Super Mario Run Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs
2. The Kingdom Builder Mode Is Totally Lacklustre
Super Mario Run's Kingdom Builder mode might be the gateway through which you unlock its most interesting extra content, but the mode itself is a wasted opportunity.
It sounds great on paper: collecting Toads in order to better populate your very own Mushroom Kingdom, constructing houses for them, decorating the world with loads of elements from the Mario games like bobbing trees, question blocks and warp pipes. The problem is that it all feels so restrictive, and a little bit pointless too.
With only a small number of preset locations where you can place items, the whole thing feels artificial, lacking any sort of cohesive design. And while you can expand your kingdom beyond one page, each subsequent page somehow looks more grid-like than the last.
Plus, you can't even check out your friends' kingdoms to compare.
Once you've dropped a character house or special warp pipe and grabbed the bonus content, you won't hang around for long.