I actually started typing a blog post for my Four in February (in March) progress, but I scrapped it because I realized I STILL never wrote a First Impressions post for Super Mario Run! I mean, I started the game last month, have played it quite a bit, and still haven’t written anything about it! So, I figured I would get that out of the way now, before I actually beat the game! 😉
The first time I loaded Super Mario Run and clicked on the screen, I thought it was so weird that I was playing a Mario game on my phone! The sights and sounds were all very familiar, but it still felt strange. I guess I never thought that some of my favorite video game characters would one day be featured in smart phone games!
Anyway, the premise is the same as most other Mario games: Princess Peach gets her ass in trouble, and Mario’s gotta go save her. Doesn’t that bitch EVER learn?
When you load your game, you start out in a hub area. Here, you can select your game mode, see how many toads you have, play a bonus game, and more!
World Tour is the main game, and it consists of 6 Worlds with 4 levels each (the last level of each world is a boss). The first three levels were free, and after that there is a one-time purchase price of $9.99 for the full game.
I played through the first three levels and I had a blast! The controls are pretty easy to get used to. Mario runs on his own, and you tap the screen to jump. That doesn’t mean the game isn’t challenging though- some parts can be pretty tricky!
The graphics are really great, and the music is fitting for a Mario game.
Besides the World Tour, there is another game mode called Toad Rally. In this mode, you race against other players (not in real time, more like their “ghost”) to see who can impress more Toads. You get points for your jumping style, collecting coins, etc. This mode is fun, but can be a little difficult too. If you win, more Toads are added to your kingdom, which allows you to level up your kingdom and unlock different characters!
Speaking of your kingdom, you can use coins you earn to decorate it. You can also unlock certain characters by placing their houses down, which is pretty neat! Here is a current picture of my kingdom (it’s currently at a Level 4):
Not very impressive yet, but I have a lot of coins to spend, so I will probably decorate it soon!
Conclusion:
I actually love this game! I feel like it is the perfect way to relax for a couple minutes. You can play this game for long periods of time, but I prefer to just play one level a day (when I do play, sometimes I’ve missed a day or two!) and that gives me something to look forward to. Obviously, I spent $9.99 for the game, which I did think was a little expensive for a mobile game at first. But with 3 different sets of special coins in each level and 5 other characters to unlock and play as, I decided it was worth the money. Hopefully Nintendo will add more levels to this game in the future!
In the meantime, here are some screenshots from the levels I’ve played through so far. Enjoy!
Walk Away From The Sun... 