was a 2019 match-three

mobile game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any Mobile device, portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet computer, table ...

developed and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

in collaboration with

Line Corporation was a Japanese internet company. It was a subsidiary of Z Holdings, a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Naver Corporation. It was established in 2000 as the Japanese subsidiary of South Korean NHN Corporation's online game community si ...

and

NHN Entertainment NHN Corp. is a South Korean IT company that started its business as a game company called Hangame in 1999. Currently, its main businesses can be categorized as cloud, fin-tech (cross-border e-commerce, payment), entertainment (game, webtoons ...

. On July 28, 2021, Nintendo announced that the game's services would end on November 1, 2021 at 2 AM North American Eastern Standard Time. The game was shut down on the stated date and time, rendering the game completely unplayable.

Gameplay

In ''Dr. Mario World'', and similar to prior '' Dr. Mario'' games, the player removed viruses from the screen by matching their colors with that of a pill capsule. The player oriented a single pill capsule against an array of viruses and obstacles. As the pill began to drift upwards, the player could rotate and horizontally move the pill such that, when settled, the pill's color would match at least two similarly colored viruses in a vertical or horizontal direction. The

level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (optical instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights * Spirit level or bubble level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *C ...

was complete when all viruses are removed. The player was able to float multiple pills at once and even drag pills through obstacles to specific positions as long as the pill feasibly fit. Later levels added additional elements, such as shielded viruses and destructible blocks to complicate the removal of viruses. Other levels had additional requirements for completion, such as extracting hidden coins from blocks. Upon filling a "skill meter", the player could activate a special ability once or twice in each level. Different special abilities were associated with the game's playable characters. For example, Dr. Mario could remove the entire bottom row on the game screen, Dr. Yoshi removed three on-screen items at random, and Dr. Peach could remove a full column. The player could also purchase

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...

s through real-money

microtransaction Microtransaction (mtx) refers to a business model where users can purchase in-game virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransactions ...

s to instantaneously fill the skill meter. At the time of launch, ten playable characters were available, with Dr. Mario as the default character. Following the completion of the first five stages, the player could choose to continue using Dr. Mario, or they may have elected to switch to either Dr. Peach or Dr. Bowser. Players were also given the option to enlist "assistants" that provided the player with benefits during gameplay; for example, Pokey granted the player a 10% chance of earning an additional 3 seconds in timed stages, and

Koopa Troopa are a fictional turtle-like race of characters from the ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to as Koopas, a more broad classification of creatures that includes Bowser, his Koopalings, and Lakitu. Predecessors to Koopa T ...

granted 50 bonus points for each remaining capsule at the conclusion of a stage. Additional doctors and assistants were acquired at random using either coins accumulated during gameplay or diamonds purchased with real-world currency. Similar to other mobile match-three games, such as '' Candy Crush'', the game was monetized through timers, currencies, and purchasable digital items. For example, the player used "hearts" to play a level, which replenish over time. The player could use coins and diamonds to purchase new characters/abilities, power-ups, and bonus pill capsules. The player received coins for completing daily activities. Diamonds packs were purchased in exchange for real-world money through the

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. The game had a simple

single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...

campaign and a "versus"

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

mode. ''Dr. Mario World'' required a constant Internet connection.

Development

Nintendo announced the game on February 1, 2019, with a planned release for early summer of that year. It was eventually released for Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

mobile platforms in 59 territories on July 9, 2019. In July 2020, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original ''Dr. Mario'' game for the NES, a 8-bit sprite of Dr. Mario was released as a playable character. In July 2021, Nintendo announced that they would be shutting down ''Dr. Mario World'' in November of the same year, with diamond packs no longer available for purchase from that date onwards. After October 31, 2021, opening the game displays a message saying that the service has shut down. A website entitled ''Dr. Mario World Memories'' was then created to view player progress before the game was shut down.

Reception

The game received "mixed or average reviews", according to

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Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

'' reported not feeling forced to spend real money through the game's monetization mechanics. ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. Histor ...

'' also criticized the monetization model, writing, "It's a shame Nintendo cut and ran with microtransactions after one misstep, their first, no less, in the mobile market." ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

'' found the gameplay to be addictive despite the monetization model and wrote more positively, giving the game 8.75 out of 10. ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

'' called the title "a game of two halves", heavily praising the multiplayer component while criticizing issues present in the single-player mode. Within the first three days of the game's launch, ''Dr. Mario World'' had over two million downloads and 100,000 spent.

Notes

References

External links