Last year, Pokémon Go added augmented reality to the classic Nintendo franchise and became one of the most popular mobile games. At the time, some fans wondered if other Nintendo titles would follow that example. While that may not be happening soon, one man has taken it upon himself to recreate the original Super Mario Bros. as an augmented reality game.
Via Kotaku, designer Abhishek Singh created a first-person augmented reality version of Super Mario Bros.’ iconic World 1-1. To demonstrate his creation, Singh dressed up as Mario and played through the level in New York’s Central Park, which drew occasional stares from bystanders. This video was made and recorded using Microsoft’s Hololens technology, and Singh indicated that all of the effects were part of the initial recording.
One of the benefits of playing World 1-1 in 3D is that Singh had the option of walking around the pipes and blocks that 8-bit Mario had to jump over. This unique perspective also revealed what was at the bottom of the pits that instantly killed Mario in the game. It also appeared to be quite fun when Singh stomped on Goopas, kicked a Koopa shell, and unleashed fireball power up. Unfortunately, Singh didn’t try very hard to catch the Star that would have made Mario invincible.
The downside of this approach to Mario AR is that most of Singh’s field of vision was taken up by objects that weren’t really there. As Kotaku notes, a more controlled environment might give this title a more satisfying gameplay experience. Regardless, Singh’s creation is very impressive and Nintendo should take note. We’ve previously covered Singh’s creation of Peeqo, the robot that communicates entirely through Gifs. To find out more about Singh’s projects, you can check out his official site here.
What did you think about the Super Mario Bros. AR experience? Take a jump to the comment section and share your thoughts below!
Image:Â Abhishek Singh
