Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first Mario-themed game for mobile devices, is launching for the iPhone and iPad on Dec. 15.
What separates this game from other installments in the Mario franchise is the way in which players control the character. Rather than navigating by using directional buttons and action keys, players tap the screen to make Mario jump over obstacles and clear levels. The longer a player presses on the screen, the higher Mario jumps.
After spending a brief amount of time playing, I found that understanding how to play is simple, but mastering the game takes more effort. As is the case with many Mario titles, timing is key in order to clear levels with a high score.
“We didn’t think about bringing an existing Mario gameplay to iPhone and just porting over something that you controlled with buttons before,” Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, best known as Mario’s creator, told TIME. “We really focused on, what is the best Mario experience for what you get with iPhone?”
The images above provide a closer look at the game, which will cost $9.99 when it debuts. To read more about our overall impressions, check out our post here.
