The Super Mario iPhone Game Finally Has a Release Date and Price

click to play video

Just when you thought you'd wrestled your life back from the grips of Pokémon Go, Nintendo came along and announced its new Super Mario Run mobile game at Apple's iPhone 7 keynote presentation in September. Now, the company has finally given the game an official release date, price tag, and even a brief tutorial video explaining how to play. 

Nintendo announced Tuesday the game will arrive on your iPhone or iPad in exactly one month's time -- Thursday, December 15th -- as a free download via Apple's App Store, although a $9.99 in-app purchase is needed to unlock the full game. But, hey, that's probably nothing compared to all money you blew on egg incubators and incense in Pokémon Go over the last few months, and a no-brainer use for the seemingly obligatory iTunes gift card you'll receive over the holidays.

As you can see in the introductory video, the basic gameplay mode is pretty simple: Mario automatically runs through the levels, while you're supposed to tap to make him jump or tap and hold to make him jump higher while collecting coins before the clock runs out. Check out the full video for glimpses of the two other modes, Kingdom Builder and Toad Rally.

When Nintendo first announced the game at the Apple event, the company's legendary video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, a.k.a. "the father of Mario," said Super Mario Run is the mustachio'd character's first appearance on a mobile platform and the first Mario game that you're able to play with just one hand. So far, it looks like the game will be exclusively available on Apple devices at first, but hey, at least you won't have to worry about it selling out like Nintendo's new NES Classic Edition. Sigh. 

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Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and will probably be peer-pressured into playing this constantly. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.