Super Mario Augmented Reality Game Connects the Past with Gaming's Future

Not all remakes of video game classics turn out well, but a new augmented reality take on Super Mario is likely to draw in fans of the Nintendo hit.

Created by Vancouver-based Stuart Langfield, the AR gaming experiment isn't an official release, but after seeing what's possible, I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo seriously considers moving in this direction (no, you can't buy Super Mario AR, yet).

"[The game was] built from the ground up including creation of all 3D assets, and utilizes Unity's ARKit plugin," says Langfield in a message on his Vimeo page. "A primary focal point of the production was devising innovate ways in which to impact the user experience — building something that is truly worthy of the AR format."

Super Mario Augmented Reality Game Connects the Past with Gaming's Future — *Image by Stuart Langfield/Vimeo*

Not only do the visuals of the AR game hold true to the original, but its creator also added a soundtrack that will immediately bring back memories for old school gaming fans.

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But beyond mimicking the classic's aesthetics, the experimental game makes good use of the newly immersive environment provided by AR.

"Through many iterations, I created a circular game format that surrounds the player, allowing them to rotate to keep up with player movement rather than walking in a straight line like a traditional platformer setup," says Langfield. "An additional gameplay element was added which allows the player to assist Mario by grabbing power-ups within physical space that are out of his reach and dropping them onto him."

But Langfield didn't stop at gameplay, he also played around with the iPhone X and its TrueDepth camera to give himself a static yet fully three-dimensional Super Mario mask, which he shared on Twitter.

Aside from the gaming nostalgia, Langfield also managed to give us yet another example of where Apple face-tracking selfie camera is going beyond Animoji, thanks to the efforts of independent developers.

And remember, the iPhone X has only been in the hands of most for a little over a month, so we can expect AR selfies and masks to get even more interesting in 2018.