Super Mario

Super Mario 64 game sells for record-breaking $1.5m at auction

The 1996 cartridge was a launch title for the Nintendo 64 console, and was one of the most influential early 3D platformers.

The auction house said there were "fewer than five" copies in such good condition.

The sale dwarfed another record-breaker, an original Legend of Zelda cartridge, set just two days before.

That original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) cartridge sold for $870,000 on Friday, briefly making it the world's most expensive game.

Rare Super Mario becomes highest-selling video game

The cartridge, still in its original packaging, sold to an anonymous bidder.

And the US auctioneer said demand "was extremely high", partly because this particular packaging had been used for a short while only.

The previous record for an auctioned game was $100,000 - for a different copy of Super Mario.

"If any lot in the sale could hit a number like that, it was going to be that one," Heritage Auctions video games director Valarie McLeckie said.

"We knew this would be a strong live session.

Nintendo shares surge on Super Mario game for iPhone

Super Mario Run will be released in Apple's App Store in December in more than 100 countries.

It will be free to download but users will have to pay for the full game.

Nintendo, which announced the tie-up at Apple's launch event for the iPhone 7, saw its shares jump 18% before falling back to around a 13% rise.