Nintendo is killing off Dr. Mario World after just two years

Dr. Mario World will be shut down by Nintendo this November, after little more than two years of service.

The mobile match-3 puzzler launched in July 2019 and has been kept well updated with new stages and characters. But in-game purchases have now been switched off, and the game will become completely unplayable from 1st November.

After that date, Nintendo says it will memorialise the game and your play history via "Dr. Mario World Memories", a web page it will put up after pulling the game down.

A Nintendo version of Candy Crush, Dr. Mario World never seemed to make much of an impact. Still, it is surprising to see the game being completely scrubbed like this - unavailable to play, even offline.

"This is a classy, fun, clever puzzle game, beautifully adapted for phones," Oli wrote in our Dr. Mario World check-up. "Play it - it's free, why wouldn't you? But it will leave you wishing that it didn't always have to be this way."

Log onto the game now and you'll find it hosts more than 45 doctor characters. Some of my favourites: Dr. Waluigi, Dr. Goomba Tower, Dr. Petey Piranha, Dr. Dolphin.

This isn't the first Nintendo mobile game to be binned off. Nintendo also shuttered Miitomo, its first smartphone app, after two years back in 2018.

Nintendo still operates Super Mario Run, which requires a one-off payment to unlock the full game, plus the gacha-powered Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Mario Kart Tour.

Its next smartphone game - the first in several years - will be its untitled Pikmin AR project in collaboration with Pokémon Go maker Niantic. A public test was held in Singapore earlier this year, but the game is yet to release more widely.

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