'Super Mario Run' release date, news updates and details: release date for iOS devices slated on Dec. 15

Nintendo's first mobile game based on their classic and most popular franchise, "Super Mario Run," was already confirmed to be available on iOS devices first, as the gaming company partnered with Apple — in a surprising move — to bring the game first to the smartphone mobile realm.

A GameNGuide report claims that "Super Mario Run" will be available by Dec. 15, and it will cost $9.99. The game, however, comes in the form of a free trial version, but players need to buy it if they want to continue all the levels of the game.

The game is described as side-scrolling, auto-runner game in which players should avoid holes and enemies, buy and customize their own "Mushroom Kingdom" and finish each level as fast as possible.

Along with the main "Super Mario Run" game, the app also comes with a side-game called "Toad Rally," in which players go against a ghost version of themselves.

Although the game is available first for iOS devices — meaning iPhones and iPads, "Super Mario Run" will also be available to Android phones by next year, though no exact release date is confirmed for this yet.

Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima is expecting that the first mobile "Super Mario" game will be as successful as "Pokémon GO," also one of their major franchises, which garnered worldwide popularity earlier this year.

The "Super Mario" character first appeared in the game "Donkey Kong" in 1981, but it was in 1983 when Nintendo Entertainment's "Super Mario Bros." became widely popular in Nintendo consoles, which later made it a household name.

Since then, "Super Mario" games are only usually released through Nintendo platforms, and the company earlier promised that it won't adapt its famous franchise to the smartphone market, but their decision changed upon seeing the success of "Pokémon GO."

"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," Kimishima added.