Nintendo has transformed its well-known franchises such as Mario Kart and Pokemon into successful mobile spinoffs, but it seems like a certain title – Dr. Mario World – didn’t fare as much as what the company would have hoped for, resulting in an unfortunate termination.
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The mobile game was released back in July 2019, a version that was based on Nintendo’s highly successful Dr. Mario NES game. Much like the original, Dr. Mario World is a Tetris-style game that lets you use pills to zap viruses of the same colour.
However, a significant difference would be that everything moves upward for more natural gameplay on a mobile screen. Also, the game has a multiplayer mode that allows friends to get involved and play together.
Although it is heartbreaking to see the mobile game reach its end, Nintendo is keeping a vestige of the fame on its webpage called “Dr. Mario World Memories” that allows players to look back and reminisce once the service comes to an end.
Dr. Mario World will officially shut down on Nov 1, 2021 at 6am (UTC) (2pm Singapore time). Furthermore, diamonds used to buy more time, pills and power-ups will no longer be available for purchase from July 28 onwards.
The company did not mention why it decided to shut down Dr. Mario World. It would seem like it could be due to its low performance according to a SensorTower report from early 2020, which is in contrast to Nintendo’s recent Mario Kart Tour multiplayer mobile title. With more than 200 million downloads, it has seen relatively high earnings from the company.
For those interested to play Dr. Mario World for the last time, the mobile game is available for both iOS and Android.
This article was first published in Geek Culture.