'Super Mario Run' release date, news details and updates: iOS release set on Dec. 15; Android release to follow in 2017

Nintendo's upcoming "Super Mario Run" is its very first game for mobile platforms, and the Japanese company partnered with Apple to launch it first on Dec. 15, 2016, followed by an Android mobile release sometime in 2017.

The game can be downloaded and played for free as a trial version, but to play and complete all the levels, players have to purchase it for $9.99. Despite a quite high price, Nintendo justifies that players will not be offered any other paid add-ons after that.

"Super Mario Run" is a side-scrolling tapping game in which the popular character, Mario, automatically runs from the left side of the screen toward the right, while players can tap the screen to make Mario jump over obstacles. The longer a player taps the screen, the higher it is for Mario to jump.

Like the classic Mario games, Super Mario can still grab power-ups, coins, stomp on his enemies, and fight a villain boss in each level. However, players can decorate their own Mushroom Kingdom using in-game items that can be bought through in-game coins.

Aside from that, the game will have three modes, namely: Toad Rally, World Tour and Kingdom Builder.

Gaming company Nintendo has high hopes for the "Super Mario Run" mobile game as this features their most popular character that had become a household name since the late 1980s.

"There's no doubt that more people are using smartphones to play games. And as this time we're using Mario, that's a very important intellectual property for us. And that's what Miyamoto's [creative director] team is working on now: making sure it spreads out just as quickly as Pokémon Go," Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said.

In addition, Nintendo is inspired by the great success of "Pokemon GO" early this year, and they hope that "Super Mario Run" would be as successful as it was.