Super Mario Run

My (and basically everyone’s) reaction to Super Mario Run was disappointment that the most venerable series in gaming entered the saturated mobile market with yet another endless runner. Truth be told, I had a similar thought upon first seeing Breath of the Wild’s gameplay, but that worked out terrifically. Super Mario Run doesn’t have the same reversal of fortune, but it’s still worth more of a look than I initially gave it credit for. For one thing, it’s not actually an endless runner; running is automatic, but the levels are bespoke platforming challenges designed with automatic movement in mind. While input is simplified down to location-agnostic touchscreen pokes, the movement mechanics have been outfitted with additional complexity that emphasizes timing and precision. The result is platforming that just inherently feels good, in the same way Super Mario Bros. and Mario 64 did with their respective control schemes.

Unlike those classics, however, Super Mario Run wasn’t built from the ground up. It’s standing on the shoulders of the New Super Mario Bros. games, which hamstrings it in a number of ways. For starters, the new movement features will wreak havoc with experienced players’ muscle memory, especially since the hit detection appears to be slightly off. There’s a newly satisfying acrobatic flair to the player’s animation, but otherwise, the New games’ infamous trademark asset reuse is in full force, despite it having the blandest aesthetics of the entire franchise. It’s even more harmful than usual here – since it’s recycling level themes wholesale from New Super Mario Bros. U, it’s a little ridiculous that it doesn’t even include all of them.

I don’t have a problem with the game’s length in a vacuum. Each level has three distinct versions with increasingly difficult collectibles, which is a deceptively large amount of content. That said, I absolutely have a problem with the amount of trial and error required to attain them all. The game’s other modes are a pseudo-multiplayer coin collection race that incentivizes use of the new movement systems, and a FarmVille clone that uses resources from the other modes to unlock new characters and decorations. The former is reasonably entertaining for a while, and the latter is exactly as pointless as it sounds. But you’ll probably feel forced to engage with it a little anyway, because the unlockable characters are often better-equipped than Mario himself.