Super Mario Run’s poor reviews have knocked billions off Nintendo’s market cap

Mobile Action

The reviews are in for Super Mario Run — and they aren’t good.

A majority of the 70,000 App Store reviews globally give the highly anticipated game just a single star, and the average rating is barely over two stars, according to analytics firm Mobile Action.

Mobile Action

The poor responses have sent Nintendo shares tumbling, with the stock down more than 7 percent on Monday.

But the trend started almost as soon as the game came out. Criticism of the game focuses on the fact that it costs $10, with relatively little game play available before that fee kicks in. And even when you do pay, many say the game just doesn’t offer enough.

While the game does include three different modes, including one that lets you build your own Mushroom Kingdom, there is a considerable feeling that none are as rich and compelling as they could be.

Despite the negative feedback, the pace of downloads remains strong, with Super Mario Run remaining atop the Apple free download chart. Estimates of just how many people have downloaded the app range from 11 million to 30 million downloads globally.

But Mario got a huge boost from Apple, which has promoted the heck out of the game, from social media pushes to devoting the top of its App Store to a banner ad to having the game running on all the iPhones in its stores. (Here’s our complete guide to the game.)

And bad reviews or not, plenty of people are forking over the money for the paid version, with Super Mario Run currently the highest-grossing iPhone app. Total revenue thus far is pegged at $9 million globally, Mobile Action said.

Neither Apple nor Nintendo immediately offered a comment on the bad reviews, but it clearly is bad news for both. For Nintendo, Super Mario Run represents their first big foray into mobile games after years on the sidelines, while Apple was hoping that its exclusive would give phone buyers another reason to choose iOS over Android.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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