Mansion Run Review

It's funny to think that an affluent skeleton such as Bones Wellington doesn't get along with ghosts. I mean he's sort of dead himself, plus he's a gentleman. Regardless, a bunch of ghosts have decided to pursue him all over his massive estate, resulting in a Mansion Run that spans several floors as well as a few hidden nooks and crannies.

So Bones is in trouble and his only recourse is to run like crazy. And run he shall, leaping from floor to floor as he attempts to duck and weave around possessed furniture, snatching up bones to buy power-ups, keeping an eye out for secret doors, and so on. Swipe up to go up a floor and down to go down, or frantically combine the two in order to avoid smashing into a dancing bookcase. There are even times when players will have to swipe every which way for a quick time event or two. It's not all about Bones, though, as it's possible to unlock a couple of other playable characters including Cavorite's Doctor Cavor.

Mansion Run makes good use of its retro-inspired visuals. Bones, his buddies, and his pursuers all look great and the mansion sports plenty of simple details. The use of motion and white outlines to denote obstacles (i.e. possessed furniture) is also used to great effect and does a fantastic job of helping things players aren't supposed to touch stand out without actually standing out. The swipe controls are also very responsive, and for the most part the hit detection is just forgiving enough to make dodging through narrow gaps between sofas and lamps possible without feeling too easy.

While the swipe controls for jumping between floors are nice and easy to use, the same can't be said for the power-ups. Using one, assuming it's available, requires a swipe to the side that doesn't always seem to register. I wouldn't mind it so much if it only meant having to swipe a couple of times to use it properly but it also often results in Bones (or whomever) changing floors as well, which can lead to some unplanned collisions. I'm also not too crazy about having to save up 100 bones to buy a random power-up. It's not that I don't mind having a shop or anything, it's just a shame that the purchases are random and only for power-ups. I suppose I've just been spoiled by other similar titles that offer things like hats, upgrades, and so on.

Mansion Run makes for an entertaining romp through a haunted estate but it doesn't have anywhere near as many bells and whistles that can be found in similar games, even some of Underground Pixel's previous titles, which could severely impact its replayability. It's fun; it just doesn't seem to have much staying power.