One of the first things to be shown off at Apple’s keynote on Wednesday was the upcoming Super Mario Run game for the iOS platform.
Although no solid release date has yet been announced, apart from “in time for the holidays,” the game is already showing up in the App Store with the ability to set up a notification for launch day.
Nintendo has been hesitant to bring Mario to any platform besides its own for years, but it’s quickly coming into focus for the company on just how important it is to embrace mobile gaming as console and handheld game player sales continue to plummet.
Super Mario Run is Nintendo’s answer to that problem. This is the first official game from Nintendo that brings everyone’s favorite Italian plumber character to the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
The game is already showing up in the App Store, despite the fact that it’s not truly available to download just yet. Instead of a download or purchase button, you will see a “Notify” button. Tapping on it will reserve a notification for you that will let you know when the game is available to download.
Just like the similar Super Mario Bros series, this game is platform-based, so you will constantly run to the right and collect coins, all while dodging foes and obstacles along the way. Timing your taps is everything.
According to the App Store description:
In this game, you constantly move forward through the courses while using a variety of jumps to navigate. Your character will behave differently depending on the timing of your taps, so it’s up to you to show off particularly smooth moves, gather coins, and reach the goal.
The developers also note there are three different game modes:
– The first mode features challenging courses for you to complete.
– In the second mode, you challenge the play data of other people’s completed courses. You compete to see who can finish the course with the most style!
– In the third mode, you can create your own Mushroom Kingdom using coins collected by playing the first two game modes.
As demonstrated at the keynote, multiplayer support is supported. You can challenge your friends and attempt to beat their time to get the better score.
In what might be the world’s first Super Mario game that you can play one-handed, this is sure to be a big release. To learn more, and to set up your launch-day notification, you can head over to the App Store.