Super Mario Run

What it is

Super Mario Run is a free-to-download game from Nintendo Co., Ltd., in the Action category with an Everyone rating. It was released on March 22, 2017, and the last update is dated September 14, 2026. The listing describes it as a Mario game you can play with one hand.

Mario runs forward on his own. You tap to time jumps, midair spins and wall jumps, collecting coins on the way to the goal.

What it does well

The control idea is clear and simple. Because the runner moves automatically, play is about timing rather than steering, which suits a phone held in one hand.

The game has four modes, and the listing says you can try all four before buying. World Tour has 24 courses with a rescue story, and the first four courses are free. Remix 10 strings together ten short courses that change each time. Toad Rally has you compete for the highest score against other players’ moves. Kingdom Builder lets you combine buildings and decorations, with over 100 kinds of items.

Collecting is built in. World Tour has three types of colored coins, and finishing certain courses and building homes can unlock playable characters such as Luigi, Yoshi and Toadette.

The game has 100,000,000+ installs and 1,666,930 ratings at an average of 3.88.

Where it falls short

The rating split is the story. While 59.3% of raters gave five stars, 17.6% gave one star and 5.3% gave two. That is the heaviest negative share among the titles in this batch. The listing does not give a reason, but it does say clearly that the full game requires a purchase.

The free version is a trial. The description says that after you buy all worlds, every World Tour course becomes playable and Rally Tickets get easier to earn. That implies the free version is more limited on both counts.

The page does not give a price for the purchase, so you cannot judge value from it.

Who it suits

Fans of short, timing-based platforming who are willing to pay once to unlock everything will get the most from it. If you want a game that is completely free of purchases, this is not it.