Super Mario Run: everything you need to know about Nintendo's first smartphone game

Nintendo’s first proper smartphone game has proved to be a huge hit. According to the company, Super Mario Run was downloaded more than 40 million times in its first four days of availability on iOS, breaking the App Store record for number of downloads during that span. Previous reports pegged the game’s debut at around 2.85 million downloads in its first day, though these are the first official numbers to come from Nintendo.

That success was aided in part by a global launch, that saw Super Mario Run debut in 140 different countries. Nintendo doesn’t say how many players actually spent money on the game; while it’s free to download, Super Mario Run requires a one-time $9.99 fee to unlock the entire game, a relatively high price tag on mobile that has proved a sticking point for many users and investors. However, Nintendo does say that the game managed to reach the top 10 highest-grossing charts in 100 countries.

Super Mario Run is on pace to have the biggest launch in the history of the App Store. According to analytics firm Apptopia, the game was downloaded 2.85 million times in its first day of availability.

Those numbers handily beat out Pokémon Go, which was downloaded 900,000 times in its first day, according to Apptopia’s data (that number jumped to 5.6 million by day three). Of course, the comparison isn’t entirely fair: Super Mario Run was available in 150 countries at launch, while Pokémon Go debuted in just three before a staggered rollout brought it out to the rest of the world (it was only recently made available in India and South Asia, for instance).

Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first true smartphone game, arrives today on iOS. It’s a little different than your typical Mario fanfare, which typically send the mustachioed plumber out on a grand adventure. Instead, the game has three modes — which you can test out for free — for players to sink their time into.

The game does include in-game purchases with coin currency and a one-time fee of $9.99 to unlock its full features, and it will require an active internet connection to play. To help you make the most of your mobile Mario time, we’ve compiled our best tips and tricks.

Oftentimes Super Mario Run, the first smartphone game created by Nintendo, feels like a compromised version of the classic games. To work comfortably on a touchscreen held in one hand, Nintendo has had to change its proven formula. This isn’t new for Nintendo, a company that, particularly with portable gaming, has found creative ways to adapt its most beloved franchise. But Super Mario Run is, for better and worse, different.

While Super Mario Run may look like a traditional side-scrolling game, it’s actually an automatic runner, a genre popularized on mobile by Canabalt and Temple Run. On his own, Mario perpetually runs to the right of the screen; you control his jumps, though there’s some variation. Tap the screen for a quick hop, and hold your finger down for a longer leap. From this simple framework Nintendo has created a surprisingly robust experience. With a combination of taps and presses, Mario can perform wall jumps, catapult himself over enemies, flutter through the air, and grab onto ledges. Environmental features modify his behavior, like blocks that stop Mario from his endless skitter eastward, or other blocks that make the squat plumber perform backwards aerials. For a game controlled by a single thumb, there’s unexpected room for creativity and even exploration.

Super Mario Run is now live on the App Store — buy it yourself for $9.99. The much-anticipated game is Nintendo’s first real attempt to puts its storied back catalogue of video game characters to use in the mobile world. Super Mario Run is a take on the endless runner type of game, letting players control Mario in a traditional side-scrolling platformer environment, but with just one control: tap to jump. It’s a simple set-up, but appropriate considering that Mario’s first ever video game appearance, in 1981’s Donkey Kong, saw him billed as simply “Jumpman.”

The game features three main modes. “World Tour” lets you play solo through 24 levels in six worlds; “Toad Rally” lets you challenge your friends’ times to race through certain levels; and “Mushroom Kingdom” lets you create and customize your own courses. You need to earn currency in the first two of these modes to use the third, as well as unlock five other characters. Unfortunately, the game requires an internet connection at all times — disconnect and a pop-up will appear that stops you from playing. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has said this requirement was designed to stop piracy.

Super Mario Run is coming out December 15th, but to play it you’ll need an active internet connection. That means no using the game on a subway or plane — unless you’re above ground or connected to Wi-Fi. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed this detail in an interview with Mashable, saying the requirement was introduced to curb piracy.

“For us, we view our software as being a very important asset,” said Miyamoto. “And also for consumers who are purchasing the game, we want to make sure that we're able to offer it to them in a way that the software is secure [...] We wanted to be able to leverage that network connection with all three of the [game] modes to keep all of the modes functioning together and offering the game in a way that keeps the software secure.”

A week ahead of the release Nintendo’s first true smartphone game, Super Mario Run, we had a chance to spend a half-hour with the portable platformer. How does it feel? Surprisingly like a classic Mario game.

Super Mario Run strips the core of a Mario game to its very basics. Unlike classic Mario games, in which you control the forward and backward movement of Mario, this game is an automatic runner, which means that Mario will run on his own. You control when he jumps.

In 2004, Nintendo released a strange dual-screened handheld called the DS, and with the hardware, a broader initiative the company called its “blue ocean strategy.” Instead of battling against heavyweight competitors like Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo would carve out its own unique space in the market. While video game consoles became increasingly complex, the DS and its touchscreen were meant to be more approachable, a way to bring in new players who were intimidated by complicated controllers. And it worked — for a time. The DS and Nintendo’s “blue ocean” console, the Wii, combined to sell more than 250 million units, besting iconic devices like the original NES and Game Boy. However, Nintendo wasn’t able to hold on to that audience. By the time Nintendo rolled out the hardware’s follow-ups, the 3DS and the Wii U, more casual players had moved on to smartphones and tablets.

Now Nintendo is finally moving with them. Next week will see the launch of Super Mario Run on iPhone and iPad (an Android version is coming later), marking the first proper Nintendo-developed game on a mobile device. It’s a very different tactic compared to the “blue ocean strategy.” Instead of creating its own space, Nintendo is diving into one of the most crowded and competitive markets around, going up against the more than 2 million apps available in Apple’s digital marketplace. But with that comes a great opportunity. While Nintendo’s best-selling hardware reached 150 million people, Apple sold its billionth iPhone this summer. It’s a chance to introduce a new generation of players to the company’s characters, just as the original Super Mario Bros. did on the NES more than 30 years ago.

Super Mario’s long-awaited mobile debut is coming very soon: Nintendo has announced that Super Mario Run will be launching on December 15th for iOS devices. The game will feature three different modes, each of which you can try out for free. But in order to get the complete experience you’ll need to pay a one-time fee of $9.99. Nintendo says that the game will be available in 151 countries at launch, and will support multiple languages, including English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, and traditional Chinese. The game was first announced in September, when Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto appeared onstage at an Apple event. You can get an idea of how the new game plays in the just-launched trailer above.

Almost nothing at yesterday’s iPhone event was a major surprise, given that everything about the new iPhone leaked in advance. The most unexpected part of it actually happened within the first few minutes, with the announcement of the first Super Mario game for the iPhone.

Nintendo’s talismanic designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who created the iconic Donkey Kong, Super Mario, and Zelda series among many others, was even on hand to introduce the new game, called Super Mario Run. It’s launching first on the iPhone this December, and will eventually come to Android, Nintendo said in a later interview with The Verge.

For years now, Nintendo’s investors have badgered the video game publisher to leverage its dense catalog of characters by bringing them to smartphones. So why did the company finally bring Mario to iPhone today?

Nintendo is bracing for arguably the least promising holiday season in its history as a video game publisher. To review: Nintendo’s current home console, the Wii U, is awaiting its last rites, while Nintendo's handheld platform, the Nintendo 3DS, is curiously absent of flashy holiday releases. The rumored Nintendo NX, a console-portable hybrid, is yet to be announced, and won’t be available until 2017.