Super Mario’s smartphone debut is a fun and frantic chase for hidden coins and high scores.
Super Mario Run asks you to surrender some direct control of Nintendo’s mascot, but what it gives you in return is a stylish, addictive platformer you can play with one hand. Slick new moves and highly replayable stages make Mario’s iOS debut feel like a parkour collect-a-thon loaded up with Nintendo charm. Admittedly, Mario games have looked better on Nintendo’s own platforms, but Super Mario Run’s elegant mechanics and great level designs kept me coming back in search of hidden coins to grab, and scores to topple.
At its core, Super Mario Run is an automatic runner that utilizes simple touch controls to perform all kinds of actions. You can extend the duration of Mario's jump, delay his fall mid-air, or somersault off of foes to reach high places. Like any solid game, these smooth moves are easy to pull off but difficult to completely master, and there's plenty of open screen space towards the bottom, so my fingers were never obstructing my view. I always felt like I had enough room to react and pull off a slick maneuver, even though I couldn’t stop Mario’s constant forward movement.
It's a good thing too, because you’ll need to fully grasp Mario’s new repertoire of moves in order to conquer the some of the tougher stages, which continually push you through pitfalls, over Goombas, and around a multitude of hazards. Whether you’re being chased by Bullet Bills or traversing a trap-lined castle, the 24-stage campaign really captures the feel of Nintendo’s 2D Mario series. The slower, one-screen puzzle stages aren’t as exhilarating by comparison, but they offer a nice change of pace, giving the campaign some time to breathe.
Coin Hunt
The challenging special coin runs are the real hook that kept me coming back, and they're my favorite part of Super Mario Run. Each stage has five special pink coins that sit just out of reach until you figure out the trick to nabbing them. Get all of them in one run, and a purple set appears in even harder to reach locations, and then a third black set of coins after that. It’s a maddeningly addictive challenge that constantly put my skills to the test. If you happen to miss a hidden coin, a simple tap of the screen will rewind your run a bit, but while this gives you a second chance to snag a coin, you're sacrificing the precious time you need in order to clear the stage. It’s a smart risk/reward system that kept me mindful of the clock while I frantically searched for that last hidden coin.
Super Mario Run’s asynchronous player-versus-player races, called Toad Rally, shifts the focus to pulling off stylin’ moves in quick succession. These competitive stages aren’t quite as memorable as the campaign, but they offer a decent playground set in one of six level themes to show off sick maneuvers in a race against ghost data based off of your friends. The winner gets to sway a crowd of Toad spectators into moving into your fully customizeable Mushroom Kingdom in Kingdom Builder.
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The challenging special coin runs are the real hook.
Kingdom Builder is a nice laid back distraction compared to the campaign and competitive PVP, and it fleshes out the remainder of Super Mario Run’s gameplay loop. In it, you spend the coins collected from the other modes to dress up your own Mushroom Kingdom, building it up one Toad house at a time. The rewards are mostly cosmetic, but there are some additional characters you can unlock for use in the campaign, which definitely motivated me to keep playing. Learn more about secrets, tips, and what Super Mario Run doesn't tell you by visiting IGN's wiki.
That Old Feeling
Super Mario Run is a joyful romp through the Mushroom Kingdom, but it doesn't feel as fresh as an all-new console Mario entry might; there aren't any new power-ups to use or enemies to fight. Nintendo’s strong level designs comes to the rescue by offering highly replayable stages, but they also feature the same three-hit boss fights with Bowser and Boom Boom over and over. These encounters feel a bit like relics from Nintendo’s past, and it’s a shame they’re not as smart or clever as the rest of the campaign stages.
Visually, Mario’s mobile debut falls mostly in line with other 2D Marios. But if you stop moving long enough to notice, the flat backgrounds and simple effects look a little lifeless compared to other vibrant mobile runners, like Rayman Jungle Run, which is disappointing. On the other hand, the animations are terrific; Mario has never moved with more energy or grace in a 2D Mario game.
The Verdict
Super Mario Run is an elegantly designed platformer with strong hooks that kept me coming back. Once I wrapped up the main campaign, the addictive, replayable stages urged me to perfect my coin runs. Kingdom Builder and Toad Rally provided further motivation to keep dashing for the finish line, so I could invest the spoils in my own Mushroom Kingdom. While this isn’t the best-looking Super Mario game by a longshot, it successfully distills the core fun and charm of the Mario franchise into a smart, one-handed experience.
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