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[benzopil]

GameSpot -- 7/10

It's easy to fault Run for various reasons, but it's hard to totally lose appreciation for how well it's brought the series' core gameplay to smartphones. Simple controls be damned, Run offers great platforming and that distinct Mario charm that Nintendo's perfected over the years. It's a shame to find that it's on the easy side and bereft of a long-lasting platforming adventure, but it's the sort of game that you'll be happy to have in your pocket. Even if you don't play it to unlock every character and special course, finishing the game once will inspire you to dust off New Super Mario Bros. and revisit Run's quality roots on other platforms--a testament to the series' refined DNA than lives on in Run.

IGN -- 8/10

Super Mario Run is an elegantly designed platformer with strong hooks that kept me coming back. Once I wrapped up the main campaign, the addictive, replayable stages urged me to perfect my coin runs. Kingdom Builder and Toad Rally provided further motivation to keep dashing for the finish line, so I could invest the spoils in my own Mushroom Kingdom. While this isn’t the best-looking Super Mario game by a longshot, it successfully distills the core fun and charm of the Mario franchise into a smart, one-handed experience.

GamesRadar -- 4/5

However, for a more casual player, Super Mario Run has the potential to be incredibly frustrating. Replaying levels over and over again, especially when each one is demanding to begin with and only increases in difficulty from there, is not the kind of relaxing commute-worthy process you might be looking for in a game. Super Mario Run is what you might expect from a game made by Nintendo. It’s well-made, it’s detailed, it’s polished - but that still doesn’t stop it from being not everyone’s cup of tea.

USGamer -- 4/5

Super Mario Run's lack of offline play is a bummer, but otherwise it's an engaging experience that demonstrates Nintendo understands what makes for a good mobile game. Even if you're not a fan of mobile titles, it's worth a try: The initial download is free, and you can pay for the additional levels if you like what you see.

Pocket Gamer -- 9/10

Anyway: Super Mario Run is not, as some feared, a simple cash-grab or an advert for the 3DS. This is a proper Mario game, with the feel, the fluidity, the imagination, and the depth of a fully-fledged Nintendo release.

It is a game where the designers thought carefully about how to translate the bouncy thrills of Mario to a platform without buttons or a d-pad and came up with something special: a deceptively simple game that serves as a full-bodied celebration of Mario's genre-defining jump.

Pocket-lint -- 4.5/5

It took a while for Mario to arrive on mobile, but now he is, we feel he's here to stay.

Time -- 5/5

But if you’re able to make peace with the game’s online requirement (and to be fair, I was most of the time), the experience is mostly fantastic. Super Mario Run impresses in ways I wasn’t convinced this approach to the character could. This, let’s not forget, is Nintendo on someone else’s hardware making good. Who else can stroll this assuredly into a stranger’s house, size up the joint lickety-split, then remind us of how much we have yet to see?

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

GameXplain: Liked-a-Lot

Taken altogether, I was not only surprised by how much content Super Mario Run had but also how much I enjoyed it. I mean, this is coming from a guy who generally doesn’t care much about mobile games and is sick to death of everything New Super Mario Bros. related and yet, I couldn’t put Super Mario Run down.

Nintendo Life - 8/10

 

[Grim Patron]

God is a Geek - 8.5

Super Mario Run is a fantastic package, giving you three game modes filled with plenty to do. Coins are in abundance, but you can always collect more. On each stage there are 5 pink coins and collecting them gives you more; after collecting all of them, purple coins are unlocked, then black. Each time it becomes harder to find them, but doing so gives you a nice bonus for exerting your skill. Both World Tour and Toad Rally are challenging in different ways, but rewarding you with coins and fans to craft your own settlement is a great idea. I can see the future of Nintendo on iOS and Android (due next year) devices looking bright, based on this charming little game.

 

[Aostia]

I gave it a 7
I liked it but the business model and the always online downtoned my judgement

 

[DrSnaz]

Nintendo-Online.de 8/10

 

[Waddle Dee]

IGN -- 8/10

Super Mario Run is an elegantly designed platformer with strong hooks that kept me coming back. Once I wrapped up the main campaign, the addictive, replayable stages urged me to perfect my coin runs. Kingdom Builder and Toad Rally provided further motivation to keep dashing for the finish line, so I could invest the spoils in my own Mushroom Kingdom. While this isn’t the best-looking Super Mario game by a longshot, it successfully distills the core fun and charm of the Mario franchise into a smart, one-handed experience.

GamesRadar -- 4/5

However, for a more casual player, Super Mario Run has the potential to be incredibly frustrating. Replaying levels over and over again, especially when each one is demanding to begin with and only increases in difficulty from there, is not the kind of relaxing commute-worthy process you might be looking for in a game. Super Mario Run is what you might expect from a game made by Nintendo. It’s well-made, it’s detailed, it’s polished - but that still doesn’t stop it from being not everyone’s cup of tea.

Reading GamesRadar's summary after IGN's is really dumbfounding, and not in a good way...

The game looks like it'll be solid fun, as long as the online-only requirement doesn't lead to issues down the road.

 

[Illusive_Juan]

I gave it a 7
I liked it but the business model and the always online downtoned my judgement

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

 

[Sapiens]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

That's karma my friend

 

[Papacheeks]

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

What if you live out in the boonies? Or live where I live where coverage is spotty depending on where you are, and what carrier you have? That would mean the minuet AT&T get's dropped signal wise I can't play the game. And that still is a thing for many people in area's in US/EU/ and other regions.

It was a stupid decision on Nintendo's part to not offer an offline mode.

 

[borghe]

I gave it a 7
I liked it but the business model and the always online downtoned my judgement

Business model? Huh? It's the same business model as virtually every "non-mobile" game. And it's easy to argue that even though this is in mobile, it eschews virtually everything we usually "mean" when we say "mobile game"

 

[Chezzymann]

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

I guess some people don't want to use data for this game

 

[ASIS]

Skimmed the summaries, is this a good game by mobile standards or is it a good game? Seems like it could go either way.

 

[maxcriden]

I guess some people don't want to use data for this game

Does it use much data?

 

[Gai Murakumo]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

C'mon man the app will still be there after you attend the Funeral. Give the dead some respect.

 

[LightOfTruth]

I gave it a 7
I liked it but the business model and the always online downtoned my judgement

What does that have to do with the quality of the game?

 

[Sylas]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

Wait wat.

What does that have to do with the quality of the game?

The quality of the game is severely impacted for the people that can't play it in the environment many people play mobile games in (i.e. A commute).

 

[Qassim]

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

I commute on a train every day, no phone or cell service can keep up even if there were no deadzones on the route when you're going at reasonable speed.

On that train, I see lots and lots of people playing mobile games on this train. This is one game that can't be played on this commute. I'd say a lot of people who commute on a train will have this problem and it's probably true that commuters are a reasonable portion of the mobile gaming audience.

I don't know why anyone would bother to defend an always on connection for a mobile game.

C'mon man the app will still be there after you attend the Funeral. Give the dead some respect.

They're dead, makes no difference to them.

 

[Alienous]

GameXplain: Liked-a-Lot




Nintendo Life - 8/10

24 levels? You can get through all 24 in ~1 hour?

Hmm.

 

[plagiarize]

C'mon man the app will still be there after you attend the Funeral. Give the dead some respect.

Who cares about the dead?

You go to a funeral for the people grieving. The dead don't need respect. They're either in the afterlife partying it up, or no longer aware of anything because they're dead.

 

[Illusive_Juan]

What if you live out in the boonies? Or live where I live where coverage is spotty depending on where you are, and what carrier you have? That would mean the minuet AT&T get's dropped signal wise I can't play the game. And that still is a thing for many people in area's in US/EU/ and other regions.

It was a stupid decision on Nintendo's part to not offer an offline mode.

I understand that, but if a main part of the game is to compare runs with friends, then I can understand the need for it to be always online.

The device is a cellphone first not a gaming system. I personally would never use my phone when it wouldn't be connected to the internet either through Wifi or through my carrier.

 

[AmaterasuOkami076]

I gave it a 7
I liked it but the business model and the always online downtoned my judgement

What's wrong with the business model? You play a bit for free, if you like it, you buy it and then you have all of the content.

 

[xxracerxx]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

God I hope this is a joke.

 

[SuperBanana]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

 

[daxgame]

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

I have only 1GB per month, for example, because I pay a low fee. I'm already tight every month, so I couldn't play it without wifi.

 

[Fbh]

Haven't been keeping up with this game.
Looks fun... but it would be more exciting if it wasn't their 30th mario game to recycle everything from New Super Mario (at least that's what it looks like)

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

Can't play on longer trips if you are on a plane or in another country. Also not everyone has a contract on their phone, I have friends that use pre pay or have a very limited data volume they don't want to spend on a game that shouldn't need an internet connection.
Not to mention all the people that depending on location and service provider might not have a good connection in the subway (which many use for their comute and it's when they play mobile games).

Not saying it's a dealbreaker, but it's annoying. Even more so than single player console/Pc games that need an internet connection

 

[Vitor711]

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

One word - subway.

Major cities in the world have most of their commuters take the train UNDERGROUND. Guess what's not underground? Cell service. You're looking if there's Wi-Fi on the station platforms in places like New York or London. Heck, even Tokyo has issues with this. As someone who only plays mobile games on their commute, I literally cannot use this.

 

[Het_Nkik]

I guess some people don't want to use data for this game

I played Pokemon Go for 3+ hours a day for a month straight and I think I barely hit 500MB of data usage on it. That's over 90 hours of a game that's constantly GPS tracking and sending and receiving data.

I'm pretty sure Super Mario Run will be a pittance compared to that.

 

[Waddle Dee]

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

Online-only is always a negative unless the game is an online multiplayer game with no single player content. My commute sure as hell doesn't keep me always online.

You have to ask yourself "Does online-only benefit the game in any way?" If not, then it's a flaw. A pretty big one in fact, since it prohibits me from actually playing the game when I'd most want to (when the game actually comes to Android, that is).

 

[Omega Kirby]

Another game to the ever growing premium library to refute comment's like "Smartphones have no good games or only F2P gacha shit"

Keep it up Nintendo

 

[Aostia]

For those wondering about my reasoning

I play it on iPad without Sim card. Always online can be an issue also in the subway I often use, playing with my phone

Business model can be seen as an issue because the free content is thin and the cost isnt in line with the vast majority of other Apple Store games

And no, isnt true that on Apple Store there are only shovelware games

 

[Yoshi]

I genuinely don't understand the always online gripes for a smartphone game. Unless you're commute takes you through a deadzone or something, I don't see that as a concern for the overwhelming majority who will play this game.

Have fun playing it when Nintendo shuts down the server.

 

[Servbot24]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

Maybe Nintendo heard you were supposed to be at a funeral and locked your download.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

I know, right? It's a mobile game; you can play it while you're at the funeral.

 

[theangrypirate]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

Um, its a phone game. You could play it at the funeral...

 

[Retrobox]

So yeah guys, reviews.

This game has an entry on metacritic. Does this happen with every mobile game?

 

[itshutton]

So glad this is good. I hope it marks a turn away from shovelware on phones.

 

[inner-G]

inner-G from NeoGAF: 9/10. Best Mario game since Super Mario World.

If it takes off like Pokemon Go did, it could (briefly) become like the cultural phenomena it was in the 80's again. Can't wait to see what other level packs they'll come out with.

Mario Kart would be awesome on mobile too. I'd buy track packs for that.

 

[Y2Kev]

I thought thjs wasn't f2p? But I downloaded it free?

 

[DecoReturns]

I thought thjs wasn't f2p? But I downloaded it free?

More like Free to start.

First World is free, then you buy the full game. Its a demo basically

 

[Rodin]

And no, isnt true that on Apple Store there are only shovelware games

I've been playing iOS games since I originally bought my iPhone 4 back in 2010. No, not every mobile game is shovelware, there's plenty of good, fun stuff on the app store. But exactly zero games i've played are comparable to this one.

Have fun playing it when Nintendo shuts down the server.

What if Nintendo removes the drm at some point down the line

 

[dead souls]

C'mon man the app will still be there after you attend the Funeral. Give the dead some respect.

Hey, not everybody has time to press F you know.

 

[Yoshi]

What if Nintendo removes the drm at some point down the line

You must be shitting me. You don't really consider Nintendo removing some DRM feature at any point of time remotely possible, do you?

 

[T.Slothrop]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be at my son's birth but I skipped it to play this all day.

 

[AzaK]

Stupid fucking iOS app store. When I checked the other day for it I got the "Notify" option as we all now. I kept checking it over the last day or so (15th was yesterday for us) but it was still "Notify" and I hadn't received a notification.

Today, after finding this thread and thinking "WTF, howcome I can't get it" I actually killed the apps store app in the usual way, then reloaded. Voila, it's there. Now that's a shitty UX.

Have fun playing it when Nintendo shuts down the server.

Yeah the always online thing is complete bullshit and anti-consumer. Too bad millions won't care and Nintendo will make a shit-tonne of money, and repeat it

 

[Pachimari]

I gave it a 7
I liked it but the business model and the always online downtoned my judgement

I understand the online only requirement, but business model? Come again?

 

[cw_sasuke]

You must be shitting me. You don't really consider Nintendo removing some DRM feature at any point of time remotely possible, do you?

The is as less ridiculous than Nintendo just shutting down servers for their biggest mobile game on their biggest IP.

If...yeah if for some reason they kill the game and servers in the future they can indeed update the game to make it playable without a server connection.

 

[13ruce]

Still can't download it. I was supposed to be a funeral today but I skipped it to play this all day.

Heck i'm a hardcore gamer but i will not skip a funeral for a game lol.

Good reviews tho the always online stuff is meh but ill life with it when it's out for android.

 

[Arkeband]

More like Free to start.

First World is free, then you buy the full game. Its a demo basically

That's how they getcha!

 

[Baleoce]

Business model? Huh? It's the same business model as virtually every "non-mobile" game. And it's easy to argue that even though this is in mobile, it eschews virtually everything we usually "mean" when we say "mobile game"

For real, I don't get the business model complaints. Seems like a bargain to me.