Super Mario Run (2016)

When I saw this game announced, I didn't know if even Nintendo could pull off a 1-button game. Thankfully, they did, and they did it beautifully. It's hard to describe just how good it feels to control Mario (and friends in this game). Sure, you can only jump, but holding down the jump causes you to jump higher. Hitting it while already in the air will cause you to do an air twirl. Hitting it while vaulting an enemy will give you a jump much higher than your normal jump. Seriously, it controls like a dream. The only frustrating thing was the pause blocks, which halt your movement. If you end up on one of these, your next move (roll or jump) is already pre-determined, and you can do nothing about it. That's a pretty minor gripe though.

The half of this game that would get 5 stars is the Tour mode, which presents 24 stages for you to run through. These stages each feature 5 pink coins. You must determine the right path through the stage in order to collect all of them. Remember, there is no backtracking. Once you get the 5 pink coins, you collect blue coins, then black. Each modifies the level in a small way to make your routes harder. Getting all coins on all stages is going to take you some work, but it's all enjoyable.

Then there's Toad Rally. Ugh, Toad Rally. The problem is not that Toad Rally exists; it's actually a really good mode where you race against other players' ghost data. The problem is that it seems to be at odds with itself. Nintendo clearly wanted this to be one of the main modes of the game, but realized people wouldn't play it. So, they made almost all unlockables tied to Toad Rally, meaning hours and hours of endless grinding to get Toads into your Kingdom. There are multiple problems with this: 1) You have to use tickets to participate, so it unnecessarily feels like you have a resource restriction. 2) Grinding for different color Toads is imbalanced. You'll get Blue Toads very easily, since Blue Toads are found in caves. Purple Toads though? You can only find them in Ghost Houses. Even when you win, Ghost Houses have limited coins and places to do stunts, so you only get a handful of Toads. 3) If you lose a Rally, even by 10 points, you lose Toads. So in my quest to collect 150 purple toads, I probably collected around 250. I would have lost even more, but I figured out that you can quit a race with no consequence. 4) 9999 Red Toads to unlock Red Yoshi?! You've gotta be friggin kidding me!

So, all in all, I loved this game, but Toad Rally almost killed it for me. Now that I'm finished, I'll just keep playing the awesome levels.

I finished Mario Run in the World Tour mode. This game provides various modes so that I can keep playing, but I'd like to move on to another mobile game.

I love the Rayman Run series, which has been ported from console onto mobile devices as an endless-runner game. Rayman Run told me that "Platformer" can be ported to an endless-runner style game. I expected Mario Run to have a similar style, but playing Mario Run felt different from playing the Rayman Run series. It was more like playing Mario on a console. I also enjoyed Mario Run, but it was harder to play than Rayman. I will keep this game on my iPhone and play it again at times, but is't not my best mobile game.

By the way, we can download Mario Run and play it for free in the first four levels, but $10 is required to play more. Mobile gamers are familiar with free-to-play games, especially in Japan where I live. So the price was criticized in this country. Micro-transactions were criticized by Nintendo fanboys who had believed that Nintendo would never introduce micro-transactions. Some people understood that it was a kind of trial version and that Nintendo had no other options because the Apple Store don't allow trial versions on their store.

After Mario Run was launched, my SNS was filled up with discussions about Mario Run's business. Nowadays, people are talking about other companies' business plans or business strategies instead of talking about gameplay. That's a little weird.

It is kind of like a runner type game but not. It is level based and made for bite-sized play sessions.

The game is polished in controls and graphics and general "game feel". BUT, I got tired of it. The simplicity is different than a traditional 2D Mario game. It does not have the same replay value or "stickiness" of a normal Nintendo game.

I finished off all of Super Mario Run yesterday and I really enjoyed it. The last level (bonus level for getting all the grey coins) was incredibly challenging and I was super proud of myself when I finally finished it (and I got all the coins!).

I'll probably keep playing Toad Rally to get My Nintendo points and build up my kingdom. I definitely think it's worth the $10 and hearing people call it over priced drives me mad.

I was expecting a silly, casual endless runner with Mario *cash register sound*. But this turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Many beautifully designed levels, additional characters, a surprising variety of moves -considering you only have one command- and a bunch of other cool little features make this well worth its price. I was planning to rush through the game (no pun intended) before checking out the extras, but found myself replaying the first levels to get all the purple coins. Those purple coins seem to be the real challenge for seasoned players, since I found the game to be on the same level of difficulty as New Super Mario Bros.

This isn't a cashgrab, though it's sad that we can't trust Nintendo enough to assume that beforehand anymore. It does a very good job being what it's supposed to be: a phone/tablet game. This are ten bucks you won't regret spending, especially if you're a Mario fan.

8.5/10

Okay, here's the thing: yes, the game is 10 bucks (which doesn't bother me at all), it requires an internet connection (ugh), and it's not a full-fledged Mario. Now that the house cleaning is done, this is a great casual Mario game. In fact, for the most part this is exactly the Mario game Nintendo should have made, but you can't go into it thinking it's going to be as incredible as the best core entries in the series. My 8.5 reflects how it functions as a mobile game.

Touchscreen controls are wank for most genres, so it only made sense to make a kinetic Mario game where he is constantly moving and you just tap the screen. They give you plenty of room on the screen, on the bottom, so you can always see what you're doing. Mario games tend to be balanced, and I think that's something Nintendo doesn't get enough credit for. This one is more of the same, except maybe a little easier because it's harder to die. Still, you have to concentrate in order to get through the levels and, more importantly, get the special coins.

The catch of the game is that while you can technically beat it relatively quickly, you collect the special coins in each stage, and then they put new coins in new spots. You can do this three times for each stage, so there is replay value in the campaign.

On top of that, there's a Toad Ralley mode where you basically go through the levels and use your stylish platforming in order to get more points/coins than your opponent. You are rewarded with Toads, and those can be used to populate your kingdom. The build mode is simplistic but serves as a welcome distraction from the main game: you can build houses, and buy decorations. Sure, it's not real in-depth, but it's still a bonus, which only adds to the experience.

Speaking of which, there could be more meat here, and that would be wonderful. They also could have added some new features like core Mario games tend to do, just to make it a little more exciting, because it's kind of the Force Awakens of Mario; it's incredibly safe but still undeniably fun, with the charm of this beloved character. But you have to keep in mind that this is a mobile game and it's not meant to be played for hours on end. It's meant to be played in short bursts, and it's not supposed to be intensive. As such, it doesn't amaze but it succeeds admirably in what it is trying to accomplish.

It's just a shame that they shot themselves in the foot a little, because while one single price lets it avoid F2P bullshit, they did the Nintendo thing and piled their own bullshit onto it (the required internet). It seems counterproductive, but I mobile game in places that have Wi-Fi usually, anyway. Others may not, however, and that should be considered.