Nintendo on iPad?

Let’s talk about it.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Hello, as always, how are you guys? I hope you guys are doing well. Today, we’re getting into one of the big three in the gaming industry (In terms of the console race).

Nintendo has been around a whopping 135 years and counting.

Starting with playing cards, they released their first console, The Color TV Game, in 1977; after the release of Donkey Kong in 1981 and the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System, A.k.a the NES, alongside Super Mario Bros in 1985, the company gained global recognition.

Now we fast forward 39 years to today, where not only has Nintendo maintained said success but has now taken their sacred IPs and finally allowed them to go completely mobile.

So today, we’re going to see how good their two most popular app games are based on, as always, Gameplay and visuals, and because these two games don’t have much story, we well instead be looking at accessibility.

In our case, accessibility will mean how many games we can play without hitting a paywall.

The Games we’ll be testing (Photo screenshot by Nia🫧)

Gameplay

The first game we’ll be digging into is Mario Run, and if you’ve ever played any iteration of a Mario game, you’ll fit right in here.

They even simplified it, kind of.

(Mario Run Checkpoint and Ui)

So, for starters, as always, the history lesson: Of course, this game was developed and published by Nintendo originally on iOS in 2016 and Android in 2017.

Mario Run plays like a classic Mario Bros: Platformer that’s single or two-player.

However, Mario Run is now a side-scrolling, auto-running platformer entirely single-player.

The game is fun, but primarily because the original was fun, and they did not do anything crazy different to spice the gameplay up, but Nintendo has never really been known for significant changes.

(Animal Crossing Pocket Camp Map & Ui)

Now let’s get into our second game.

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is a single-player or multiplayer, free-to-play, life sim released on IOS and Android on November 21st, 2017.

The game’s opening is hilarious, but it’s meant to set up the world and allow you to pick the location you want.

(Opening Cutscene of Animal Crossing Pocket Camp)

Right after chatting with K.K., we finally get the opportunity to customize our character.

The character customization is simple.

Once again, Nintendo is not leaving its comfort zone, but honestly, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

(Final results of my character customization in Animal Crossing Pocket Camp)

After customization, we enter the game, and this is something I have to knock the game for right off the bat. There is so much dialog before you even get into gameplay.

This is my first experience with the Animal Crossing franchise.

However, the gameplay itself is fun.

Your primary objectives are to talk to and help characters and bring them over to your camp as you develop it.

You help characters usually by giving them the items they’re requesting, and you can do this by gathering, fishing, and digging.

The game also has a cute mini-game for in-between cutscenes to collect extra coins between loading screens.

(Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, RV Mini Game)

Visuals

Mario Run is gorgeous, but once again, it’s not necessarily surprising, given Nintendo has never been known to spare any expense on visuals.

Unlike Pocket Camp, I tested this game on both iPad and iPhone, and it lose any visual fidelity.

However, Mario Run reminds me of a portable updated version of New Super Mario Bros Wii, the first Mario game I played 15 years ago.

Pocket Camp also looks stunning but does show a few more flaws, however, in terms of background scenery.

(Photos of the scenery in Mario Run & Pocket Camp)

Accessibility

Now, I was waiting for this section to go into more detail on Mario Run.

While Mario Run at first seems free-to-play at first you only get to play the first world before being locked out and being required to pay $9.99 for the entire game.

Now, I have no problem with a game needing to be bought or even selling perks to supplement their income. Game developers and publishers need to make money somehow; however, why not just have a separate demo or something and make the game fully paid?

It just looks pretty slimy to me, especially for a game that barely seems worth it in the first place.

You’re paying $10 for a Mario in your pocket when you’ve been playing it for decades at this point.

(Story of Mario Run)

Pocket camp, however, doesn’t necessarily have the same restrictions.

There are a few things you can spend money on, like leaf tickets to speed up the build time or craft without items to build.

However, there are subscription plans for stuff like a designated village helper and specific furniture and skins that total up to $11.97 per month if you’re interested in all three, which, once again, is absurd.

(Mario Run Opening Seconds in the App)

Conclusion

All in all, guys, while these games are fun, I feel they were just cash grabs by Nintendo.

Both games don’t ooze the same love and passion that the company did when it first entered the gaming scene, even in comparison to their more recent console releases.

With all that being said, guys, this is going to be a first for me, but I’d recommend AGAINST playing these games.

Either wait and save, or if you have the money, go out and buy a proper Nintendo Switch, and you’ll get so much more for your money and your time.

That wraps things up for me.

Thank you guys so much for the read.

I appreciate it.

Support me ;)! And as always, I’ll catch you guys in the next one.