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iOS Gaming December 2016 | It's app-me, Mario

awp69

Member
Couple of hours fun? You should ask him to actually play the game for a while before posting here.

Shaun is by far the best reviewer at TA IMO so I have no doubt he gave the game a thorough playthrough before he reviewed it.

Reading it sounds like he played it a lot more than many of the big gaming sites like Polygon and Gamespot. And I largely agree with his points, although I would have put Lost Socks in that list of the best auto runners :).

Probably would have scored it 4-stars myself. But while very good, it isn't the best auto runner on the App Store.
 

Shearie

Member
I actually very much think this is the best auto-runner on iOS. Haven't been this addicted to a game in a long while and this definitely lives up to the high quality Mario platformer standard.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Went through all the worlds in Mario, now trying to get the toads I need to unlock the houses and whatnot. You can pull the map a little and it shows more land, so I'm curious if there's more land to build on.

Yes, there are several sections that can be opened up via the Rainbow Bridges item, five in total.
 

Pachimari

Member
I gotta say that Super Mario Run is the most fun I've had with an auto runner ever since Canabalt in the early days. I found Rayman to be boring, although Ultimate Spider-Man is great. I will give Lost Socks a go when I get back home.
 

PittaGAF

Member
I don't find Lost Socks similar to Mario Run at all, but hey, it is indeed a great game.

Well you are right, but I got some of the same vibes from both.
Lost Socks has weapons and firing and way longer levels and proper boss but the hunt for the 3 cages and the top score replaying the same levels with branching paths requiring ultra precise timing, memory and coordinations...well I found it somewhat gave me the same vibes, especially for the black coins in Super Mario Run.
Maybe it's just me.

But anyway, Lost Socks is imho a mandatory game if you like tight action games on iOS.
 

colinp

Banned
I haven't played a lot of SMR yet but so far the technicality is more reminiscent of (the criminally underrated) Leap Day than any other auto-runner.
 

Oynox

Member
I like SMR but I think that $10 is a bit too steep for this game. Feels like it's mostly because it is Nintendo and Mario. The TA review is an interesting read since I could not imagine what this toad/building etc is like. If it really becomes so grindy it certainly is no good at all.
 

marrec

Banned
I like SMR but I think that $10 is a bit too steep for this game. Feels like it's mostly because it is Nintendo and Mario. The TA review is an interesting read since I could not imagine what this toad/building etc is like. If it really becomes so grindy it certainly is no good at all.

Honestly? I'm just glad I can pay for it and not have to worry about F2P bullshit. *shrug*
 

putermcgee

Junior Member
Lost Socks is very hard. Dev added a lower difficulty but it's still challenging.

I don't find Lost Socks similar to Mario Run at all, but hey, it is indeed a great game.
I laughed at this because I think the main difference is the difficulty. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out Lost Socks. I'd consider myself a competent "gamer" but I had to give up. On the other hand, while SMR is easier, that's more about the controls than the challenge. I think the pink/purple/black coin challenges are where I have the most fun, and they're definitely not easy.

I could not imagine what this toad/building etc is like.
Toad Rally is just a race against another player's ghost, but for points, not time.

The bummer part about it is that you're basically gambling with your population of Toads. Win, and you'll get more Toads for your kingdom. Lose, and you lose some. What makes losing them feel so bad is that you need these Toads of various colors to unlock bonus minigames and playable characters. There are safe bets, like choosing an easier opponent, so it's far from impossible to still build up your kingdom.
 

bjork

Member
Yes, there are several sections that can be opened up via the Rainbow Bridges item, five in total.

Oh geez, and I only got the first one just now! Hah. At least it'll have legs, at the rate I'm going it'll take a good while to get all the yellow/purples I need.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
I'm surely dumb but....

Why I get only red toads?
How do you 'unlock' the other colors?

As you gather more toads and level up the castle you'll end up getting opponents available that have crowds of other colors available as rewards.

One thing I've noted in regards to unlocking requirements on buildings, they count your highest reached amount for their criteria. You don't loose progress if you happen to loose the toads to other players, which is very nice.
 

PittaGAF

Member
As you gather more toads and level up the castle you'll end up getting opponents available that have crowds of other colors available as rewards.

One thing I've noted in regards to unlocking requirements on buildings, they count your highest reached amount for their criteria. You don't loose progress if you happen to loose the toads to other players, which is very nice.

Oh I see, thanks.
I never looked into the 'world builder' thing.
Guess I have to.
 
Sums up my feelings on Mario run pretty well. It's decent, looks pretty, but I'm not spending $10 on that. Needs to be more to it for me.

So I decided to buy the 10$ IAP. Later levels are much better but after 24 levels, the building stuff is boring. toad rally is quite fun. but still, this is pretty barebones. I have 100 levels on my mario maker 3ds done by nintendo and can make more. I;lll stick ot that
 

Ketch

Member
So I decided to buy the 10$ IAP. Later levels are much better but after 24 levels, the building stuff is boring. toad rally is quite fun. but still, this is pretty barebones. I have 100 levels on my mario maker 3ds done by nintendo and can make more. I;lll stick ot that

Yea that's probably my biggest turn off. I don't want to repeat levels as the main crux of the game. Like repeating levels to get all challenge coins is fine, but for $10 the number of stages is not nearly enough. Like, that total campaign should be the equivalent of one world.
There should be 8x as many stages in Mario run.
 

Pachimari

Member
So I decided to buy the 10$ IAP. Later levels are much better but after 24 levels, the building stuff is boring. toad rally is quite fun. but still, this is pretty barebones. I have 100 levels on my mario maker 3ds done by nintendo and can make more. I;lll stick ot that

Do you even go for the coins? I would say that's the core of the game.
 
Yea that's probably my biggest turn off. I don't want to repeat levels as the main crux of the game. Like repeating levels to get all challenge coins is fine, but for $10 the number of stages is not nearly enough. Like, that total campaign should be the equivalent of one world.
There should be 8x as many stages in Mario run.

Yea. There's better valye elsewhere. just paying for mario + nintendo name here basically.

Do you even go for the coins? I would say that's the core of the game.

Not really fun for me to replay the same levels for different coins. So yea core of the game is not for me then. I saw someone say "missing the design intricacies" by not replaying levels. lol nope.
 

Chorazin

Member
Yea. There's better valye elsewhere. just paying for mario + nintendo name here basically.



Not really fun for me to replay the same levels for different coins. So yea core of the game is not for me then. I saw someone say "missing the design intricacies" by not replaying levels. lol nope.

Black Coins actually do change the levels, so you're getting two levels in each. I'd argue the Purple ones change the way you play each level, making it another level entirely....but that's subject to interpretation.
 
Yea. There's better valye elsewhere. just paying for mario + nintendo name here basically.



Not really fun for me to replay the same levels for different coins. So yea core of the game is not for me then. I saw someone say "missing the design intricacies" by not replaying levels. lol nope.

But you actually do miss the design intricacies.
 

Pachimari

Member
Okay, Lost Socks is legit. The animations are great and it looks so colorful and sharp. Controls seem okay so far too, I'm just worried if I'll miss button presses when it gets more hectic. Anyway I'm only up to level 2.
 

NeoRaider

Member
Is there any new info on Framed 2?
It was announced for "early 2017" right? Does anyone know where can we expect it? Original Framed is still one of my most favorite mobile games.
 

awp69

Member
Okay, Lost Socks is legit. The animations are great and it looks so colorful and sharp. Controls seem okay so far too, I'm just worried if I'll miss button presses when it gets more hectic. Anyway I'm only up to level 2.

It's a tough game. To me the controls are spot on. It's usually your own fault if you die. But don't expect to ace every level or even complete every level the first time.
 

PittaGAF

Member
I don't like the ladders in Super Mario Run.
It's just most coins earned in a run, but usually you can get the most coins with the purple coin run (the first), and you can't repeat it if you complete the set.
The darker and black coins runs are way harder in that regard...and you should be awarded...i.e...if you complete a set you should have let's say 100 coins added.
So basically who completed a dark coins run should be higher level than who completed just the pink one (different ladders would be too much dispersive).

EDIT: I'm dumb...see Tunesmith answer below.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
I don't like the ladders in Super Mario Run.
It's just most coins earned in a run, but usually you can get the most coins with the purple coin run (the first), and you can't repeat it if you complete the set.
The darker and black coins runs are way harder in that regard...and you should be awarded...i.e...if you complete a set you should have let's say 100 coins added.
So basically who completed a dark coins run should be higher level than who completed just the pink one (different ladders would be too much dispersive).

You can repeat the coin runs by tapping which color coin you want before starting the level.
 

Jarsonot

Member
I wouldn't be surprised if there were bonus levels after you get all special coins or something. Has anyone done it yet?

It's almost a mario
(why is my autocorrect changing that to MARIO?)
game staple by now.

As is it does feel a little light on the levels.
 

Pachimari

Member
Meh, Lost Socks is too hard at stage 3, I'm actually quite bored. I'll give it some more time tomorrow but the stages are too long, hopefully they don't get longer.
 
So now real question.

Are these dev's besides nintendo who sell their games $10+ making a profit?

I mean Square Enix are constantly porting jrpgs for $15- $20, so they must be selling well right?

Implosion never lose hope sold enough they're now making a movie of the game as well as a sequel, and that game was $10

Of course they'll never make as much as F2P games but they must be doing all right?
 

awp69

Member
So now real question.

Are these dev's besides nintendo who sell their games $10+ making a profit?

I mean Square Enix are constantly porting jrpgs for $15- $20, so they must be selling well right?

Implosion never lose hope sold enough they're now making a movie of the game as well as a sequel, and that game was $10

Of course they'll never make as much as F2P games but they must be doing all right?

I think they sell well -- especially in Square Enix's case -- or they wouldn't keep doing the ports.

Nintendo's stock went down today due to "mixed" reception to SMR. But the problem isn't that the game won't make buttloads of money -- it's that investors see that it won't make as much as a F2P game like Pokemon GO.

It's bullshit but that's the sad fact of the matter.
 

Jarsonot

Member
Millions of people just downloaded a Mario game, Nintendo's flagship character. I think if they're left feeling disappointed it could potentially hurt sales of the Switch. Conversely if it pleases people that could help sales of the Switch.

Maybe that's the investor's logic. Maybe they're seeing the app as more disappointing, and selling now before bad Switch sales.

I'm not saying that's sound logic, or that I think it's true, just speculating as to why stock is going down when the game got millions of downloads and is sitting so high on the App Store charts.

I mean... what would they deem a success?
 

sheaaaa

Member
I'm a bit torn on Super Mario Run. The first three levels are fun enough, I've got all the black coins on the first two and am working on the middle tier of coins for the third one, but maybe it's just auto-runners that I'm not into. Not quite grabbing me so far and I'm still mulling the $10 purchase.

Did one Toad Rally and it doesn't seem super interesting? And not feeling the kingdom building part either.

This Eurogamer review (by the guy I think writes the best reviews around) gives me hope that it gets better though: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-12-16-super-mario-run-review

For what it's worth I didn't like either of the Rayman auto-runners and I thought Lost Socks was nothing special at all.
 

am_dragon

Member
I'm going to jump on the SMR wait and see boat as well. I know I'm not an auto runner fan, so I was really hoping it would change my mind. Finally I just asked my 11 year old if he thought it was worth $10 to unlock the rest of the game. He said "No dad there are a lot of time other games I'd rather spend $10 on.". This is a kid with Mario wall decals in his room, and And the main thing on his Christmas list is Mario Maker for the 3DS.

I think the Touch Arcade review was really accurate. One think that got me was the Punch Quest mention. I played that game daily for months. I just realized it's an auto-runner. I really enjoyed it but for some reason it never clicked that it was this genre that I don't really enjoy normally. That game was about the punching and combos. If I would have read it was a auto-runner (even though your character literally auto runs) I doubt I would have tried it. Just struck me as funny, also if you haven't tried it Punch Quest is a great game.
 

dock

Member
I'm really terrible at Toad Rally but the idea of playing remixed looping Mario stages for a set amount of time is pretty great.
I'm mostly into getting the black coins, however!

I wouldn't be surprised if there were bonus levels after you get all special coins or something. Has anyone done it yet?
There are three levels you can unlock by getting all pink, all purple, and all black coins. You can build them as special houses in the Kingdom Builder.
 

sheaaaa

Member
Getting the black coins on 1-3 is pushing me towards buying the rest of the game. Pretty fun figuring out where they are and then the execution. Makes me hungry for a real Mario game though. Heard Mario Maker on 3DS has 100 proper levels so that's tempting.
 

Pachimari

Member
Super Mario Run is one of the best games released for iOS this year. Just listening to the sounds when collecting coins makes me high as fuck.
 
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