In recent months, there has been mounting speculation that Nintendo could eventually bring Mario to mobile phones in a bid to inject some much-needed cash into the company. A Windows Phone developer has decided to get the ball rolling himself using ripped-off Nintendo art — and it appears Microsoft hasn’t bothered to stop him.
Mario Jump Go Go is a video game app that recently appeared on the Windows Phone store. As you’d expect, the creators are not affiliated with Nintendo in any way, despite the fact that the game uses art clearly lifted from Super Mario Galaxy and Paper Mario.
“Mario has appeared with a completely new version – Mario Jump incredibly interesting,” the game blurb explains in what we assume is broken English.
“In the game you will play man Mario dance steps quickly jump to avoid obstacles along the way. You just shake the machine to control Mario left or right.
“Stay away from the floating turtle, the flowers or the bullets because they will make Mario lose a life. Jump really high and explore new challenges in the sky. Let’s tilt and jump with Mario!”
Riiiight. In other words, Mario Jump Go Go is a re-skinned Doodle Jump using stolen Nintendo art. Way to be creative, guys.
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Counterfeit Mario games are nothing new of course — but we kind of expected better from Microsoft. Windows Phone apps need to be submitted for approval prior to publication, after all. Clearly, the certification process needs reworking if stuff like this is getting through.
We suppose to could have been worse though. Imaging if it was a Flappy Birds clone starring Mario? Brrr…
What’s the most blatant video game license rip-off that you’ve ever encountered? Tell us in the comments section below!