Super Mario Run launches, expected to make millions in a month

The highly-anticipated smartphone game Super Mario Run launches Thursday for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and analysts are already expecting it to be "tremendously successful."

The app marks the first time Nintendo has created a smartphone game for the classic video game character Mario, and it follows up the huge success of Pokémon Go earlier this year. Unlike Pokémon Go, though, Super Mario Run will be free to download but cost users $9.99 if they want to play beyond the demo.

But the price tag isn't likely to deter fans, with research firm SuperData predicting the game will reach 30 million downloads and earn $60 million within its first month. "The nostalgia factor plays a key role here, as an entire generation of gamers suddenly, and finally, finds itself able to play one of their childhood franchises on their phone, two weeks before the holidays," the CEO of SuperData, Joost van Dreunen, told GameSpot in a statement.

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Eventually reaching one billion downloads is not out of the question. Super Mario Run will be released on Android phones at some point early next year.