Nintendo Reveals More Super Mario Run Details, Responds to NES Classic Shortages

Nintendo's Super Mario Run smartphone game comes out next week, and now we've learned a little more about it. In an interview with Time, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that, while you'll start the game as Mario, eventually you'll be able to play as other characters by unlocking them.

"One thing we have done this time is that you'll be able to play not just as Mario, but after going through the game and unlocking some things and meeting some conditions, you'll be able to play as some of the other characters as well," he said.

Miyamoto didn't say who these characters are, but Luigi and Peach seem like safe bets. Asked if these other characters will have moves and abilities unique to them, he said, "It's less on having those characters to achieve or accomplish specific tasks, and more of giving players a tool to unlock more of their gameplay creativity.

"Even if you’re trying to collect the same group of colored coins, doing so with a different character will require you to do it in a different way. So that can be fun for the players to explore."

Super Mario Run is free to download, though you need to pay $10 to unlock all the content. Whether the other characters are behind the paywall remains to be seen.

Miyamoto's comments came in response to a question about Super Mario Run's small number of power-ups as compared to the main series. He teased that future games could do more in this area.

"I think with this being our first Super Mario game on iPhone, we've designed this both in what's the best experience but also with a long road ahead of us in terms of what else we can do on iPhone," he said. "So perhaps you can look forward to some of that at some point in the future."

Some of the confirmed power-ups for Super Mario Run are mushrooms and the Super Star.

Separately, GameSpot sister site CNET spoke with Nintendo executive Reggie Fils-Aime about Super Mario Run. He said you should not expect a version of the game for the Nintendo Switch.

Fils-Aime also responded to the NES Classic Edition shortages, saying demand was "certainly greater" than it anticipated, adding that more stock is coming in to retailers every day. Asked if classic NES games could be released on smartphones in the future, Fils-Aims said that's unlikely to happen.

"Candidly, no, without a fair amount of modification," he said. "This hearkens back to the questions that we received maybe five years ago saying, 'Nintendo, when are you going to get into mobile?' And at the time, it was positioned as, just take all your legacy content and just put it on mobile. The fact of the matter is, to make a great mobile game, you can't do that. You need to think about the input device. You need to think about, how is this going to be sticky?"

Super Mario Run comes out on December 15 for iOS devices, before landing on Android phones and tablets later. You can play a demo of the game right now by visiting an Apple store.

Fils-Aime and Miyamoto appeared on Jimmy Fallon's late night show on Wednesday to show off Super Mario Run and provide the first public demo of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild running on Nintendo Switch.