Ever since December 15, 2016, we Android users have been hating on iOS gamers as they gleefully enjoyed Super Mario Run, the first original Mario game from Nintendo for smartphones and tablets. Three loooong months later, the exclusivity period is finally over and the game is out on Android with the same features: an endless runner in full Nintendo regalia that translates the Super Mario Bros universe to a control system and plot suited to touch and portable screens.
Not really much to explain about the game. You tap the screen to control Mario and do all sorts of acrobatics as you run forward in the level automatically. All the levels are short and require a bit of skill to get all the hidden stars. Throughout six worlds, each with four levels, you’ll trek to famous corners of the Mushroom Kingdom. Though it’s an endless runner, everything is quite reminiscent of New Super Mario Bros.
The replayability factor comes in when, after you collect all five pink coins in each level, you unlock special new purple coins to collect, and then five black ones. You’ll need to go through the level three times to work through the full story mode, though there are other modes, too. In Toad Rally you can race with the “ghosts” of other players through the levels, though to get access you have to spend tickets you find along the way.
In terms of the business model, as with the iOS version you have to pay once to unlock the full game after playing the first two levels. Now to wait and see if sales keep up and Nintendo manages to change the paradigm in a market dominated by the freemium model. In the case of iOS, a single month saw 90 million downloads, which earned the company some $3 million.
On Android, this launch premiered directly in its 2.0 version which was simultaneously released on iOS. Same as on iOS, you’re free to give the first world a spin and squeeze all the coins out of each level, but in order to unlock the rest of the game as well as other modes you’re going to have to fork out a one-time payment of 10 euro/USD.
