Whoa, sweet, a new Mario game...hey wait a second, that’s not a Nintendo system,-that’s
an iPad.
And WHOA, Mario’s running by himself!
There’s only one explanation: my iPad’s possessed!
So clearly Super Mario Run isn’t your typical Maro game...even though it may look like one.
By taking away all control of Mario besides jumping, it puts the focus squarely on platforming--or
more specifically, precision timing.
If you need to bounce off an enemy to reach a high area, you’ll have to plan your jump
in advance to stick the landing as there are no redos here.
And you’d better key a close eye out for those collectives, as there's no turning back
if you pass one up, unless there’s a wall for you to bounce off of nearby.
Even the original Super Mario Bros. was more forgiving!
Although as a last resort, you can use up one of your lives to ride in a bubble backwards
through the level a short ways.
Now beyond running automatically, the game throws a few other control curveballs too.
Such as how Mario will automatically vault over short enemies like Goombas and Koopa
Troopas--but you can then jump off them during that process for added points and height.
Furthermore, Mario will encounter several new kinds of blocks that directly impact his
movement.
Some bring him to a halt, others let him long jump, another kind will launch Mario backwards
when he jumps.
The blocks appear frequently and are an essential component of the levels, demanding split-second
reactions of when and how to make use of them.
Especially when it comes to finding all the hidden coins.
And just when you think you’ve found all 5 coins in a level, a 2nd, and then a 3rd
batch of coins will open up, this time in more difficult locations, complete with some
course elements moved around.
And it’s those collectibles that are the real meat of the game’s World Tour mode.
Because there are only 24 levels in it, split among 6 Worlds--and since each level only
takes a couple of minutes at most to get through, you can blow through all 24 in just about
an hour--including the first batch of collectible coins, as I was able to grab all 5 during
most of my first playthroughs, though the 2nd and 3rd batches will tack on a couple
of extra hours
Okay, so I’ve covered how the game plays--but how does it feel?
Well, at first, it felt...wrong.
I mean, not having direct control over Mario feels weird and everything that that entrails,
such as not being able to turn around at will to grab something I missed.
Or slow down to better gague a jump.
It can feel a little frustrating, when compared to a typical Mario game....at first.
But as I said at the start, this isn’t a typical Mario game.
And once I got used to the controls--and the idea that it’s okay to replay a stage if
I missed something--the game started to grow on me.
The lack of control no longer felt like a burden, but a revelation--they just clicked.
And once they did, Super Mario Run almost felt like a rhythm game at points, where I
got into a groove and was at one with Mario as he bounced and bopped his way through some
fantastically-designed levels.
And that’s even more the case in Toad Rally--a competitive mode in which you challenge the
replays of friends and strangers alike in a race to get the most points in 60 seconds,
by bopping enemies, collecting coins, and even pulling off cool moves like rolling jumps,
consecutive wall-jumps, and flipping while ledge-climbing.
All to impress a growing crowd of Toads that gather at the bottom of the screen
It almost feels like a mode designed around the Stylish moves from Paper Mario: The Thousand
Year Door?
And it’s awesome.
I had a blast taking on my friend’s replays to try and best their score.
I really can’t overstate how good it feels to pull off a near flawless run to a that
crowd of cheering Toads.
And the best part?
If you win, those cheering Toads with come with you and move into your Kingdom.
Wait Kingdom?
That’s right, Super Mario Run’s final mode, Kingdom Builder, is actually the first
one thing you’ll see every time you start the game as it exists on the main menu.
And the more Toads that move in, the more your Kingdom will level up, unlocking the
ability to purchase new Decorations, Buildings, and Special Structure using the coins you’ve
earned in the other two modes.
And you can plop those structures wherever you want to really make the Kingdom your own.
Now while the decorations may just be for looks, the Buildings and Special Structures
can serve actual gameplay purposes.
Build a Toad House to play a special minigame, or and a Rainbow Bridge to expand your kingdom
to a whole new region.
Heck, you can even build houses for other characters, like Yoshi or Luigi to make them
playable in World Tour and Toad Rally!
And they even play differently too, such as with Yoshi’s trademark flutter jump
Now while you may not spend a ton of time in Kingdom Builder, it’s a surprisingly
fun addition that helps tie everything together, providing an incentive to keep playing and
unlock more cool stuff--like this slick Gold Mario statue.
Yeah my kingdom’s got some bling.
Super Mario Run’s presentation in general is pretty solid--even if it is based around
the extremely tired New Super Mario Bros theme.
But reused assets aside, it generally looked sharp on my iPad Pro’s display, although
I did notice the backgrounds looked blurry when the camera zoomed in.
Performance was also solid, with only occasional framerate hiccups which were barely noticeable.
The music, although also based on New Super Mario Bros’s, it’s actually been injected
with a bit more bounce thanks to few new instruments
Taken altogether, I was not only surprised by how much content Super Mario Run had--but
also how much I enjoyed it.
I mean, this is coming from a guy who generally doesn’t care much about mobile games and
is sick to death of everything New Super Mario Bros. related--and yet, I couldn’t put Super
Mario Run down.
The controls--or lack thereof--really make this feel like a different type of Mario and
I enjoyed the process of learning how to get good with them all over again.
And Toad Rally is Toadally addictive
And helps off-set the somewhat brief World Tour mode In fact, Toad Rally’s probably
my favorite between the two--I just love impressing those gosh darn Toads with stylish moves way
too much.
And add onto that a surprisingly rewarding Kingdom Builder mode, and you have a game
that I Liked a lot.
Yeah, I didn’t see that coming either.
Anyways thanks for watching and make sure to stay tuned to GameXplain for more on Super
Mario Run and all things Nintendo too.