The classic Super Mario game is finally coming to the iPhone. Shigeru Miyamoto, one of the original creators of the classic game, demonstrated how Super Mario could be played a touchscreen device during Apple's annual iPhone release event on Sept 7.
"Super Mario Run" would be available on Apple' App Store this December. iOs users can download the basic version of the game for free, but the full version has to be purchased.
While playing "Super Mario Run," players need to tap the screen for Mario to jump. Short taps trigger short jumps, while longer taps trigger higher ones.
The game supports three game modes:
The first allows players to maneuver through obstacles and collect coins.
The second, dubbed as "Toad Rally," is considered the battle mode where players can compete with other players from all over the world. Miyamoto, during an interview with Time, said that the battle mode is geared toward people who only have a few minutes to play. The third allows players to expand and customize their own Mushroom Kingdom with the coins collected from the game.
Nintendo has been slow to embrace smartphones. Investors and fans have been urging for the company to bring their characters to life via mobile gaming. But with "Pokemon Go" rising in popularity, Nintendo has finally decided to take a different turn.
According to Joost Van Dreunen of SuperData Research, a research firm that tracks the gaming market, "with Pokemon Go this summer, everybody has been going nuts -- my guess is, they (Nintendo Co.) scratched their heads and decided: 'we have to do this now."
Meanwhile, Miyamoto confirmed that Nintendo would also make "Super Mario Run" available on other mobile platforms, such as Android, but he did not provide a timeline for the release.