'Super Mario Run' Android version release date, latest news: Pre-registration for 'Mario' mobile game now available on Google Play

Ever since "Super Mario Run" was released on Apple's App Store earlier this December, Android users have been eagerly waiting for any announcement of when the game might be coming to Google's Play store. But it looks like the much-anticipated game will be coming to Android any day now.

Although a specific release date is yet to be revealed, Nintendo launched the pre-registration for the "Super Mario Run" on the Google Play store on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Clicking the "pre-register" button which appears on the Play Store will give Android users notice once the mobile game is available for download on their Android devices.

"Super Mario Run" is, for the time being, an iOS exclusive. It is Nintendo's first-ever mobile game, and it was highly-anticipated after the worldwide success of the mobile game "Pokémon GO." According to Variety, The "Mario" mobile game was downloaded more than five million times in the first 24 hours after it was launched. In-game purchases have generated around $5 million in revenue for the company.

The mobile game itself is offered free on iOS, but Apple users who play the game must pay $9.99 in order to unlock all the game's levels. Reception of the game in the Apple community has been mixed, with some even criticizing the steep price of the mobile game. In the App Store, the game has been rated 2.5 out of 5 possible stars, based on around 72,000 Apple user ratings.

Nintendo promotes the latest "Mario" game as one which gamers can play with just one hand. In the game, Mario is constantly moving forward through the courses while the players use a variety of jumps for navigation. Mario's behavior will heavily depend on the timing of the gamer's taps, and it will be up to the gamer's smooth moves to gather coins along the way and to successfully reach the goal.

"Super Mario Run" has been heavily compared to "Pokémon GO," a massively successful mobile game which used Nintendo's intellectual property but was actually developed by Niantic Labs.