After the trial balloon, “Miitimo” and a “Pokémon Gb”, developed by others, Nintendo is preparing to launch its first true mobile game, December 15. We have been able to try it.
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Why is this game so anticipated ?
After the social network Miitomo, Super Mario Run is the first true mobile game of Nintendo, announced with great fanfare during the last conference of Apple, in September. What about Pokémon Gb ? These are the Californians of Niantic, and not the japanese studio, who are responsible for the sensation of the summer. the Super Mario Run comes out on Thursday on the iPhone and iPad, but Pixel has already been able to try it out.
It is what kind ?
If in Nintendo, refuses to pronounce the word that would confine the game to the rank of a kind copy, Super Mario Run is neither more nor less than a ” runner “. A game genre popularized there are already seven years by Canabalt, and in which the player has the duty to survive as long as possible a character that runs automatically to the right. The only interaction possible : a touch on the screen of the smartphone, more or less long, triggering a jump, more or less the top.
The recipe, more efficient, had then been modernised by Rayman : Jungle Run, which was one of the first to substitute for the obstacle course infinite and random real levels, created by hand from A to Z. A French game released in 2012 with which Super Mario Run share a lot of similarities.
what is It like ?
Super Mario Run provides you with six environments, four levels each. If some of them are willing to go to the end, the players, lovers of challenges will try to find all the parts that are hidden, and will be rewarded by discovering up to two variants of each level. In total, therefore, it is 72 levels that provides the basic mode of the Super Mario Run.
It’s worth what ?
We have had the opportunity to try Super Mario Run. Far from being the substitute simplistic as one could fear, Super Mario Run turns out to be a game with multiple levels of play, easy and immediate for players from Sunday, but chock-full of secrets requiring tact and address to seasoned players.
If we find the majority of the mechanical bases of the episodes of the series New Super Mario Bros, Nintendo has even practiced a few adjustments to adapt to the mobile support. Thus, Mario (or Luigi, or Toad, among other unlockable characters) can now cling to the ledges of the platforms, thus making the jumps a little more permissive. Especially, the famous plumber automatically avoids the basic enemies and the smallest of obstacles, even if a jump wisely placed generally allows you to save time and coins. Clearly, Super Mario Run does not intend to penalize the players, but rather to reward the most skilled.
This commitment is translated by the appearance of a block, “Pause” : if he puts a foot on it, Mario stops for a moment to blow and allow time for the player to see the coming obstacles. Again, we guess the desire for Nintendo to make its title more accessible, even giving a strange twist of penknife in the contract of the ” runners “, which are usually biased towards reflexes and the address of the reflection.
What is the interest in the long term ?
Twenty-four levels (or even 72, with their variants), it’s good, but it will not take long for the more eager to see the end. For them, Nintendo has imagined a fashion Editor ” kingdom “, in which the player can spend the coins collected in the levels to rebuild a village fungus. If most of the buildings are cosmetic, others give access to a bonus daily, such as coins, or tickets, thanks to which one can then participate in the ” Challenges Toad “.
In these races random, created from elements of the levels are already completed, the player can go up against the records of other players around the world. The opportunity to earn ” Toads “, these little characters in the shape of a mushroom, and thus unlock new buildings… that will give you access to more tickets, and therefore, to the possibility to lend itself to more Challenges Toad. The loop is closed.
Everything is perfect then ?
Not really. It will be necessary to ensure that on the final version of the game in a week, Super Mario Run suffers from a lack of fluidity which for the moment it is difficult to say whether it is the result of technical limitations or intrinsically linked to the games mechanics.
above all, Super Mario Run could disappoint all gamers of the video game as a nomad : the title of Nintendo requires an Internet connection to work. Therefore, it is possible in his couch, Wi-Fi, or in a park with a connection to the 4G, but it is almost impossible to do it in the subway, in some train, plane, or on holiday abroad. Ridiculous for a mobile game.
And how much does it cost ?
This is where the rub : if the free version of the game gives access to the first three levels are, their variants, and a demo of the fourth, he will have to pay 10 euros to have access to 24 levels.
A price may seem prohibitive on iPhone or iPad : it should be said that the exercise is tricky for Nintendo, who has no interest in selling out of its mascot and its brand, the most well-known. But that may also be struggling to appeal to the general public as easily as with a free-to-play like, at random, Pokémon Gb.
That said, beyond the question of Super Mario Run, it is not forbidden to think that by selling the game as ” expensive “, Nintendo created a precedent, and pulling mechanically up the average price of video games on a mobile device. What would be a good news for their developers, who often struggle to sell their games more than a handful of cents (in the best case). And if it was there, the real innovation of Super Mario Run ?
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