Dr. Mario is in (on iOS and Android) July 10

Published June 18, 2019

After years of heel dragging, Nintendo finally opened itself up to the smartphone world in late-2016. The gaming giant hasn’t exactly opened the floodgates in the intervening years, but Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Dragalia Lost have filled the void in some form or other.

There’s something to be said for the company’s thoughtful approach to the category. Nintendo clearly values its IP and is only interested in releasing games that make sense on the platform. Dr. Mario is pretty high on that list. After all, similar puzzle-style games have come to dominate the mobile platform, and Nintendo had a perfectly good title gathering dust.

Dr. Mario World was unveiled back in February — or the title was, at least — with a broad summer release for iOS and Android. Last night, Nintendo offered a deeper glimpse in the form of a YouTube video. The basics of the game are similar to the original NES title, with falling capsules that disappear when colors are matched up. Kind of like Tetris, but with more drugs.

The graphics have been improved, of course, along with a social element that lets user connect around the world in networks like Facebook. Mario is joined by “friends,” as well, including familiar characters like Princess Peach, Luigi and Bowser, all of whom apparently studied medicine in whatever sort of universities they have in the mushroom kingdom.

The game will be available on July 10, beating the previously announced Mario Kart Tour, which is also said to be due out this summer.