Dr. Mario World Comes To Phones In July
It’s been known for some time that Nintendo was working on a mobile version of Dr. Mario, but until now everybody expected a simple transfer of the core gameplay to phones, with a little sprinkling of microtransactions. Nintendo did something a little different.
In Dr. Mario World, revealed today in a three-minute trailer, the capsules float UP toward the TOP of the screen, and at a much slower pace than they do in the console version we’re familiar with (though the pace probably quickens). This backwards version has a few more curveballs: obstacles will sometimes appear on the field that must be cleared under certain conditions; otherwise some viruses can’t be eliminated.
The one thing everybody did expect — and was dreading — was the implementation of timers and limits. Yup, you can only play Dr. Mario World for so long before your “stamina” runs out and you have to wait for it to charge. The alternative is to feed the game “diamonds” to keep playing, and you bet your PhD those cost real money. You also have a limited number of pills per stage, and if you don’t clear it before you run out of them, you lose….or you can buy more moves.
There will definitely be cries of “foul” directed at Dr. Mario World. Fans of the game may not appreciate that so much has been changed, and they were already in gear to not like it based on the freemium format alone. But this is the mobile market….there already exist hundreds of Dr. Mario knockoffs that work traditionally. One of those will just have to do.
Dr. Mario World comes to iOS and Android devices July 10.