Mamma Mia! Shigeru Miyamoto talks design and challenges of Super Mario Run

By Luke Filipowicz
published

Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong are all hallmarks of Nintendo and have been going strong since 1981. All of those popular titles started with legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and he also had a big hand in crafting the first-ever Mario game for iOS.

Vox sat down with Miyamoto and discussed the release of Super Mario Run and the challenges Miyamoto faced creating the game and released a short, but beautiful video featuring a little history lesson and insight from Shigeru Miyamoto himself.

"Making the first Mario game for a non-Nintendo platform meant using the touchscreen — quite possibly the simplest controller they've (Nintendo) ever worked with — and creating a game users could play just by tapping one finger."

You may think it's a little mind boggling to think that someone like Shigeru Miyamoto (and a company like Nintendo) would find it hard to build a game with such simple controls, but you'd be forgetting that almost every Nintendo console to come out over the past 30 years has had an innovative controller.

My biggest takeaway from this video is that as long as Nintendo continues to employ Shigeru Miyamoto (and other designers like him), they will continue to strive to make games that everyone can play. That philosophy of accessibility is one of the reasons I keep coming back to Nintendo every time they release a new product, because what good is being a gamer if you can't share it with the ones you love?

What did you takeaway from Vox's video?

Did you know that Donkey was based on Popeye? Let me know your favourite part of the video in the comments below!

Luke Filipowicz
Luke Filipowicz
Staff Writer

Luke Filipowicz has been a writer at iMore, covering Apple for nearly a decade now. He writes a lot about Apple Watch and iPad but covers the iPhone and Mac as well. He often describes himself as an "Apple user on a budget" and firmly believes that great technology can be affordable if you know where to look. Luke also heads up the iMore Show — a weekly podcast focusing on Apple news, rumors, and products but likes to have some fun along the way. 


Luke knows he spends more time on Twitter than he probably should, so feel free to follow him or give him a shout on social media @LukeFilipowicz.

2 Comments
  • This fellow puts a lot of thought into what makes a thing good. So many times a company or an artist will make a 1-hit-wonder, but not Nintendo or Miyamoto. I will admit, I am one of those players who grew up with Nintendo, GameBoy and Mario. I have only played but not owned either the Wii or Wii U. I found those systems to be cumbersome and over integrate. I have played hours and hours and hours of Super Mario RUN and now I want so badly to purchase and love the Nintendo Switch. I hope the lessons learned and applied to the iPhone and touch interface, will be considered with Nintendo's new system. PS. I switched to mouse and keyboard PC gaming for most of the early millennium, I then had 3 kids and switched to iPhone and iPad gaming, and XBOX gaming since then. PLEASE WIN ME BACK NINTENDO SWITCH!
  • I have owned every Nintendo system (both console and portable) except the Wii U. I am beyond excited for the Switch. Whether it will be a hit or not has yet to be seen, but the concept alone is the exact type of innovation I want from Nintendo.