Super Mario Run gets off to a flying $4 million start

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Super Mario Run on iOS
Where's he running to? The bank, apparently.
Photo: Apple

The eagerly-awaited Super Mario Run made upwards of $4 million worldwide in its first day on the market, according to analytics company App Annie.

The analytics firm suggests that the game — which represents the first official appearance of  Mario on iOS — was downloaded around 10 million times, and was the top-ranked game by downloads in 60 of the 151 countries it launched in within hours of its debut.

It went on to become the highest-grossing game in 11 of these countries.

For those unfamiliar with it (and, given its crazy amounts of hype, how could you be?), Super Mario Run reconfigures everyone’s favorite Italian plumber as the star of an endless runner game, in which users’ job is to tap to jump — thereby allowing Mario to leap obstacles, smash villains, collect coins and other goodies, and select routes.

So far, the game has received middling-to-positive reviews, although criticism has been leveled at the fact that the game requires “always on” internet connectivity, which is a pain if you’re on limited data or plan to play this on the subway into work.

Super Mario Run is a freemium title, although players will have to shell out $9.99 if they want to play more than just the first three stages. The fact that revenue is generated in this manner makes it tough to compare with Pokemon Go, which is 2016’s other massive gaming hit — but lacked the in-app purchases of Super Mario Run.

Have you played Mario’s new adventure yet? If so, what have your impressions been? Leave your comments below.

Source: App Annie

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