14 ms·

Super Mario Run

269 points by yellow_postit 10y ago

_eht 10y ago
My Pixel is ready... :/
- kevin_thibedeau 10y ago
  Why sell to 80% of the market when you can can take 20%. Dr. Evil must have a job on the marketing team.
  - GuiA 10y ago
    When it comes to actually making money from your software, iOS is where the 80% is at.
    - eropple 10y ago
      Yup. I'm an Android user by habit, but were I to release a game for a mobile device, most of my effort would be around making sure the iOS version was as pin-perfect as I could make it. Why do you rob a bank? 'Cause that's where the money is.
    - kriro 10y ago
      Depends on the game/monetization method. I'm fairly confident (without having any data/just guessing) that Pokemon Go generated more money on Android than iOS because there's more devices and I don't think iOS users are that more likely to ingame buy for this particular game. Also if you use a free+add based model I'd once again say Android would do well. For a one time buy game that's relatively expensive like MarioRun I agree with your statement though. And I'm sure the exclusive partnership with Apple has other benefits, being announced at the KeyNote is great free marketing for example.
ronnier 10y ago
I tried it and didn't enjoy it. It largely comes down to tapping the screen when you want to jump... nothing else. Not having a real controller cripples this type of game.
- shard972 10y ago
  So flappy bird?
  - joezydeco 10y ago
    Canabalt. http://www.canabalt.com http://www.canabalt.com
    - statictype 10y ago
      Canabalt was a great game but this is nothing like Canabalt. There is quite a bit of ingenuity and thought that went into making a game with a single user interaction (tap on the screen) but with also a fair degree of sophistication and strategy/decision making. I've only played through about 6 levels and am impressed by the game play mechanics they have introduced with a limited interaction model. My only wish is that it were a little faster.
- bottled_poe 10y ago
  And yet, watch this game generate $1B.
- RussellDussel 10y ago
  > Not having a real controller cripples this type of game. I disagree, this type of game is perfect for a touch screen. All you need to do is tap anywhere you like on the screen, you get all the tactile feedback you need.
- Kiro 10y ago
  Personally I love one button games so I don't see that as a negative at all.
- 10y ago
farzadb82 10y ago
A Mario-themed Flappy bird clone?
Larrikin 10y ago
The video had me worried and excited it was some kind of AR based game
- deeteecee 10y ago
  yeah seriously, haha. what's with the AR tease trickery
nulagrithom 10y ago
I watched the intro video and still have no idea what this app is or does.
- gyrfalc 10y ago
  Not sure why you've been downvoted. I feel the same way. I have no clue what this even is from the linked content.
  - halchion 10y ago
    You can tell what it is from the title. Super Mario is a popular video game character and has been for over 30 years. This is clearly a video game. Good job on being facetious though.
    - jayajay 10y ago
      Why do several people here think that "it's a video game" has any merit or descriptiveness to it? It's obviously a video game. The real question is, what kind of game is it? And this question was not answered by the video. Plain and simple.
      - haswell 10y ago
        However, there is an abundance of information on the site about exactly what kind of game it is. I won't defend the site design - it should be easier to get to https://supermariorun.com/en/about.html https://supermariorun.com/en/about.html, but it still takes very little effort to find this.
      - erik 10y ago
        I just replied to one of your other comments where I argued that the title was enough to tell you everything you need to know. But I guess I can see how other people wouldn't see it that way. For me, the fact that it is a game named Super Mario Run, made by Nintendo, for the iphone, instantly tells me that it will be a side scrolling runner-style game featuring Mario in Super Mario Bros style levels, with basic touch controls. In fact it occurred to me that I hadn't verified these assumptions and I just checked out the about page and found that it looks exactly like I expected. I guess some people make the exact same assumptions I do, and this is totally not obvious to others, hence all of the miscommunication and arguing in this thread.
k0mplex 10y ago
2/5 stars.
politician 10y ago
The announcement video had me thinking this was some sort of Pokemon GO / Fitbit cross-over. Thankfully, it's just a game.
- Taek 10y ago
  Thankfully? I would be very excited to have another AR game. I feel like most so far have dropped the ball, but I also feel like AR gaming is going to be completely dominant in 10-20 years. Would have preferred an AR Mario game to just about anything else Mario. Then again I'm not a huge Mario fan in the first place.
  - themodelplumber 10y ago
    Same here, I felt pretty let down. I was thinking that Pokemon Go was such a hit that this was a natural follow-on to that, and that it really _might_ have people running down the streets (and hopefully not into traffic) with smiles on their faces. Admittedly my AR vision got weirder and weirder along with the various parkour moves, and when the guy jumped an impossible distance my brain felt like it was going to collapse, wondering how this game could possibly work. lol, all that mental effort and then: Touch platformer.
- pepijndevos 10y ago
  I thought the same. But running while looking at your phone seems like a recipe for disaster. Maybe an audio game could work? Imagine a simple app that plays the coin sound when you jump.
  - Fnoord 10y ago
    > Imagine a simple app that plays the coin sound when you jump. Imagine calling it a magic leap. Oh, and nobody ever makes the first jump ;) I agree btw, I also initially thought this was a AR game. Perhaps Nintendo were making one, or its a hint for things to come? While I do think that'd be awesome, and also has potentially interesting health effects (not necessarily all positive!) I think it is also dangerous in crowded cities. It'd be unpredictable. Imagine someone suddenly jumping in the air while you picked up a cup of coffee on the go from Starbucks? Or while you got your smartphone in your hands?
CrazedGeek 10y ago
Played a bit. Seems like a solid runner -- feels a bit more like the Rayman Run games than Canabalt or Jetpack Joyride to me. Curiously, it's more technical than any of those. Not sure I'm going to play more soon, but that's mostly because I'm playing on a 12.9" iPad Pro and the game feels like it's designed for screens half that size.
ya 10y ago
the website redirect to /ch/index.html , and show nothing but `File not found."` found this in javascript: case 'zh': location.href = _WARP_ + 'ch/index.html'; break; Chinese index page missing?
jackvalentine 10y ago
That took way too long to get to the actual playing... choosing my country(?!), linking to a nintendo account etc.
- smackfu 10y ago
  Yeah the onboarding is terrible. But that's not surprising after seeing the Wii interface.
  - yellow_postit 10y ago
    A terrible spinner to select countries for sure, but after that it improved in terms of UX , except the online accounts, but Nintendo has always had terrible online account management.
bobbles 10y ago
I like the game but unfortunately Nintendo really does suck when it comes to online accounts. I had signed in on my iPhone then also set it up on my ipad. After finishing a few levels on the iPad i went back to my phone. The phone let me finish a level, THEN came up and said 'cant progress as you're signed in on another device' and the app crashed. what the fuck is the point of signing up for an account if it doesnt even sync across devices
- giarc 10y ago
  I tried to connect my Facebook account and while it searches for "Friends" it crashes every time.
  - city41 10y ago
    This is a known issue (reported in the notifications section). An update is coming to fix it.
- GuiA 10y ago
  Nintendo has always been terrible when it comes to non game software - whether account management, digital store, the user facing portion of their OSs, etc. It's an organizational problem, and one that's not going away anytime soon.
  - frik 10y ago
    Let's hope the new Nintendo Switch console gets a good UI. The Wii, 3DS and Wii U have a UI that does look outdated and is clunky. Everything is separate app that takes ages to load. The XBox UI isn't good as well. The PS4 UI is easy to use and very fluent, nevertheless a few more options to customise the home screen wouldn't hurt.
  - flukus 10y ago
    The UI may have been terrible, but they all ran just as solidly as their games.
- kin 10y ago
minimaxir 10y ago
Many of the other comments in this thread are low-effort "mobile games aren't real games, lol." After playing just one level, you can tell that Super Mario Run the real deal and not a cash-in (and it gets hard, especially if you want to get Black Coins). If you have an aversion to mobile gaming, give this a try. You can play 3 levels without having to pay anything and it doesn't nag you until then, which means that Nintendo only gets your money if they can convince you if it's worth it. And they do.
- moflome 10y ago
  Yes... but the magic is in how they can convince you: - Animation : it's better than Disney, seriously, this is pure keyframe genius - Characters : I miss Yoshi, and I bet I'm not alone... - Color Scheme : the Nintendo palette probably is patented, it's hard to pull off the balance they have between the character's color, the foreground & background within a 2D side scroller - Challenge vs Payoff : the game play is inviting & rewarding in a odd / charming way - Approachability : I'm biased but there's something uniquely fundamental about Mario Bros that universal in it's appeal..., it's Beatle-esque Downloading now...
  - flukus 10y ago
    > Color Scheme : the Nintendo palette probably is patented, it's hard to pull off the balance they have between the character's color, the foreground & background within a 2D side scroller I wonder if this is because of the heritage? The first games didn't have a large pallet to work with.
  - robbiep 10y ago
    > colour scheme patented Even if it was, it's been more than 15 years. You mean trademarked? Copyright?
    - Volt 10y ago
      It wasn't meant literally.
  - 10y ago
calebbrown 10y ago
That website was frustrating. - splash page that has to load the background video before you can do anything. - you have to start watching the video on the splash page to skip it. - horizontal navigation in the about page. - clicking the obscure "here we go!" back link in the about page has to reload the video before you can do anything. It looks really nice, but the interaction is incredibly slow and cumbersome.
- bo1024 10y ago
  I don't have javascript enabled. I saw a totally blank screen. (Enabled javascript, did not get much more useful information...)
Caerus 10y ago
I got really turned off when it was listed as "Free (with in-app purchases)". Turns out it's basically a 10 minute demo, after which you have to pay $9.99. Maybe it's good, but deceptive enough I uninstalled it.
- comex 10y ago
  Personally, I find the 'free demo' model far preferable to the two alternatives, upfront payment and microtransaction hell. The former is problematic on iOS where there are no refunds (more or less; at least, Apple's refund process is cumbersome with no guarantee of acceptance) - I've purchased countless apps for a few dollars (after looking at the description and screenshots) just to realize, literally seconds after opening them and actually being able to try them out, that they were either poor quality or otherwise not what I was looking for, followed by deletion from my home screen. And the IAP option, well, it encourages designing the game mechanics to be as dissatisfying as possible, i.e. exactly the opposite of how game design is supposed to work, while constantly tempting you to leap ahead in the game by just paying a small fee. This is what most mobile games do, and it's horrible. But in Super Mario Run's case, the problem is just that the game's too short. After all, what you call a "10 minute demo" (for anyone reading, it's not actually time limited) is 1 of the 6 worlds in the main game mode; the later levels are harder and thus more time consuming, but not that much. I got halfway through it today in maybe an hour, while collecting all the pink coins for each level. EDIT: But not the purple and black coins. I just tried collecting those for the first two levels and it takes quite a bit longer. Still not a huge game but they clearly designed for replay value... I wonder why they didn't just add more levels, though. As Super Mario Maker has shown, it doesn't take that much work to create Mario levels when the tileset, mechanics, etc. are already in place.
  - Caerus 10y ago
    I don't have a problem with demos, they're great. It's the fact it's not advertised that way that really irked me. Maybe it's buried in the description somewhere, but the first indication I got that it was a demo was after wasting about 25 minutes downloading, installing, setting up a Nintendo account, downloading more levels, then learning the game mechanics.
kawsper 10y ago
Does it still have the always-online requirement?
- mads 10y ago
  Seems like it.
throwaway420 10y ago
I believe that this game's always online DRM is incredibly disrespectful and will not buy it. I don't want to pirate anything. I actually want to pay real money once for a polished mobile game rather than getting mostly junk for free. Nintendo got that part of the equation right, I'll give them that. But because of the always online DRM, it's unusable on the subway or on an airplane. If I can't use it when I want it the most, what's the point of spending real money? PS: This website is ridiculous. It takes forever to load up, and the marketing video is just a stupid video of a bunch of people doing parkour in slow motion or some junk like that. They probably spent 6 figures on that dumb video that nobody really gives a crap about. Then there's another loading screen after the video, and once that's done there's a really crappy UI for a slideshow that's not even responsive. IMO, idiotic executives fingerprints are all over this shitshow with bad decisions left and right. Nintendo is a fantastic company who is capable of amazing things, but they don't really get the web or mobile technology. Sad!
Rapzid 10y ago
They really nailed this from an advertising and marketing perspective. From what I can see the gameplay is spot on too. Looks like Nintendo took a crowded genre, the runner, and completely pwnd it. Looking forward to the android release though as I own 0 iDevices.
- johnward 10y ago
  Did they nail the marketing? The website makes it seem like I need to do some crazy parkour to complete the levels. I'm not even sure if you have to move around in the real world or not.
dcw303 10y ago
I played through the first couple of levels and was instantly hit by how much better the level design, gameplay and characters were than the usual mobile game. I happily plonked down my ten bucks. I cleared the game in a single lunch hour, but I'm not disappointed. The game design easily surpasses anything I've ever played on my phone, and there's a bucket of replayability. Pink/purple/black coins to get, speed runs on rally to try, etc. Giving the first 3 levels for free was a good move - the install is essentially a demo that is enough to let a customer decide if they want to front for the whole game. I didn't have a problem paying, but I've read a lot of whining on twitter and other places. Younger gamers have an expectation that everything on mobile should be free, but kudos to Nintendo on having the balls to stay away from cheap pay2win tricks and stick to an old school pricing model. I don't know if it's going to turn a profit, but I really hope so. This race to the bottom amongst mobile game devs is madness and has to stop.
- ksjdj 10y ago
  >Younger gamers have an expectation that everything on mobile should be free, but kudos to Nintendo on having the balls to stay away from cheap pay2win tricks and stick to an old school pricing model. nintendo is sticking to an old school pricing model by making a f2play game? damn im old, like older than 5 years old old
  - etherealmachine 10y ago
    I guess you're not old enough to remember the original Quake, released with a shareware license where the first episode was free. Someone will probably come along and shake their fist at me, but if Quake isn't old-school, I don't know what is.
    - swivelmaster 10y ago
      I'll shake my fist :D Id software pioneered the shareware model in 1990 with Commander Keen, six years before they used it in Quake. In fact, Keen, Keen 4, Wolfenstein 3D, and Doom all used a three-episode shareware structure where the first episode was free and the rest were considered the "full version." Doom 2 did not use this structure because Doom itself was a good enough advertisement for it. id then used it again in Quake, but fully broke from it with Quake 2, which just had a demo with a few levels.
crazygringo 10y ago
From the video, I really thought this was going to be some kind of miraculous game that would marry fitness (via real-life running) with gamification -- the kind of magic that only a truly visionary company could pull off. Like Fitbit only with real entertainment and joy attached. Not going to lie, no matter how great the game is, I'm pretty disappointed.
- jasonlotito 10y ago
  It's Flappy Mario. The only reason it's popular is the brand. The game itself is not bad, but it's not special. The extras on top of the game only make it worse.
  - LocalH 10y ago
    Super Mario Run is a much deeper game than Flappy Bird.
- justinator 10y ago
  some kind of miraculous game that would marry fitness (via real-life running) with gamification Here you go, https://www.strava.com/premium/live/segments https://www.strava.com/premium/live/segments
- thecity2 10y ago
  Dude yes! That's exactly what I thought too. Oh well.
- jordigh 10y ago
  > that would marry fitness (via real-life running) with gamification I know I'm about a decade too late, but I've recently gotten hooked on DDR, which is exactly this for me. It's a pretty addictive game, and it feels like a real workout.
  - matwood 10y ago
    Could always go old school, and try to find an original Track and Field game mat :)
pentae 10y ago
I only tend to play games when i'm bored on a plane flying somewhere - the necessity for it to be connected to the internet for copyright protection after I pay $10 is devastating. I'm sure they will still make a lot of money and I make up a very small fraction of their market, but it's still quite frustrating being punished as a paying user.
- Andrenid 10y ago
  I live on a farm with expensive/limited satellite net. I'm also a huuuuge Mario fan and retro game collector. I /was/ really excited for Mario Run but the always-on requirement makes it a no-buy for me and really disappointed me. Worst part is all my friends are saying it's a great game!
  - jimmaswell 10y ago
    I'm sure it'll be cracked eventually, so you could just pay for it then get that.
- wapz 10y ago
  I really don't understand why they made it always on. They could have made it like steam where if you don't login for a few days you get locked out (or very limited access). I still want to buy it when it comes out on Android to support the paid game model with no IAPs.
- mads 10y ago
  Yes, this is disappointing. My Internet here is very flaky and it takes the joy out of playing this game somewhat.
- bsharitt 10y ago
  Games are my fall back when I'm bored and don't have an internet connection, other wise I don't generally play mobile games.
BusySkillFool 10y ago
Horrible game, extremely low quality, thoroughly disappointed from the first screen to the end of the first level where I was disconnected due to no internet connection (which I did have). Uninstalled.
bdcravens 10y ago
Am I the only one who feels in places the UI was rushed? Like the generic sans font in the splash screen, and buttons that look like Aqua from 10 years ago?
- BinaryIdiot 10y ago
  Yes they're essentially the same UI set from the Wii / Wii U and not well adapted to a touch screen device. For many screens, typically you'd just tap the screen but in this game you have to specifically tab a button in the center. Seems out of place especially that menu to select your region (what the heck is that about? The primary markets they're in are not near the top, either!).
  - bdcravens 10y ago
    > Seems out of place especially that menu to select your region As I scrolled and scrolled to find United States in the list, I was thinking surely the OS has an API
- jly 10y ago
  You're not the only one. Those are the first two screens of the game (splash and then country selection) and I thought both choices were odd for the initial experience. Remarked to myself how out of place the font choice on the splash was. Odd contrast to the game itself and the world tour / toad rally screens which are typical Nintendo polish.
pacomerh 10y ago
I appreciate the level of detail the game has compared to the average single finger jump game. But!, I think Nintendo is late to the game on this one. Had this game been launched a few years back a different story would've been. I'm not saying this is the wrong move, it's just a little late. The ad didn't help either, I honestly thought it was something similar to the pokemon game, where you had to run to get points or something, idk.
xxbc 10y ago
Really a pity this wasn't released internationally!
simooooo 10y ago
I'm inclined to ignore this as another game hitch hiking on the Mario name. Have we reached 200 yet?
wturner 10y ago
I was hoping this would be like pokemon Go and push the trend of getting people out of the house. That's what the ad had me infer. Pokemon Go ---> Super Mario Run
- spookylukey 10y ago
  Yeah, the video made me want to go outside and run, not take my mobile with me, and certainly not stay in and tap a screen.
sabujp 10y ago
boo, no AR
dperfect 10y ago
The graphics are nice (similar to New Super Mario Bros.), gameplay is smooth, and I really wanted to like this, but I just can't get into it. I think it comes down to this: My favorite games are the ones that embody some sense of freedom, and I just don't get that here (at least not from the first 3 levels). I completely understand Nintendo's decision to go with the single-finger jump-only game mechanic for a touchscreen device (I've never been a fan of virtual D-pads). But unfortunately, that decision has transformed Mario from a game about discovery and freedom into a game where you're - quite literally - not allowed to stop and take a second look at something. As a natural consequence of this change in game mechanics, we seem to be forced into a constant state of hyper-focused speeding through what might otherwise be an attractive setting with subtleties to be explored. If I pass something that looks interesting in Super Mario Run, I'll likely never see it again (no, I'm not really motivated to repeat levels for coins - but I would be inclined to explore new paths through the game if I weren't always forced to be on the run). Making matters worse, the few times I did attempt to explore a little (by jumping back off the walls), the clock ran out in what felt like an unreasonably short time compared to other Mario games. In the back of my mind, it feels as though this change reflects something more profound about how society has evolved in the past decade. Maybe our competitive and demanding nature has overshadowed the desire for individual discovery and creativity. We don't need a landscape-oriented view of the horizon anymore; we only care about what's immediately at hand in our myopic view of the world because, let's face it, this is 2016 and we're too lazy to flip our phones around to landscape mode, let alone to confront the harrowing idea of plotting our own course through life. Just put us on the conveyor belt and tell us when to jump - and how high. OK, that may be taking it a bit too far, but I'm still not buying the full game - and it has nothing to do with the price.
- thedudemabry 10y ago
  I love your description of the game, and felt the same way. But what interests me more, as an occasional Nintendo system-owner, is that this game provides a nostalgic, but limited on-ramp to full-fledged console or mobile games. If this game does its job, I suspect it will remind folks of Mario and their fond memories of their first platforming experience, and draw them to purchase a 3DS, Wii U, or (more likely) Switch. I'm kind of thumb-upping Nintendo for not releasing previous games on iOS because this approach mines nostalgia while providing a better baseline for gameplay amongst folks willing to seek out a solid mobile/TV experience.
mgv11 10y ago
Really would want to play this. I don't mind the concept especially the game is on par with those Rayman runner games. At least couple of the early ones were really great. The price is perhaps steep for what it is, not that it would stop me from buying this. Well the hype and interested might have mellowed down once the Android version comes out..
mads 10y ago
This is a fun game. I cant even remember the last time I actually wanted to fire up a game because it was actually fun. Rarely play and when I do, it is just to kill time. And also.. It brings back childhood memories to play Mario.
eps 10y ago
Nostalgia aside, SMR looks pretty underwhelming compared to other high-end runners like Rayman Adventures. Yes, it's remarkable that Nintendo caved to Apple's advances and they are likely to make a lot of money on this, but the game itself is just... meh, basically. [1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rayman-adventures/id1043589663?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rayman-adventures/id10435896...
saurik 10y ago
I am surprised at how many comments are here but with only a single one mentioning "build". If you are playing the game, exit Tour, spend some Rally Tickets you earned collecting Colored Coins to compete against other players in Style competitions to get Toads to cheer for you and come to your side, which will level up your Kingdom and (based on the numbers of each of five colors of Toad you have) unlock the ability to Spend the normal Coins you find to Build not only Decorations, but also Buildings such as a Bonus Game Area where you can win Prizes. Then exit all of that and go to the Missions section of the My Nintendo menu to claim your Points to redeem for Rewards... and don't forget to come back every eight hours to the bonus game and every day to the rally and other random time intervals to complete various missions. Oh yeah: you also have a global count of how many of each kind of enemy you have killed, and when you meet objectives you increase your Enemy Level so you get more coins when killing that kind of enemy while competing in the rally. You can also unlock different characters to play as; I believe that Toad is a Reward you can unlock for 0 points just for having bought the game, so go do that now. OMFG this is complex and reminds me more of what I hear from people talking about scary games like FarmVille and Candy Crush than Mario :/.
- wodenokoto 10y ago
  Yes, they have "gamefied" Mario!
- minimaxir 10y ago
  Granted, random game mechanics unrelated to the core Mario gameplay have been a staple of the franchise since before smartphones were invented. At the least, there's no F2P Stamina meter for the core gameplay, which would be a very legit complaint.
- dpcan 10y ago
  Whoa. I'm about as far as tap screen to make Mario jump through the level right now. Paid $10 and I doubt I'll ever do all this stuff. I'll probably try for some purple coins. I love speed runs, so hopefully I figure out how to do that in there somewhere. But I think young people, who have hours and hours and hours to spend just GAMING need this kind of thing now. They aren't as content with just running through levels, trying over and over again until you get it right. There has to be a ton of stuff to explore. Maybe they got it just right then. Old guys like me who love Mario will just tap and jump through the levels and have a great time. People with more time will have a wealth of stuff to figure out.
unicornporn 10y ago
How's that for a misleading commercial. I was 100% sure this was a Pokemon Go styled running game until I checked some Youtube videos.
qwtel 10y ago
The about page is more informative (https://supermariorun.com/en/about.html https://supermariorun.com/en/about.html): A new kind of Mario game you can play with one hand. Mario constantly runs forward, while you time your taps to pull off stylish jumps and moves to gather coins and reach the goal!
ungzd 10y ago
How it stands out of thousands of similar "runner" games in app store? Only by having the sprite of Mario in it. Nintendo is nothing more but trademark-selling company nowadays. And lots of people buys it not because of nostalgia but because you must respect classics to claim you have good taste. The world of mobile games is infinite bullshit.
- jjnoakes 10y ago
  Some think the level design and mechanics (different blocks and timings) are important. After all, pick any side scrollers or any first person shooters and you could say the same about those categories too, if you ignore the art, design, and mechanics. Why play sonic once you beat contra?
wattt 10y ago
That first video is so inappropriate I can't get my head around it. I thought it was going to be an augmented reality game like Pokemon Go. Turns out it is just a regular game. I can't get back to the website to try it though, the promotional page sucks!
wattt 10y ago
What year do they think this is that there is no Android version?
- brainary 10y ago
  They have a "deal" with Apple to be first. Just wait.
mysterydip 10y ago
I wonder how successful this game would have been if it was the exact same but with non-mario graphics and without the nintendo hype. I would imagine most people would see "$10 for yet another runner game" and dismiss it out of hand. I have yet to find a good solution for finding the gems and avoiding the cruft of the various stores.
- _ph_ 10y ago
  How many Micky or Donald cartoons by Disney would be popular, if not for Micky or Donald? And the graphics of Mario Run are really excellent and thus a very important part of the gameplay experience. Also, the further I play the game, the more I see very carefully hand-crafted levels, which are an important reason, why Nintendo games are as successful as they are.
- kin 10y ago
  It's not just a runner game though. I think calling it Super Mario "Run" gives it the stigma of other run games that copy Temple Run. But, it's more akin to Rayman.
- jamesgeck0 10y ago
  Rayman Jungle Run was reasonably similar, and it did fairly well for itself.
zitterbewegung 10y ago
I have an iPhone 6 and immediately I started the game with no sound and apparently it is an issue with others. Uninstalled. http://wojdylosocialmedia.com/no-sound-audio-super-mario-run/ http://wojdylosocialmedia.com/no-sound-audio-super-mario-run...
- tbrock 10y ago
  Flick the switch on the left side of your phone.
MarketingJason 10y ago
Based on the videos on the landing page, I was getting the impression this was a VR/fitness game. Everybody running around had me thinking you needed to run in order to your avatar to do the same. I was actually disappointed how little you actually have to do to play the game when I navigated a couple screens in to get the full-picture.
- karmelapple 10y ago
  The Mario Run big promo video[1] seems to have just copied the marketing approach for Pokemon Go[2]: feel epic and show people in real life. However, Pokemon Go actually involves walking around in the real world, but Super Mario Run does not at all. Seems like a definite miss in the marketing message, since I thought the same as you on first watch. I even saw the announcement at the Apple Event, but upon seeing the first video ad Nintendo created, I thought, "wait, does this have a fitness element to it?" Definitely makes me wonder what kind of fitness-minded games could be done by Nintendo, though! [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpdfg5km60w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpdfg5km60w [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sj2iQyBTQs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sj2iQyBTQs
  - cgvgffyv 10y ago
    Well this is what happens when you let Americans market your video games. See also: Skyrim Pinball. Welcome to the future.
    - karmelapple 10y ago
      A slam to an entire country does not contribute to the conversation.
module0000 10y ago
If you want to cash in on the success of this game, Nintendo's US-traded stock equivalent is NTDOY - it represents 1/8th share of the Japanese company stock, but traded in USD. That said, it's not looking very good at the moment, and has fallen consistently from days before release, and still falling this morning.
- Icedcool 10y ago
  Time to buy then if you believe in the success of the switch.
  - module0000 10y ago
    Don't believe in it one bit :) I'm on the other side of the market.
djrtwo 10y ago
I thought this was going to be an augmented reality running app/game especially because of the recent Pokemon Go. Kind of disappointed when I watched the gameplay video.
kbenson 10y ago
While watching the promo video, which gives zero information on what it is, I was actually under the impression it was a tie-in with a fitbit like device that you might use with headphones, and the audio would trigger you to jump at specific moments, and it would use that movement for jumps in some simulated run in a game it could show you later, and it would score you based on speed and jump accuracy. Now I really want that.
- johansch 10y ago
  I thought it was like that, expect that instead of specific moments in time there were specific real-world locations using geo-location. Pokemon Go meets Super Mario meets Fitbit... I guess this game would really need very light-weight AR headsets though.
- Toadsoup 10y ago
  That does sound fun.
  - johansch 10y ago
    They could sync those moments quite precisely (think NTP) so that everyone jump at the same time. Then it would also be fun to look at...
    - mikepurvis 10y ago
      Related: https://improveverywhere.com/missions/the-mp3-experiments/ https://improveverywhere.com/missions/the-mp3-experiments/
ikeboy 10y ago
On iOS 10.2 it just craches as soon as it's opened. Not too impressed.
- sucrose 10y ago
  I'm using iOS 10.2 on iPhone 5s and it's working perfectly.
  - ikeboy 10y ago
    I'm on iPhone 6. Tried deleting and reinstalling which didn't help.
Stauche 10y ago
Game sucks. Mario is not Mario if he can not move left.
Coincoin 10y ago
Someone needs to do an edit of that video where the mass of people at the end bang their face on a door with a note saying: "Sorry, we only had 5... come back after Christmas".
josefresco 10y ago
Another 'Run" game - just what mobile gaming needed! This will fit right along my daughters' other 96 run games. /sarcasm
- kin 10y ago
  Now that your sarcasm has ended, if you give it a shot, it actually plays just like any of the DS versions but w/ auto run. It's definitely much more than just a runner. The level design is very polished too.
  - sushid 10y ago
    Well that and a $9.99 purchase price.
r0m4n0 10y ago
A little ironic that the video shows people actually being extremely physically active and then concludes with those same people heads down on a phone game at the end
kellet 10y ago
A Yip, Yap, Ya-HOOO!
gohrt 10y ago
The homepage ad is amazing. It makes me want to put my phone away and play outside.
Arkaad 10y ago
The video makes it look like it's similar to Pokémon GO.
icco 10y ago
Has anyone done any reverse engineering to figure out what infrastructure this is running on?
superdupermanhe 10y ago
Mario for the sheeples!
increment_i 10y ago
I was a little confused to see an iOS release only - wasn't the thing built in Unity?
cgvgffyv 10y ago
The App Store reviews are appalling though. How can people be so incredibly entitled I couldn't possibly understand.

Super Mario Run

269 points by yellow_postit 10y ago

_eht 10y ago

My Pixel is ready... :/

kevin_thibedeau 10y ago
Why sell to 80% of the market when you can can take 20%. Dr. Evil must have a job on the marketing team.
- GuiA 10y ago
  When it comes to actually making money from your software, iOS is where the 80% is at.
  - eropple 10y ago
    Yup. I'm an Android user by habit, but were I to release a game for a mobile device, most of my effort would be around making sure the iOS version was as pin-perfect as I could make it. Why do you rob a bank? 'Cause that's where the money is.
  - kriro 10y ago
    Depends on the game/monetization method. I'm fairly confident (without having any data/just guessing) that Pokemon Go generated more money on Android than iOS because there's more devices and I don't think iOS users are that more likely to ingame buy for this particular game. Also if you use a free+add based model I'd once again say Android would do well. For a one time buy game that's relatively expensive like MarioRun I agree with your statement though. And I'm sure the exclusive partnership with Apple has other benefits, being announced at the KeyNote is great free marketing for example.

ronnier 10y ago

I tried it and didn't enjoy it. It largely comes down to tapping the screen when you want to jump... nothing else. Not having a real controller cripples this type of game.

shard972 10y ago
So flappy bird?
- joezydeco 10y ago
  Canabalt. http://www.canabalt.com http://www.canabalt.com
  - statictype 10y ago
    Canabalt was a great game but this is nothing like Canabalt. There is quite a bit of ingenuity and thought that went into making a game with a single user interaction (tap on the screen) but with also a fair degree of sophistication and strategy/decision making. I've only played through about 6 levels and am impressed by the game play mechanics they have introduced with a limited interaction model. My only wish is that it were a little faster.
bottled_poe 10y ago
And yet, watch this game generate $1B.
RussellDussel 10y ago
> Not having a real controller cripples this type of game. I disagree, this type of game is perfect for a touch screen. All you need to do is tap anywhere you like on the screen, you get all the tactile feedback you need.
Kiro 10y ago
Personally I love one button games so I don't see that as a negative at all.
10y ago

farzadb82 10y ago

A Mario-themed Flappy bird clone?

Larrikin 10y ago

The video had me worried and excited it was some kind of AR based game

deeteecee 10y ago
yeah seriously, haha. what's with the AR tease trickery

nulagrithom 10y ago

I watched the intro video and still have no idea what this app is or does.

gyrfalc 10y ago
Not sure why you've been downvoted. I feel the same way. I have no clue what this even is from the linked content.
- halchion 10y ago
  You can tell what it is from the title. Super Mario is a popular video game character and has been for over 30 years. This is clearly a video game. Good job on being facetious though.
  - jayajay 10y ago
    Why do several people here think that "it's a video game" has any merit or descriptiveness to it? It's obviously a video game. The real question is, what kind of game is it? And this question was not answered by the video. Plain and simple.
    - haswell 10y ago
      However, there is an abundance of information on the site about exactly what kind of game it is. I won't defend the site design - it should be easier to get to https://supermariorun.com/en/about.html https://supermariorun.com/en/about.html, but it still takes very little effort to find this.
    - erik 10y ago
      I just replied to one of your other comments where I argued that the title was enough to tell you everything you need to know. But I guess I can see how other people wouldn't see it that way. For me, the fact that it is a game named Super Mario Run, made by Nintendo, for the iphone, instantly tells me that it will be a side scrolling runner-style game featuring Mario in Super Mario Bros style levels, with basic touch controls. In fact it occurred to me that I hadn't verified these assumptions and I just checked out the about page and found that it looks exactly like I expected. I guess some people make the exact same assumptions I do, and this is totally not obvious to others, hence all of the miscommunication and arguing in this thread.

k0mplex 10y ago

2/5 stars.

politician 10y ago

The announcement video had me thinking this was some sort of Pokemon GO / Fitbit cross-over. Thankfully, it's just a game.

Taek 10y ago
Thankfully? I would be very excited to have another AR game. I feel like most so far have dropped the ball, but I also feel like AR gaming is going to be completely dominant in 10-20 years. Would have preferred an AR Mario game to just about anything else Mario. Then again I'm not a huge Mario fan in the first place.
- themodelplumber 10y ago
  Same here, I felt pretty let down. I was thinking that Pokemon Go was such a hit that this was a natural follow-on to that, and that it really _might_ have people running down the streets (and hopefully not into traffic) with smiles on their faces. Admittedly my AR vision got weirder and weirder along with the various parkour moves, and when the guy jumped an impossible distance my brain felt like it was going to collapse, wondering how this game could possibly work. lol, all that mental effort and then: Touch platformer.
pepijndevos 10y ago
I thought the same. But running while looking at your phone seems like a recipe for disaster. Maybe an audio game could work? Imagine a simple app that plays the coin sound when you jump.
- Fnoord 10y ago
  > Imagine a simple app that plays the coin sound when you jump. Imagine calling it a magic leap. Oh, and nobody ever makes the first jump ;) I agree btw, I also initially thought this was a AR game. Perhaps Nintendo were making one, or its a hint for things to come? While I do think that'd be awesome, and also has potentially interesting health effects (not necessarily all positive!) I think it is also dangerous in crowded cities. It'd be unpredictable. Imagine someone suddenly jumping in the air while you picked up a cup of coffee on the go from Starbucks? Or while you got your smartphone in your hands?

CrazedGeek 10y ago

Played a bit. Seems like a solid runner -- feels a bit more like the Rayman Run games than Canabalt or Jetpack Joyride to me. Curiously, it's more technical than any of those. Not sure I'm going to play more soon, but that's mostly because I'm playing on a 12.9" iPad Pro and the game feels like it's designed for screens half that size.

ya 10y ago

the website redirect to /ch/index.html , and show nothing but `File not found."` found this in javascript: case 'zh': location.href = _WARP_ + 'ch/index.html'; break; Chinese index page missing?

jackvalentine 10y ago

That took way too long to get to the actual playing... choosing my country(?!), linking to a nintendo account etc.

smackfu 10y ago
Yeah the onboarding is terrible. But that's not surprising after seeing the Wii interface.
- yellow_postit 10y ago
  A terrible spinner to select countries for sure, but after that it improved in terms of UX , except the online accounts, but Nintendo has always had terrible online account management.

bobbles 10y ago

I like the game but unfortunately Nintendo really does suck when it comes to online accounts. I had signed in on my iPhone then also set it up on my ipad. After finishing a few levels on the iPad i went back to my phone. The phone let me finish a level, THEN came up and said 'cant progress as you're signed in on another device' and the app crashed. what the fuck is the point of signing up for an account if it doesnt even sync across devices

giarc 10y ago
I tried to connect my Facebook account and while it searches for "Friends" it crashes every time.
- city41 10y ago
  This is a known issue (reported in the notifications section). An update is coming to fix it.
GuiA 10y ago
Nintendo has always been terrible when it comes to non game software - whether account management, digital store, the user facing portion of their OSs, etc. It's an organizational problem, and one that's not going away anytime soon.
- frik 10y ago
  Let's hope the new Nintendo Switch console gets a good UI. The Wii, 3DS and Wii U have a UI that does look outdated and is clunky. Everything is separate app that takes ages to load. The XBox UI isn't good as well. The PS4 UI is easy to use and very fluent, nevertheless a few more options to customise the home screen wouldn't hurt.
- flukus 10y ago
  The UI may have been terrible, but they all ran just as solidly as their games.
kin 10y ago

minimaxir 10y ago

Many of the other comments in this thread are low-effort "mobile games aren't real games, lol." After playing just one level, you can tell that Super Mario Run the real deal and not a cash-in (and it gets hard, especially if you want to get Black Coins). If you have an aversion to mobile gaming, give this a try. You can play 3 levels without having to pay anything and it doesn't nag you until then, which means that Nintendo only gets your money if they can convince you if it's worth it. And they do.

moflome 10y ago
Yes... but the magic is in how they can convince you: - Animation : it's better than Disney, seriously, this is pure keyframe genius - Characters : I miss Yoshi, and I bet I'm not alone... - Color Scheme : the Nintendo palette probably is patented, it's hard to pull off the balance they have between the character's color, the foreground & background within a 2D side scroller - Challenge vs Payoff : the game play is inviting & rewarding in a odd / charming way - Approachability : I'm biased but there's something uniquely fundamental about Mario Bros that universal in it's appeal..., it's Beatle-esque Downloading now...
- flukus 10y ago
  > Color Scheme : the Nintendo palette probably is patented, it's hard to pull off the balance they have between the character's color, the foreground & background within a 2D side scroller I wonder if this is because of the heritage? The first games didn't have a large pallet to work with.
- robbiep 10y ago
  > colour scheme patented Even if it was, it's been more than 15 years. You mean trademarked? Copyright?
  - Volt 10y ago
    It wasn't meant literally.
- 10y ago

calebbrown 10y ago

That website was frustrating. - splash page that has to load the background video before you can do anything. - you have to start watching the video on the splash page to skip it. - horizontal navigation in the about page. - clicking the obscure "here we go!" back link in the about page has to reload the video before you can do anything. It looks really nice, but the interaction is incredibly slow and cumbersome.

bo1024 10y ago
I don't have javascript enabled. I saw a totally blank screen. (Enabled javascript, did not get much more useful information...)

Caerus 10y ago

I got really turned off when it was listed as "Free (with in-app purchases)". Turns out it's basically a 10 minute demo, after which you have to pay $9.99. Maybe it's good, but deceptive enough I uninstalled it.

comex 10y ago
Personally, I find the 'free demo' model far preferable to the two alternatives, upfront payment and microtransaction hell. The former is problematic on iOS where there are no refunds (more or less; at least, Apple's refund process is cumbersome with no guarantee of acceptance) - I've purchased countless apps for a few dollars (after looking at the description and screenshots) just to realize, literally seconds after opening them and actually being able to try them out, that they were either poor quality or otherwise not what I was looking for, followed by deletion from my home screen. And the IAP option, well, it encourages designing the game mechanics to be as dissatisfying as possible, i.e. exactly the opposite of how game design is supposed to work, while constantly tempting you to leap ahead in the game by just paying a small fee. This is what most mobile games do, and it's horrible. But in Super Mario Run's case, the problem is just that the game's too short. After all, what you call a "10 minute demo" (for anyone reading, it's not actually time limited) is 1 of the 6 worlds in the main game mode; the later levels are harder and thus more time consuming, but not that much. I got halfway through it today in maybe an hour, while collecting all the pink coins for each level. EDIT: But not the purple and black coins. I just tried collecting those for the first two levels and it takes quite a bit longer. Still not a huge game but they clearly designed for replay value... I wonder why they didn't just add more levels, though. As Super Mario Maker has shown, it doesn't take that much work to create Mario levels when the tileset, mechanics, etc. are already in place.
- Caerus 10y ago
  I don't have a problem with demos, they're great. It's the fact it's not advertised that way that really irked me. Maybe it's buried in the description somewhere, but the first indication I got that it was a demo was after wasting about 25 minutes downloading, installing, setting up a Nintendo account, downloading more levels, then learning the game mechanics.

kawsper 10y ago

Does it still have the always-online requirement?

mads 10y ago
Seems like it.

throwaway420 10y ago

I believe that this game's always online DRM is incredibly disrespectful and will not buy it. I don't want to pirate anything. I actually want to pay real money once for a polished mobile game rather than getting mostly junk for free. Nintendo got that part of the equation right, I'll give them that. But because of the always online DRM, it's unusable on the subway or on an airplane. If I can't use it when I want it the most, what's the point of spending real money? PS: This website is ridiculous. It takes forever to load up, and the marketing video is just a stupid video of a bunch of people doing parkour in slow motion or some junk like that. They probably spent 6 figures on that dumb video that nobody really gives a crap about. Then there's another loading screen after the video, and once that's done there's a really crappy UI for a slideshow that's not even responsive. IMO, idiotic executives fingerprints are all over this shitshow with bad decisions left and right. Nintendo is a fantastic company who is capable of amazing things, but they don't really get the web or mobile technology. Sad!

Rapzid 10y ago

They really nailed this from an advertising and marketing perspective. From what I can see the gameplay is spot on too. Looks like Nintendo took a crowded genre, the runner, and completely pwnd it. Looking forward to the android release though as I own 0 iDevices.

johnward 10y ago
Did they nail the marketing? The website makes it seem like I need to do some crazy parkour to complete the levels. I'm not even sure if you have to move around in the real world or not.

dcw303 10y ago

I played through the first couple of levels and was instantly hit by how much better the level design, gameplay and characters were than the usual mobile game. I happily plonked down my ten bucks. I cleared the game in a single lunch hour, but I'm not disappointed. The game design easily surpasses anything I've ever played on my phone, and there's a bucket of replayability. Pink/purple/black coins to get, speed runs on rally to try, etc. Giving the first 3 levels for free was a good move - the install is essentially a demo that is enough to let a customer decide if they want to front for the whole game. I didn't have a problem paying, but I've read a lot of whining on twitter and other places. Younger gamers have an expectation that everything on mobile should be free, but kudos to Nintendo on having the balls to stay away from cheap pay2win tricks and stick to an old school pricing model. I don't know if it's going to turn a profit, but I really hope so. This race to the bottom amongst mobile game devs is madness and has to stop.

ksjdj 10y ago
>Younger gamers have an expectation that everything on mobile should be free, but kudos to Nintendo on having the balls to stay away from cheap pay2win tricks and stick to an old school pricing model. nintendo is sticking to an old school pricing model by making a f2play game? damn im old, like older than 5 years old old
- etherealmachine 10y ago
  I guess you're not old enough to remember the original Quake, released with a shareware license where the first episode was free. Someone will probably come along and shake their fist at me, but if Quake isn't old-school, I don't know what is.
  - swivelmaster 10y ago
    I'll shake my fist :D Id software pioneered the shareware model in 1990 with Commander Keen, six years before they used it in Quake. In fact, Keen, Keen 4, Wolfenstein 3D, and Doom all used a three-episode shareware structure where the first episode was free and the rest were considered the "full version." Doom 2 did not use this structure because Doom itself was a good enough advertisement for it. id then used it again in Quake, but fully broke from it with Quake 2, which just had a demo with a few levels.

crazygringo 10y ago

From the video, I really thought this was going to be some kind of miraculous game that would marry fitness (via real-life running) with gamification -- the kind of magic that only a truly visionary company could pull off. Like Fitbit only with real entertainment and joy attached. Not going to lie, no matter how great the game is, I'm pretty disappointed.

jasonlotito 10y ago
It's Flappy Mario. The only reason it's popular is the brand. The game itself is not bad, but it's not special. The extras on top of the game only make it worse.
- LocalH 10y ago
  Super Mario Run is a much deeper game than Flappy Bird.
justinator 10y ago
some kind of miraculous game that would marry fitness (via real-life running) with gamification Here you go, https://www.strava.com/premium/live/segments https://www.strava.com/premium/live/segments
thecity2 10y ago
Dude yes! That's exactly what I thought too. Oh well.
jordigh 10y ago
> that would marry fitness (via real-life running) with gamification I know I'm about a decade too late, but I've recently gotten hooked on DDR, which is exactly this for me. It's a pretty addictive game, and it feels like a real workout.
- matwood 10y ago
  Could always go old school, and try to find an original Track and Field game mat :)

pentae 10y ago

I only tend to play games when i'm bored on a plane flying somewhere - the necessity for it to be connected to the internet for copyright protection after I pay $10 is devastating. I'm sure they will still make a lot of money and I make up a very small fraction of their market, but it's still quite frustrating being punished as a paying user.

Andrenid 10y ago
I live on a farm with expensive/limited satellite net. I'm also a huuuuge Mario fan and retro game collector. I /was/ really excited for Mario Run but the always-on requirement makes it a no-buy for me and really disappointed me. Worst part is all my friends are saying it's a great game!
- jimmaswell 10y ago
  I'm sure it'll be cracked eventually, so you could just pay for it then get that.
wapz 10y ago
I really don't understand why they made it always on. They could have made it like steam where if you don't login for a few days you get locked out (or very limited access). I still want to buy it when it comes out on Android to support the paid game model with no IAPs.
mads 10y ago
Yes, this is disappointing. My Internet here is very flaky and it takes the joy out of playing this game somewhat.
bsharitt 10y ago
Games are my fall back when I'm bored and don't have an internet connection, other wise I don't generally play mobile games.

BusySkillFool 10y ago

Horrible game, extremely low quality, thoroughly disappointed from the first screen to the end of the first level where I was disconnected due to no internet connection (which I did have). Uninstalled.

bdcravens 10y ago

Am I the only one who feels in places the UI was rushed? Like the generic sans font in the splash screen, and buttons that look like Aqua from 10 years ago?

BinaryIdiot 10y ago
Yes they're essentially the same UI set from the Wii / Wii U and not well adapted to a touch screen device. For many screens, typically you'd just tap the screen but in this game you have to specifically tab a button in the center. Seems out of place especially that menu to select your region (what the heck is that about? The primary markets they're in are not near the top, either!).
- bdcravens 10y ago
  > Seems out of place especially that menu to select your region As I scrolled and scrolled to find United States in the list, I was thinking surely the OS has an API
jly 10y ago
You're not the only one. Those are the first two screens of the game (splash and then country selection) and I thought both choices were odd for the initial experience. Remarked to myself how out of place the font choice on the splash was. Odd contrast to the game itself and the world tour / toad rally screens which are typical Nintendo polish.

pacomerh 10y ago

I appreciate the level of detail the game has compared to the average single finger jump game. But!, I think Nintendo is late to the game on this one. Had this game been launched a few years back a different story would've been. I'm not saying this is the wrong move, it's just a little late. The ad didn't help either, I honestly thought it was something similar to the pokemon game, where you had to run to get points or something, idk.

xxbc 10y ago

Really a pity this wasn't released internationally!

simooooo 10y ago

I'm inclined to ignore this as another game hitch hiking on the Mario name. Have we reached 200 yet?

wturner 10y ago

I was hoping this would be like pokemon Go and push the trend of getting people out of the house. That's what the ad had me infer. Pokemon Go ---> Super Mario Run

spookylukey 10y ago
Yeah, the video made me want to go outside and run, not take my mobile with me, and certainly not stay in and tap a screen.

sabujp 10y ago

boo, no AR

dperfect 10y ago

The graphics are nice (similar to New Super Mario Bros.), gameplay is smooth, and I really wanted to like this, but I just can't get into it. I think it comes down to this: My favorite games are the ones that embody some sense of freedom, and I just don't get that here (at least not from the first 3 levels). I completely understand Nintendo's decision to go with the single-finger jump-only game mechanic for a touchscreen device (I've never been a fan of virtual D-pads). But unfortunately, that decision has transformed Mario from a game about discovery and freedom into a game where you're - quite literally - not allowed to stop and take a second look at something. As a natural consequence of this change in game mechanics, we seem to be forced into a constant state of hyper-focused speeding through what might otherwise be an attractive setting with subtleties to be explored. If I pass something that looks interesting in Super Mario Run, I'll likely never see it again (no, I'm not really motivated to repeat levels for coins - but I would be inclined to explore new paths through the game if I weren't always forced to be on the run). Making matters worse, the few times I did attempt to explore a little (by jumping back off the walls), the clock ran out in what felt like an unreasonably short time compared to other Mario games. In the back of my mind, it feels as though this change reflects something more profound about how society has evolved in the past decade. Maybe our competitive and demanding nature has overshadowed the desire for individual discovery and creativity. We don't need a landscape-oriented view of the horizon anymore; we only care about what's immediately at hand in our myopic view of the world because, let's face it, this is 2016 and we're too lazy to flip our phones around to landscape mode, let alone to confront the harrowing idea of plotting our own course through life. Just put us on the conveyor belt and tell us when to jump - and how high. OK, that may be taking it a bit too far, but I'm still not buying the full game - and it has nothing to do with the price.

thedudemabry 10y ago
I love your description of the game, and felt the same way. But what interests me more, as an occasional Nintendo system-owner, is that this game provides a nostalgic, but limited on-ramp to full-fledged console or mobile games. If this game does its job, I suspect it will remind folks of Mario and their fond memories of their first platforming experience, and draw them to purchase a 3DS, Wii U, or (more likely) Switch. I'm kind of thumb-upping Nintendo for not releasing previous games on iOS because this approach mines nostalgia while providing a better baseline for gameplay amongst folks willing to seek out a solid mobile/TV experience.

mgv11 10y ago

Really would want to play this. I don't mind the concept especially the game is on par with those Rayman runner games. At least couple of the early ones were really great. The price is perhaps steep for what it is, not that it would stop me from buying this. Well the hype and interested might have mellowed down once the Android version comes out..

mads 10y ago

This is a fun game. I cant even remember the last time I actually wanted to fire up a game because it was actually fun. Rarely play and when I do, it is just to kill time. And also.. It brings back childhood memories to play Mario.

eps 10y ago

Nostalgia aside, SMR looks pretty underwhelming compared to other high-end runners like Rayman Adventures. Yes, it's remarkable that Nintendo caved to Apple's advances and they are likely to make a lot of money on this, but the game itself is just... meh, basically. [1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rayman-adventures/id1043589663?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rayman-adventures/id10435896...

saurik 10y ago

I am surprised at how many comments are here but with only a single one mentioning "build". If you are playing the game, exit Tour, spend some Rally Tickets you earned collecting Colored Coins to compete against other players in Style competitions to get Toads to cheer for you and come to your side, which will level up your Kingdom and (based on the numbers of each of five colors of Toad you have) unlock the ability to Spend the normal Coins you find to Build not only Decorations, but also Buildings such as a Bonus Game Area where you can win Prizes. Then exit all of that and go to the Missions section of the My Nintendo menu to claim your Points to redeem for Rewards... and don't forget to come back every eight hours to the bonus game and every day to the rally and other random time intervals to complete various missions. Oh yeah: you also have a global count of how many of each kind of enemy you have killed, and when you meet objectives you increase your Enemy Level so you get more coins when killing that kind of enemy while competing in the rally. You can also unlock different characters to play as; I believe that Toad is a Reward you can unlock for 0 points just for having bought the game, so go do that now. OMFG this is complex and reminds me more of what I hear from people talking about scary games like FarmVille and Candy Crush than Mario :/.

wodenokoto 10y ago
Yes, they have "gamefied" Mario!
minimaxir 10y ago
Granted, random game mechanics unrelated to the core Mario gameplay have been a staple of the franchise since before smartphones were invented. At the least, there's no F2P Stamina meter for the core gameplay, which would be a very legit complaint.
dpcan 10y ago
Whoa. I'm about as far as tap screen to make Mario jump through the level right now. Paid $10 and I doubt I'll ever do all this stuff. I'll probably try for some purple coins. I love speed runs, so hopefully I figure out how to do that in there somewhere. But I think young people, who have hours and hours and hours to spend just GAMING need this kind of thing now. They aren't as content with just running through levels, trying over and over again until you get it right. There has to be a ton of stuff to explore. Maybe they got it just right then. Old guys like me who love Mario will just tap and jump through the levels and have a great time. People with more time will have a wealth of stuff to figure out.

unicornporn 10y ago

How's that for a misleading commercial. I was 100% sure this was a Pokemon Go styled running game until I checked some Youtube videos.

qwtel 10y ago

The about page is more informative (https://supermariorun.com/en/about.html https://supermariorun.com/en/about.html): A new kind of Mario game you can play with one hand. Mario constantly runs forward, while you time your taps to pull off stylish jumps and moves to gather coins and reach the goal!

ungzd 10y ago

How it stands out of thousands of similar "runner" games in app store? Only by having the sprite of Mario in it. Nintendo is nothing more but trademark-selling company nowadays. And lots of people buys it not because of nostalgia but because you must respect classics to claim you have good taste. The world of mobile games is infinite bullshit.

jjnoakes 10y ago
Some think the level design and mechanics (different blocks and timings) are important. After all, pick any side scrollers or any first person shooters and you could say the same about those categories too, if you ignore the art, design, and mechanics. Why play sonic once you beat contra?

wattt 10y ago

That first video is so inappropriate I can't get my head around it. I thought it was going to be an augmented reality game like Pokemon Go. Turns out it is just a regular game. I can't get back to the website to try it though, the promotional page sucks!

wattt 10y ago

What year do they think this is that there is no Android version?

brainary 10y ago
They have a "deal" with Apple to be first. Just wait.

mysterydip 10y ago

I wonder how successful this game would have been if it was the exact same but with non-mario graphics and without the nintendo hype. I would imagine most people would see "$10 for yet another runner game" and dismiss it out of hand. I have yet to find a good solution for finding the gems and avoiding the cruft of the various stores.

_ph_ 10y ago
How many Micky or Donald cartoons by Disney would be popular, if not for Micky or Donald? And the graphics of Mario Run are really excellent and thus a very important part of the gameplay experience. Also, the further I play the game, the more I see very carefully hand-crafted levels, which are an important reason, why Nintendo games are as successful as they are.
kin 10y ago
It's not just a runner game though. I think calling it Super Mario "Run" gives it the stigma of other run games that copy Temple Run. But, it's more akin to Rayman.
jamesgeck0 10y ago
Rayman Jungle Run was reasonably similar, and it did fairly well for itself.

zitterbewegung 10y ago

I have an iPhone 6 and immediately I started the game with no sound and apparently it is an issue with others. Uninstalled. http://wojdylosocialmedia.com/no-sound-audio-super-mario-run/ http://wojdylosocialmedia.com/no-sound-audio-super-mario-run...

tbrock 10y ago
Flick the switch on the left side of your phone.

MarketingJason 10y ago

Based on the videos on the landing page, I was getting the impression this was a VR/fitness game. Everybody running around had me thinking you needed to run in order to your avatar to do the same. I was actually disappointed how little you actually have to do to play the game when I navigated a couple screens in to get the full-picture.

karmelapple 10y ago
The Mario Run big promo video[1] seems to have just copied the marketing approach for Pokemon Go[2]: feel epic and show people in real life. However, Pokemon Go actually involves walking around in the real world, but Super Mario Run does not at all. Seems like a definite miss in the marketing message, since I thought the same as you on first watch. I even saw the announcement at the Apple Event, but upon seeing the first video ad Nintendo created, I thought, "wait, does this have a fitness element to it?" Definitely makes me wonder what kind of fitness-minded games could be done by Nintendo, though! [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpdfg5km60w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpdfg5km60w [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sj2iQyBTQs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sj2iQyBTQs
- cgvgffyv 10y ago
  Well this is what happens when you let Americans market your video games. See also: Skyrim Pinball. Welcome to the future.
  - karmelapple 10y ago
    A slam to an entire country does not contribute to the conversation.

module0000 10y ago

If you want to cash in on the success of this game, Nintendo's US-traded stock equivalent is NTDOY - it represents 1/8th share of the Japanese company stock, but traded in USD. That said, it's not looking very good at the moment, and has fallen consistently from days before release, and still falling this morning.

Icedcool 10y ago
Time to buy then if you believe in the success of the switch.
- module0000 10y ago
  Don't believe in it one bit :) I'm on the other side of the market.

djrtwo 10y ago

I thought this was going to be an augmented reality running app/game especially because of the recent Pokemon Go. Kind of disappointed when I watched the gameplay video.

kbenson 10y ago

While watching the promo video, which gives zero information on what it is, I was actually under the impression it was a tie-in with a fitbit like device that you might use with headphones, and the audio would trigger you to jump at specific moments, and it would use that movement for jumps in some simulated run in a game it could show you later, and it would score you based on speed and jump accuracy. Now I really want that.

johansch 10y ago
I thought it was like that, expect that instead of specific moments in time there were specific real-world locations using geo-location. Pokemon Go meets Super Mario meets Fitbit... I guess this game would really need very light-weight AR headsets though.
Toadsoup 10y ago
That does sound fun.
- johansch 10y ago
  They could sync those moments quite precisely (think NTP) so that everyone jump at the same time. Then it would also be fun to look at...
  - mikepurvis 10y ago
    Related: https://improveverywhere.com/missions/the-mp3-experiments/ https://improveverywhere.com/missions/the-mp3-experiments/

ikeboy 10y ago

On iOS 10.2 it just craches as soon as it's opened. Not too impressed.

sucrose 10y ago
I'm using iOS 10.2 on iPhone 5s and it's working perfectly.
- ikeboy 10y ago
  I'm on iPhone 6. Tried deleting and reinstalling which didn't help.

Stauche 10y ago

Game sucks. Mario is not Mario if he can not move left.

Coincoin 10y ago

Someone needs to do an edit of that video where the mass of people at the end bang their face on a door with a note saying: "Sorry, we only had 5... come back after Christmas".

josefresco 10y ago

Another 'Run" game - just what mobile gaming needed! This will fit right along my daughters' other 96 run games. /sarcasm

kin 10y ago
Now that your sarcasm has ended, if you give it a shot, it actually plays just like any of the DS versions but w/ auto run. It's definitely much more than just a runner. The level design is very polished too.
- sushid 10y ago
  Well that and a $9.99 purchase price.

r0m4n0 10y ago

A little ironic that the video shows people actually being extremely physically active and then concludes with those same people heads down on a phone game at the end

kellet 10y ago

A Yip, Yap, Ya-HOOO!

gohrt 10y ago

The homepage ad is amazing. It makes me want to put my phone away and play outside.

Arkaad 10y ago

The video makes it look like it's similar to Pokémon GO.

icco 10y ago

Has anyone done any reverse engineering to figure out what infrastructure this is running on?

superdupermanhe 10y ago

Mario for the sheeples!

increment_i 10y ago

I was a little confused to see an iOS release only - wasn't the thing built in Unity?

cgvgffyv 10y ago

The App Store reviews are appalling though. How can people be so incredibly entitled I couldn't possibly understand.