Mario Guides Users Around Google Maps for Mario Day

For those of you who don’t know, this Saturday marks a special occasion for Nintendo fans. March 10, or “Mar10” has been aptly dubbed Mario Day by those who enjoy a bit of wordplay. To commemorate everyone’s favorite red-hatted plumber, Google has teamed up with Nintendo to celebrate Mario Day by adding Mario to Google Maps for a limited time.

For this Nintendo/Google Maps crossover, Mario will take over as the navigational dot on Google Maps, showing users to their destination using his signature Kart.

The new feature was announced earlier today and will go live as part of the latest Google Maps update for Android and iOS devices. To see Mario in action on Google Maps, check out the tweet below from Nintendo America.

Wahoo! Now you can navigate the world as Mario in @GoogleMaps to celebrate #MAR10Day! Check out #MarioMaps on Google Maps now for a week. pic.twitter.com/iX3uZMfLrc

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 9, 2018

Once you’ve applied the update and fire up Google Maps, you’ll find a yellow question mark in the lower corner. Tap the question mark and press “Let’s-a Go!” to enable Mario Time and have Mario take over as your Google Maps navigator.

Mario will be Karting-around in Google Maps for a full week. Users are encouraged to use the #MarioMaps hashtag to share screenshots of their new tour guide for Mario Day. 

To truly celebrate Mario on the go using your phone, make sure to pick up the full version of Super Mario Run, which will be discounted for 50 percent off in celebration of Mario Day. The sale starts this weekend and will last for two weeks, ending on March 25. Super Mario Run is available for both iOS and Android devices, with the first few levels playable for free.