Super Mario Playgrounds

Super Mario Playgrounds is a different attempt at the classic platformer. It takes the famous Mario and places him in a more arcade scenario rather than the platformer scene you’re used to.

In the classic game Mario had to collect all those coins to get that extra life or just the sheer pleasure of gathering all of them. In Super Mario Playgrounds there is no princess to save, you just have to get the highest score by collecting the biggest number of coin.

You are placed into an arena style map where you can jump on platforms and kill or dodge the falling goombas, koopa troopas and spinies. Like in the classic game, you can stomp the goombas to kill them, jump on the troopas to immobilize them and then use the shells to take out the spinies when they appear.

It sounds simple enough but since this is an arcade rendition, the difficulty factor increases considerably the more you play until you’re bound to make a mistake or two and ultimately, lose all your lives.

As time passes by, each second adds 1 point to your score, while collecting coins adds many more. Once in a while a tube appears that grants you bonus coins if you manage to reach it in time, ideally it would be if you can jump on it as it appears.

The best and fastest way to get tons of points is to kill multiple critters with one shot. Kicking a koopa troopa at the exact time might land you thousands of points if you manage to catch a few spinies in the line of fire.

On a closing note, Super Mario Playgrounds is a decent game that might be appealing for Mario fans who are looking to try out something new that involves the popular plumber.