What all of the platformers including Gameloft's Castle of Magic are missing is the sheer number, depth and variety of the levels found in Super Mario World. Seeing the fantastic job that Gameloft is doing with Shrek Kart, Nova, and Modern Combat to fill the gaps in iPhone's quality gaming library, I feel the one thing still missing on the iPhone is something to compete with the DS's outstanding "New Super Mario Bros" game, which still ranks as the best selling DS game of all time. At the very least, I hope that Earthworm Jim won't be absurdly difficult like most Earthworm Jim games, and will have numerous save points so that when you unlock a new level, it stays unlocked forever. The appeal of Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros is how well it controls, how easy it is to beat a level, and once you do, it stays unlocked so you can go back and play it anytime you want. You end up with a huge number of diverse levels to choose from in a very short amount of time.
Castle of Magic is the closest we have so far. I actually really like that game, and recommend it for platforming game fans. My only issue with it is the inexplicably inconsistent framerate, where playback stutters every second or two on all devices. If you're on an iPhone 3GS, definitely check out Pandemonium. It is unplayably slow on older devices, but runs great on the 3GS. It is a classic Playstation platformer with a large cult following, and the iPhone version is a pretty decent port.
Bounce On is the best at the moment, but take a look at SuperTux (140 levels, open source, level editor). We're currently porting it, and have plans to add Mario-esque multiplayer soon. EDIT: Sorry, 140 levels. And yes, if you're jailbroken you could mod it.
Ok nintendo owns the rights I mario and they wouldn't just hand them out. Nice idea but it will never happen
oooo if you put ONLINE multiplayer with that then thats an instant buy for me heck i'd pay $10 for it
It's so amazing that Mario 64 DS only takes up 16mb on my R4 card. 16mb!!! There are pong games on the app store that take up more space. Nice size worlds, fair amount of action and interaction, lots of audio, cut scenes, depth, secrets....I just don't get it.
As another poster pointed out, what topic creator is looking for can be found in Bounce On, which is very much like Super Mario Bros. 3 except with completely different controls, characters, level design, etc. What I mean is that it is highly influenced by SMB3 in terms of gameplay and the type of platformer it is as Team Phobic themselves commented. As you go along levels get more complex, have more secrets, and once opened up you can return to replay levels.,
Gameloft should work on originality. I am sick of seeing these threads "Should Gameloft copy this game?" Good lord guys, I have seen probably 6 of these threads pop up in a week. You are only feeding the flame that causes Gameloft to copy. Why not shoot for something original? With their experience they should be able to make some bad @$$ games, but everyone keeps asking for clones. STOP IT... And if you are going to keep asking for clones, you might as well do it in the 5 other threads related to this subject.
How about that little game "Ricky"? http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=321407593&mt=8
It gets repetitive and isn't that good imho, the amount of content it has doesn't make up for the fact that it gets tiresome
