"Super Mario 64" was first distributed in Japan on June 23, 1996. The game was subsequently released in North America on September 29, 1996 and in Europe on March 1, 1997. It received critical acclaim and is the best-selling Nintendo 64 game. During the first three months of 1997, it was the second-best-selling console game in the United States, with sales of 523,000 units for the period. It was the best-selling game in the United States between 19952002, with units sold in the US by 2002. At the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes, it took home a "Gold" prize for revenues above () in the European Union during the previous year. By May 2003, eleven million copies had been sold worldwide. "Super Mario 64" had become the second most popular game on Wii's Virtual Console by June 2007, behind "Super Mario Bros."