Pokémon GO might have just screwed up its biggest opportunity to get lapsed players back into its game, but Pokémon isn't the only Nintendo-oriented property making waves in the mobile world this week. Super Mario Run debuts on iOS this week as well, and some who have gotten the chance to swing by an Apple Store have already played the first three levels. Hint: they're real good. I don't expect this game to reach global craze, Pokémon GO levels of excitement, but that's alright. This game is going to be huge, and that's huge for both Nintendo and mobile gaming overall.
We consider for a moment what the game has going into it. Mario is among the most recognizable mascots around the world, and millions upon millions of people have fond memories of his adventures at some point in their childhoods, whether those childhoods happened in the '80s, '90s or '00s. Parents are curious for themselves, and people always like the idea of their kids growing up with the same games they had when they were young. It has the full backing of Apple and a generous media push from Nintendo. It costs $10, which is a fortune for a mobile game, but there's a free demo to get people hooked/get the thing on people's phones. Plenty of people drop $10 on free games, after all.
Not being free to play is what makes this such a big deal for mobile gaming writ large. It means that it's simply a product that costs $10, and we don't have to worry about how well microtransactions are implemented, whether it's "pay to win," or any of that. Nintendo has virtually no experience with that sort of thing, and an early foray with Mario wouldn't have been pretty. What Nintendo does know how to do, however, is make self-contained, polished experiences, which seems like it's exactly what the main game here is going to be. Not only is it the right move for this game, the combination of Nintendo's development prowess and the deference due to Mario means that other developers will be paying attention.
I think about Rayman Adventures, another App Store auto runner with a console-born protagonist. On one level, it was a great game, with eminently satisfying moment to moment gameplay, true challenge and real style. But I eventually found myself frustrated with bloat and mictrotransactions that seemed to distract from the core experience, like happens with so many games like this. Nintendo can, hopefully, take that idea and refine it into something with a little more polish.
There are early warning signs: an always online requirement isn't great, especially for a premium game that people are going to want to play on airplanes, subways, and on iPads that might be far away from the warm blanket of Wi-Fi. An iOS-only release necessarily limits its scope, and Nintendo has been mum about an eventual Android release date. Not being free to play limits revenue to $10 a person, which is miles below what big mobile games see from top spenders. Super Mario Run will be largely limited from making Candy Crush money.
I still think this is going to be one of the most important mobile releases this year, and that it's going to make scads of money for Nintendo both in initial sales and interest piqued in both the 3DS and the Switch. We'll find out on Dec. 15.
