Burrowed away in the options menu of Super Mario Run you can find a pair of options that claim they can save you battery power by lowering the graphical performance that the game attempts to pump out. Casual players may not notice an enormous difference at first but for any frame rate-savvy individual out there the drop in frame rate is immediately noticeable.
You can check out both modes running side by side in the video above, and why not let us know which settings you plan to use in the comments below; will you side with graphical oomph or battery-saving goodness?
Comments 31
Trying to see the difference....trying so hard....
From watching the first two levels shown, it looks like the battery save mode gives you a higher score... or maybe that's simply coincidence. /sarcasm
@KirbyTheVampire If you aren't running the video in HD, then you'll likely miss it, as non-HD YT videos are limited to 30fps I think.
Top tip: for some reason YouTube always pushes 480p as standard when embedded; click the gear in the bottom left hand corner of the vid and change it up to 1080p60 for best results.
Sincerely,
Man
@Discostew Ahh, I can see it now. Probably wouldn't notice it that much during gameplay, but I can definitely see it side by side. Thanks!
@Kanppachi I didn't win it ☹️
Here's the best way to save battery: turn the Wi-Fi/Internet off. Oh wait.
Basically its 30fps or 60fps.
I'm so glad I was born with the inability to perceive any difference.
Yes, I noticed it on the video, but it would never bother me in normal gameplay, as I'm not comparing graphics side-by-side.
I guess my eyes/brain are capped at 30fps quality
I sincerely hope that this game can give us a RUN for our MONEY. xD
@AlexOlney No it doesn't.
I predicted this month's ago and made this mock-up even before the switch was unveiled



@gamermole I'm glad Nintendo dropped the idea of the console manipulating the laws of space and time to display a watermark whenever you look at the thing. Now that's gimmicky!
put youtube at 60fps mode and you will see a world of difference.
but its nice to have a battery life option, more games should do this
I only notice the framerate, doesn't bother me though.
breaking news: nintendo shares down, despite super mario run being top download. source bloomberg.
@Jamotello The Tokyo market closed for the day before Super Mario Run came out, and Nintendo's share value has dipped through the week, not just today. I'm going to see what happens when trading closes tomorrow and report based on that.
But yeah, the picture isn't clear yet.
@A01
I'm not a fan of the online requirement either, but let's be real here. That's not gonna be a major factor draining the battery. I've come to learn Pokémon Go was the same way. I think it just pings the server in between levels with a data packet, which would be incredibly minute amount of data. That and the automatic save data syncing. But that's trivial as well. Neither will make your batter drain faster.
@gamermole Uhh, I think you posted that in the wrong article.
@AlexOlney I see it now with the 1080P, but I agree with @Bobb that in the end, it doesn't really matter to me. They both look fine.
@Ailingforale I'm running it 1080 60fps and there is a slight fps difference, but it was only noticable on a few occasions. Considering the screen isn't going to be anywhere near as big as our TV screens I think it'll be fine.
On my old 2nd gen iPad I had to turn the graphics down for the game to run better. My only gripe is that the settings get saved in the cloud too, so when switching devices, you have to switch settings too.
@KirbyTheVampire and that's why you shouldn't drink and post kids
Some people say the look of it doesn't bother them.... it's not just about how it looks, it's about timing and accuracy. A crap framerate will cause you to misjudge jumps, misjudge speed, etc and make you a worse player.
A problem with framerate can ruin a game. I played Sonic CD on my iPad and the frame rate dropped SO much that it kicked me out of the app like 5 times before I got to the first water level.
But I know the secret way to fix it!
Turn off wifi. ...Why won't my game work? Oh, wait...
Are you exaggerating because I honestly can't see that big of a difference.
Im actually pretty impressed with the battery usage of the app on default settings, Its hasn't been a big problem for me like miitomo and Pokemon Go
An optimal option to save the battery would be to turn off the wifi option on the phone, but wait! Nintendo doesnt like doing things the optimal way.
Want to play Super Mario Run in a place with no wifi and your phone has no data connection? Too Bad! Seriously, an option to play and save offline and then automatically sync online data IF the phone has an internet connection would be fantastic.
Didn't notice anything until I switched the quality to 1080p60, yikes thats a massive frame rate drop
Who ordered the whoop-ass fajitas?
@ThomasBW84 just read it. good analysis. i would also add that the pre-release downturn was likely anticipation of the reaction. the drop was jsut realizing it. pure gaming companies are such a strange beast to investors, and nintendo is the strangest beast of them all.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...