ice Mario, who will certainly not freeze his patients to death [11]?

 

A plumber’s hat and overalls would not be very ideal for a doctor’s job. [3]

A long princess dress would not be very ideal for a doctor’s job either. [2] [3]

What else is next? Dr. Baby Pink Gold Peach [3] [7] [8] [9] [20]? We can see that the princess of Mushroom Kingdom has gone from a pixelated damsel who was in another castle to a doctor in a white dress with fire powers [3] [13]. Despite how uninspired Dr. Fire Mario and Dr. Fire Peach seem, it should not negatively affect the gameplay for those who still enjoy playing Dr. Mario World [3] [17]. And despite how uninspired the fire doctors seem, more original ideas for the future of the Mario franchise may await us Nintendo nerds. In order to expand on the Mario franchise’s ambitions, I feel like an almost entirely forgotten Mario character should be brought back in any future Mario instalment, such as Perry from Super Princess Peach [15] [19]. I feel like the next main Super Mario game can feature him befriending Tiara, the Bonneter who was in Peach’s head during her forced wedding to Bowser [14] [21]. We all know how Pauline made a huge comeback to the franchise in the late 2010s as a mayor, tennis player and a kart racer [14] [24] [25]. Furthermore, Nintendo ought to eventually focus on further developing less recognised characters instead of producing unnecessary versions of the most iconic characters.

I miss this cute taking parasol. [15] [19]

Oh. And more more thing, Dry Bones is also a new assistant for Dr. Mario World. At least there’s some good news for Dry Bones fans who have the app. [3] [17]

References

1. FunkyKong84. (2020). Dr Fire Peach is now available to buy on Dr. Mario (Dr Peach already exists). Available: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/231924-mario-kart-tour/78316206. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
2. GALA-MOS. (2020). DR. MARIO WORLD GETTING NEW STAGES, DR. FIRE MARIO, DR. FIRE PEACH, AND MORE ON JANUARY 9. Available: https://nintendosoup.com/dr-mario-world-getting-new-stages-dr-fire-mario-dr-fire-peach-and-more-on-january-9/. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
3. GameXplain. (2020). Dr. Fire Peach Coming to Dr. Mario World - Trailer (+ Dry Bones Assistant!). Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p_K85OBgGg. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
4. Know Your Meme. (2018). Bowsette. Available: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bowsette. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
5. Nintendo. (1981). Donkey Kong. Arcade. Tokyo, Japan.
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7. Nintendo. (2014). Mario Kart 8. Nintendo Wii U. Tokyo, Japan.
8. Nintendo. (2017). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Nintendo Switch. Tokyo, Japan.
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10. Nintendo. (2008). Mario Kart Wii. Nintendo Wii. Tokyo, Japan.
11. Nintendo. (2009). New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Nintendo Wii. Tokyo, Japan.
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16. Nintendo Mobile. (2019). Welcome to Dr. Mario World. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b4DNKfs_tU. Last accessed 10th Jan 2020.
17. Super Mario Wiki. (2019). Dr. Mario World. Available: https://www.mariowiki.com/Dr._Mario_World. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
18. Super Mario Wiki. (2019). Gallery:Dr. Mario World. Available: https://www.mariowiki.com/Gallery:Dr._Mario_World. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
19. Super Mario Wiki. (2007). Perry. Available: https://www.mariowiki.com/perry. Last accessed 10th Jan 2020.
20. Super Mario Wiki. (2014). Pink Gold Peach. Available: https://www.mariowiki.com/Pink_Gold_Peach. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
21. Super Mario Wiki. (2017). Tiara. Available: https://www.mariowiki.com/Tiara. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
22. Williams, L. (2018). Another Deluxe Delight For Mario’s Switch Era Is On Its Way. Available: https://laurasambitiouswriting.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/newsupermariobrosudeluxe/. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
23. Williams, L. (2018). Another Deluxe Delight For Mario’s Switch Era Is On Its Way. Available: https://laurawritesanarticle.blogspot.com/2018/09/newsupermariobrosudeluxe.html. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
24. Williams, L. (2019). The Perils And Powers Of Pauline, Mario’s Ex-Girlfriend. Available: https://laurasambitiouswriting.wordpress.com/2019/01/06/pauline-evolution/. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.
25. Williams, L. (2019). The Perils And Powers Of Pauline, Mario’s Ex-Girlfriend. Available: https://laurawritesanarticle.blogspot.com/2019/01/pauline-evolution.html. Last accessed 9th Jan 2020.