Super Mario Run

So is anyone still playing this game? Absolutely yes, as peeking into the multiplayer mode has revealed a large player-base which seems to be grinding away with some dedication. What’s more, this is fueled by Nintendo's continued support of the game despite the fact that these additions have been lack-luster in quality and only serve to point out the games flaws even further. Briefly, this support comes in the form of double-coin weekends, superficial items added to the store like statues of the Switch, among other minor additions. Overall, the additions to the game do not impact the core of Super Mario Run and the game is very much comparable in quality to when it launched.

Most likely, if you are reading this then you already know what Super Mario Run is and are on the fence about whether to shell out your $10 for the complete package. For those of you for which this is true, it will ultimately come down to one question: do you enjoy the “Toad Rally” enough to play it from time to time? If so, then maybe, just maybe, it’s worth your money, otherwise, drop this game like a bad habit. For those in need of more detail, I’m going to explain the ups and downs of this iOS runner below.

Super Mario Run, as its name implies, is a game inspired by the recently defined genre of mobile “runners” and sits among throngs of related games that all share the same basic premise: your character keeps going without any player input and then your job is to tap the screen to make your character jump, flap, dodge, turn, or some other simple action that affects whether your run continues or ends. This is typically associated with some high score type model where the longer the run, the more points. Super Mario Run, which is free-to-start ($10 gets you the full package, a lofty sum for the mobile market) follows its peers in this regard, but spins the gameplay in a few ways that are far from unique. Namely, the game is divided up into three main sections: “Toad Rally”, the competitive mode, “Tour”, the single-player mode, and the “Kingdom”, which allows players to use their earned coins to buy buildings and other structures in order to fill out their own mini-Mushroom Kingdom.

Let’s start with Toad Rally, as this is really where the main fun is to be had and, as mentioned above, the choice to purchase this game really relies on the player be willing to engage with it with some persistence. In this mode you select from a list of adversaries and stages to play. These adversaries are other real players, though you never directly interact with them. Instead the game has you race against their ghosts. It is never made clear where the ghosts are generated from in that player’s game, but hey, if you have played a lot of modern Nintendo games then you are well-versed in the sort of online ambiguity in which they tend to revel. You “race” this ghost, but the winner is not determined by speed, but by an overall score that is an amalgam of the number of coins you collect and the skill with which you conduct yourself throughout the game. So, the question is obvious: what does skillful play consist of? Well, by a number of things that are not well-explained by the game. Destroying an enemy will result in a little thumbs-up icon appearing next to your character, as will hitting the jump button right before you land after a long fall, collecting a complete sequence of blue coins, and a few other actions that the player will have to decipher for themselves. The thumbs-up will cause a few toads to accumulate at the bottom of the screen that appear to cheer for your success. Once the stage is complete, which ends when the timer is up, the total coins for each player are added and then the toads which have built up add to that score according to how many thumbs you have induced to be up. There is no direct way to quantify how many toads amounts to how many coins are earned (because players like to revel in ambiguity too, right?), and this allows for the situation where you may kick your opponent’s pixelated butt in coins, yet they pull ahead and win due to their…skill? Winning means that more toads will join your kingdom, which we will discuss as a part of the other modes, but concisely: more toads means more buildings available to buy for your kingdom while also determining your choice of adversaries in matchmaking.

There are six characters to choose from. Of course, you start with Mario, the all-rounder, then you must unlock the remaining five through a variety of ways. For Toad, link your Nintendo ID and he’ll show up as an option. For Luigi, Yoshi, and Toadette, earn enough toads to unlock their house to place in your Kingdom and they’ll appear. For Peach, beat the tour mode and she’ll appear in front of the castle and as a playable option. One of the recent additions has added multiple new Yoshis of various colours. These play the exact same as the original but will attract more toads of the colour that matches their own during Toad Rally.

For the most part, if you have played any multiple character Mario game before you should already know how these characters play. Luigi jumps higher and more slowly, Yoshi’s got the flutter jump if you hold down on the screen, Toad is fast but lacks verticality, Peach floats with her dress, and Toadette…well, just kind of sucks. Or more accurately, I think she is purposefully slower to allow people to pace themselves through the single-player levels looking for the many coloured coins that are scattered through each. This coloured-coin collecting aspect provides some direction and replayability to the levels, but the overall mode is lacking in quality and ultimately makes this feature pointless. If you’re a die-hard coin-savant and manage to gather all one-hundred and twenty of each of the three varieties of coloured coins, you will get access to a special level for each that is so remarkably un-special that it makes you regret your endeavors, as collecting those coins really does take some time.

The single-player component is called "Tour Mode" and amounts to six worlds with four levels in each, the last level of each world being either a castle or an airship with a Bowser or Koopa Kid at the end of each, respectively. The free-to-start version of the game supplies you with the first three levels of world one and then a thirty-second trial of the first castle. These stages are often very simple and could easily be completed by a patient player in a single sitting. The bosses are simple and highly similar throughout each world, which makes their defeat a pretty relaxed and easy feat. There is a nice variety to the levels as they tap into the typical mario-style aesthetics. You'll run through many different enemies in deserts, grasslands, Boo houses, among others. Tour Mode is relatively short and limited in scope so most players will likely either blow through all the levels quickly or barely engage with them at all. Again, it seems the single-player component of this game is not meant to take the spotlight.

Finally, we get to the Kingdom building aspect of the game. Hoping I was saving the best for last? Well, sorry to bum you out but this mode is quite literally pointless, and I know how to use the word "literally". With your hard-earned coins, you can buy buildings like toad houses, statues, bushes, flowers, among a number of other superficial Mario-esque icons that you can place wherever you like. However, there is no way to view other player’s Kingdoms and ultimately no point to anything they have included as a part of buying these structures. Sure, occasionally a toad will stand outside his house and hold up some coins for you to tap on and collect, but 95% of the time this totals to three coins, which is basically nothing. I found myself not even bothering to take the half a second it takes to collect these as the amounts are so insignificant. Toad might as well come out and slap you right in the face, which would honestly be a lot more impactful than anything else they offer.

Overall, it’s hard to not come out sounding overly negative about a game that I genuinely did get some enjoyment out of, but the features are just lacking and not worth the hefty $10 price tag. At least there are no microtransactions, just the big macrotransaction that breaks you in. Speaking to the positives, this is the first time I have enjoyed the “New” Mario Bros graphics style and it actually fits very well and looks crisp and clean on the phones of today’s age. Additionally, the music, sounds, and overall art design is very nice and is highly evocative of the Mario universe many have come to love. These positives still make it a very hard game to recommend to others, and again, it just comes down to how much you enjoy the competitive aspects of the game. Each person will take to it differently, but at least the free-to-start version gives you enough of a taste to decide whether that is true for you or not. My advice: try it free and if you are anything but into the Toad Rally mode, just go play a real Mario Bros game somewhere else. I consider myself a big Nintendo fan, have followed Mario on all his escapades, and looked forward to his mobile debut, but have to share my disappointment. The game has merit, there is fun to be had, just not $10 worth.

Score: 2/5 Stars