Free Version is Literally Unplayable

Before you come at my throat with a Hammer Bro hammer, hear me out when I say that this game is absolutely precious and well worth downloading the free version to try it out. However, thats all the free version is; a trial. I cant help but feel like this game is the Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes equivalent if you plan on keeping the free to play version and not getting the full game.

Should you play only the free game, you have access to World 1; a mere four levels when there are a total of *twenty four* in the full game. Now these four worlds do offer replay value as they have challenge coins to collect, but youre still only working with 16.67% of the full game. Quite disappointing when the game claims to be free to play and yet you only get not only a fifth of the content, but I digress.

You also get access to Toad Rally (called TR from here on out), which admittedly is extremely fun. TR lets you compete against other players to get toads (toads are used to make your kingdom bigger and unlock more characters) and earn coins. The only real problem with TR is you only have access to three different colored toads. How do you gain access to all five toads? You pay the $9.99 to unlock the full game, of course!

Now I know what youre thinking, oh I only get 3/5 of all toads? I can still work with that. That just means I have to grind harder to unlock characters and buildings! Quoting President Donald Trump, "Wrong!" In order to unlock other characters, buildings, and more endgame content, you need all toads. Nintendo makes that very clear almost too early in the game. Once you finish your first character building, you can see you need access to all other toads just to unlock the second character. Hopefully you have the $9.99 laying around if youre not okay with using only three characters (ten total characters so far by the way)!

When all is said and done, Mario Run is a fantastic game that is well made, fluid, and rather addicting if you get into it. By all means I should give it five stars, or at the very least four, but I just cant justify giving a game *this good* more than three stars when roughly 74.36% of the alleged free to play game is locked behind a $9.99 purchase. If you like the game that much and want to support Nintendo, go ahead and buy it. Nintendo has earned their keep with this title, I just feel they shouldnt list it as "free to play." Charge $7.99 for it and remove the free to play version. Make it *just* a full game, then it will be five stars.

Cody Carlyle about SUPER MARIO RUN, v2.1.1