Earlier this year, Niantic’s Pokémon Go breathed mobile life into the classic Nintendo franchise. But starting next month, Nintendo is bringing its ultimate icon, Mario, into the realm of mobile gaming.
As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Nintendo has officially announced that Super Mario Run will be released on December 15 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch and in March for Android devices. The game is also going to be available to iOS 8.0 users at a later time, but probably not this year. With the announcement came a charming new trailer that offered a brief walkthrough of the game’s three modes.
The first mode is a pretty traditional side-scrolling Mario adventure, with some key differences. Because there’s no separate controller, Mario’s default state is to run towards the right, while the players control when and how hard he jumps by tapping the screen. The level designs look really nice, and there’s even a peek at one of Mario’s battles with Bowser.
Kingdom Builder is the second gaming mode explored in the trailer. Essentially, it lets fans customize their Mushroom Kingdoms by adding some of the game’s unique objects to the landscape. That means, the brick staircase, the coin blocks, the castles, and almost anything you’ve seen in the classic Mario Bros. games can be placed at your whim.
The final game mode, Toad Rally, allows Super Mario Run players to challenge each other to a time trial to see who can get through a stage fastest. We suspect that may be a popular feature, because who doesn’t love bragging rights?
Super Mario Run will initially be free for a trial period after you download the app. But if you want to keep the game after the trial period ends, it will be a one-time bill of $9.99.
What did you think about the new trailer for Super Mario Run? Leap into our comment section and let us know!
Image: Nintendo