Nintendo fires takedown notice at fan-made Mario Royale

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Mario-Royale
But it’s not dead yet!
Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Mario Royale, the fan-made game that brought the battle royale genre to the classic Super Mario Bros. universe, has been slapped with a takedown notice from Nintendo.

The good news is that the game isn’t dead. Its creator has swapped out Mario for a custom character and made a few other changes to avoid Nintendo’s wrath. You can still enjoy it in your browser for free.

I mentioned when I first covered Mario Royale last week that you would have to be quick if you wanted to play it. Nintendo works hard to protect its property, and it was inevitable that it would put a swift stop to the game.

It seems Mario Royale’s creator was expecting that, too. After receiving a takedown notice demanding the game’s removal, big changes were quickly rolled out to ensure the game could live on.

Mario Royale becomes DMCA Royale

The new version of the game, aptly named DMCA Royale, features a different character and adjustments to things like enemies, power-ups, backgrounds, and environmental objects.

The copyrighted Super Mario sound effects have also been pulled — but the gameplay remains the same. You will still battle it out against 74 opponents in a bid to be the first to reach the end of the level.

DMCA Royale remains free and can be played in almost any web browser. You can even play it on iOS with touch controls.

Will DCMA Royale survive?

It’s not yet clear whether the changes made to the game will be enough to satisfy Nintendo. Gaming Reinvented suspects that the Japanese giant may still have some issues with it.

“While the graphics and sounds are certainly different here, the actual gameplay is nigh identical to the original Super Mario Bros, down to the level design and basic mechanics,” the site explains.

“This means that even with placeholder assets, the game arguably hits a bit too close to home on the legal side of things.”

Enjoy it while you can

It’s possible Nintendo will come after DMCA Royale again, then. That could mean further changes later on, or perhaps even the removal of it altogether. So I’ll repeat what I said last week: Enjoy it while you can.

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