Nintendo today released its highly anticipated Mario-themed game, Super Mario Run. Super Mario Run offers simple one-handed gameplay in the form of a traditional runner crossed with platform game, but it adds complexity through coin-based score goals, competitions with friends, and a world building component.
While Super Mario Run is free to download, it costs $9.99 to unlock the complete game, which is pricy for an iOS title. We went hands-on with Super Mario Run so you can find out just what you get for that $10 investment before you shell out the cash.
The free component of Super Mario Run lets you try three levels of the standard Tour mode, which is a collection of Super Mario levels where the goal is to collect as many coins as possible. New and more difficult content goals are unlocked by collecting pink, purple, and black coins.
For $9.99, you unlock all six worlds, each of which features three standard levels and then a boss level, for a total of 24 levels. That price tag also gives you 3,000 coins and 20 Rally tickets.
Rally tickets are used for the Rally gameplay mode that lets you compete with other players to win Toad villagers. Rally mode is similar to Tour mode, but the goal is to get more coins and more applause than your opponents by doing tricks, defeating enemies, and grabbing bonuses.
Toad villagers and coins are both used to build out your Kingdom, adding decorations and little mini games to play. Mini games are small add-on games that give you coins and Rally tickets to put towards expanding your kingdom.
Super Mario Run is not a freemium game and does require the $9.99 investment to play the full game, but for Mario fans, the purchase is a no-brainer. It's a fun little iOS title that has a surprising amount of depth. [Direct Link]
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