Ten Minutes of Play Sums Up Messy Super Mario Debut

Ten Minutes of Play Sums Up Messy Super Mario Debut
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Nintendo’s debut game for smartphones is turning out to be anything but super, according to Bloomberg. Since its release for Apple devices on Thursday, Super Mario Run has shot to the top of download charts in more than 100 countries as tens of millions celebrated the iconic video game character’s arrival on iPhones. Yet problems emerged almost immediately, with thousands vigorously complaining that the three levels available with the free download were over too quickly, in less than ten minutes in most cases, and the $10 price tag to unlock the rest was too steep.

That backlash is now reverberating through its share price, with Nintendo’s stock dropping by 11 percent in the two trading days since the game’s release, wiping out more than $3.5 billion in market value. Investors and analysts are starting to second-guess the company’s decisions and its ability to execute on mobile devices. Besides the high price, reviewers focused on Nintendo’s decision to require an internet connection, with many complaining they couldn’t play during their commutes. Others said the over-simplified game-play removed features that are a staple of Super Mario games on consoles, such as fireballs.

Even among those who paid $10 for the full experience on Apple’s iOS, a common complaint was the lack of incentives to keep playing for longer. The quest to rescue Princess Peach can be completed in about two hours and thereafter the game encourages users to run through already-completed levels on harder difficulties and race against other players. Items they win are ultimately used in Kingdom Builder, a never-ending game mode where players can craft a small village to call their own.

The problem, users say, is that kingdom-building is a shallow affair. The small variety of items to buy and limited map size means most villages won’t differ much from player to player. That’s a far cry from other games such as Pokemon Go, where a high number of pocket monsters, each with unique characteristics, made catching them all a highly personalized experience. By comparison, Super Mario Run does little to make items in Kingdom Builder seem anything more than inanimate objects.