Super Mario Run Android APK download (and how not to)
After we thought we'd learned our lesson with Pokemon GO, Nintendo has decided to release Super Mario Run for mobile devices. But not all mobile devices get Super Mario Run, just the most popular line of smartphones and tablets: iPhone and iPad. So what's an Android user to do, besides clone the app themselves and run it illegally on their own Google Pixel XL? There are a few answers – and most of them are bad.
1. Download a Clone
Instead of downloading the game from some illicit source and ripping it apart in hopes of re-construction on Android, there are alternatives to Super Mario Run. But they're mostly trash – especially now that the game has been released and is seeing its first bubble of popularity, fake and off-the-wall versions of the game's mechanics are being replicated. Don't be fooled – there isn't a single good replacement for the game yet released.
Don't actually download a clone. No game pretending to be Super Mario Run on Android yet exists. No game pretending to look and feel like Super Mario Run on Android is yet worth the effort – they're all basically trash.
I'm not trying to convince you to stick to Super Mario Run on Android, at this point, because it does not exist. Nintendo has suggested that they're working on the app for Android now and will release it inside early 2017 – but beyond that, I say thee nay. There's little you can do in the way of downloading an APK.
Any person suggesting they have an app download or APK file for Super Mario Run for Android is a liar. It does not exist in the wild just yet. The vast majority of the files suggesting they are Super Mario Run for Android are scams, malware, or otherwise malicious.
2. Play a better game*
Let me suggest several games that are absolutely awesome and will immediately douse you in forgetfulness about Super Mario Run on Android. Immediately, sufficiently, and everlastingly forgetful – that's what you'll be. Because these games are excellent.
1. Auralux – I always suggest this game. Not because it's gotten all that much better in the recent past, but because I can go back to it and play it from the beginning over and over again. There is a second version of the game out now too, one that's equally fun. Check out AuraluxGame to hit the downloads.
2. Exploding Kittens – I've suggested this game several times too. It's super simple and giggle-worthy too. This app is based on a real card game made by the guy who makes The Oatmeal. Downloads can be had at Exploding Kittens and joy will be had.
* This third entry isn't necessarily a better game. It certainly is a DIFFERENT game.
3. X-Men – This is a recreation of a 1992 arcade game, one of the most awesome arcade games ever made. You might remember it as the massive 4-to-6 joystick machine sitting in the center of a crowd of gawking video game fans of all ages. This game hasn't been updated by its creator since August 22nd, 2013 – that might be a turn-off for some people, but I'm still all about it. See the Google Play app store for more.