Mario GO

Mario Go is an augmented reality mobile game developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo for iOS and Android devices. A part of the Mario franchise, the game is the result of a collaboration between Niantic and Nintendo.

The game is free-to-play, and supports in-app purchases like most other mobile games. However, the items that can be purchased with real money can also be acquired in the game via other means, unlike most “freemium” games. It also does not rely heavily on ad revenue.

Gameplay
The core gameplay is similar to that of Pokémon Go, with players moving within their real-world surroundings, however, there are multiple important changes.

First off, the game is viewed mostly with an AR mode, although there is still a world map. The camera and gyroscope of the mobile device displays images of iconic objects from throughout the series can be found scattered throughout the surroundings, such as ? Blocks, Brick Blocks, Pipes, etc. They can be interacted with, for example, tapping a ? Block on the screen to collect a coin or an item. This encourages players to explore their surroundings and find secrets hidden to them.

Further more, you can get special rewards by visiting all designated locals in a certain area. There will also be in-game descriptions for these locals, which range from popular and famous tourist sights to historical sites and monuments, and give background and interesting trivia as well. For places such as countrysides, they will be teeming with enemies, encouraging players to step out of their comfort zone.

The world map is similar to that of Super Mario games, being viewed from a top-down perspective. The theme of the world-map can be set, with the two themes being Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.

Safety is extremely important, so there are new features implemented for this. If any players spot a dangerous area or enter one, they are allowed to mark it on their world map, simply by tapping an icon which resembles Bowser Jr.’s Magic Paintbrush on the screen, which allows them to colour over a certain area they deem dangerous. If enough people mark the area, the area will be marked red on the world map, and if you are in close proximity of that area, you will be informed of this and asked to keep a safe distance from that area.

Like Pokémon from Pokémon Go, there are also enemies, which can be found throughout the game. However, instead of catching them, you fight them, with the combat system being similar to that of the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario games. It is turn-based, with multiple options, such as stomping on enemies, whacking them with a hammer, using consumable items, or using a special attack. There is also dodging attacks and counter-attacking. There is also some deal of strategy involved, such as using a hammer on a Spiny instead of jumping on it, or using an Ice Flower power-up to attack an enemy with fire-based attacks. If your HP reaches zero, you lose the battle and the enemy will escape, and you will also lose 10 coins, You can also choose to run away from them, if you’re just not into combat.

After, defeating an opponent, you can get loot, such as coins and equipable items. For example, defeating a Spiny gives you a Spiny Shell Helmet, or defeating a Goomba will give you a Goomba Mask, which causes enemies not to attack you when you are engaged with them in combat, allowing you to successfully run away (but they will attack you if you attack them).

There are also specialty items that cannot be acquired through interacting with objects or defeating enemies, such as Iron Boots, an equipable which allow you to jump on Spinies, or F.L.U.D.D, which can be used in a variety of ways. These items are purchased in an in-game shop using coins. They can also be acquired by completing quests, which pop up every day.

These quests involve Toads and their everyday lives, with some requesting that you defeat a certain number of a certain type of enemy, or others gathering a type of item. These quests also involve some story, such as a Toad trying to get rid of a Piranha Plant infestation in his house, to stopping a group of Hammer Bros. from constructing a bouncy castle for Bowser Jr. as the construction noise causes a village of Toads to be unable to sleep. The stories, of course, involve lots of witty humour.

Of course, there is more than one playable character. You start off with a Toad (which is your customisable avatar) and Mario. Other characters can be unlocked by reaching a certain level, which can be done by earning EXP from completing quests and defeating enemies. Whenever you level up, you can increase a certain stat for each character. The following stats are HP (The health points of each character), POW (The attack power of each character), DEF (The defense points of each character, which determines how much damage they take from an attack), and SPEED (Determines which side gets the first turn).

The game offers in-app purchases, but all items that can be purchased with real money can also be acquired via other means, such as through completing quests, defeating enemies and purchasing them with coins.