One week out from launch, Nintendo has premiered a new gameplay trailer for Super Mario Run, the mobile spinoff that takes the Big N’s iconic platforming mascot and ushers him onto iOS devices.
Buoyed by the landmark success of Pokemon Go, Super Mario Run can be seen as part of Nintendo’s overhauled marketing strategy, and even if Run achieves a fraction of the success enjoyed by Pokemon Go earlier in the year, it’ll be doing very well indeed. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto has teased that players will be able to unlock additional characters from the Mario pantheon – likely Peach and Luigi – while you’ll be able to get a better sense of how the platformer actually plays up above.
A demo build of Super Mario Run can be downloaded free of charge next week, which includes the first three playable levels. Aside from that, Nintendo has priced the full package at $9.99 with no in-app transactions, just don’t expect the all-new platformer to make a beeline for Nintendo Switch anytime soon, as Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told CNET:
“Development for Super Mario Run is different than development for Nintendo Switch. With Switch we’re going to have a variety of input devices, a variety of ways for you to interact with the game. Here, it’s all the screen. So it’s a different type of development challenge. But at the core, our developers are looking to create content that you really can’t get anywhere else, you can’t experience anywhere else … that’s a core philosophy that’s going to continue.”
Super Mario Run will launch for compatible iOS devices – iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch running on iOS 8.0 or later –Â on December 15. An Android release has been earmarked for 2017.
