I completed the new 'Super Mario' game for iPhone in about three hours
The first ever "Super Mario" game for Apple's iPhone and iPad is finally here!
"Super Mario Run" is a gorgeous 2D Mario game with mobile gamers in mind - no steering Mario (he runs by himself), just jumping, all handled by one finger tapping on the screen. Simple, fun, and engaging.
There's some other stuff in there too, beyond the classic Mario gameplay you'd expect. There's a race mode, called Toad Rally, which is the classic Mario gameplay but in a competitive format. And there's a world building mode, called Kingdom Builder, which has you re-constructing the ruins of Princess Peach's castle and the surrounding countryside.
Both of these modes are fine, but they're clearly side dishes to the main course that is World Tour - the standard 2D Mario gameplay beloved by millions around the world. In World Tour mode, there are six "worlds" with three main levels and one castle/airship.
Here's what that looks like:
Some quick math on the image above: six worlds, four levels per world. That's right - you're looking at just 24 levels of "Super Mario Run" to play. If you're wondering whether a whole new set of levels unlocks when you get through these, wonder no more: What you see here is what's in the game. There are no secret levels, no second set of 24.
As a result, I blew through "Super Mario Run" in a few hours.
There is, of course, a lot of replay value here. After completing a level, "Super Mario Run" challenges players to find and capture five pink coins during a given run. After you've snagged all five, a new set of five shows up in different places. After you've snagged those five, a final set of five (now bronze) coins shows up. It's only when you've collected all fifteen coins that a level is "complete."
And that's before we start talking about playing levels as characters other than Mario:
So, yes, there's a lot to do in "Super Mario Run" beyond the seemingly meager offerings of 24 levels, but much of that stuff to do is...replay the same levels over and over, scraping them for as much fun as you can get.
It's not clear if Nintendo plans to release more levels, but for now you should know what you're getting into - your $10 will get you 24 levels that you're expected to replay many times over.