The Angry Birds Star Wars edition has hit the top of Apple's App Store chart in a record two-and-half hours, in what the games' Finnish programmers, Rovio, are describing as its "biggest and best launch yet".

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The last time the hugely popular smartphone game was updated was in March, when Angry Birds Space was downloaded 10 million times in just 10 days after launch.

The latest version sees much-loved characters such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca represented as the eponymous birds fighting their pig enemies; here re-imagined as Darth Vader and his stormtroopers.

Each of the flightless bird has also been given new abilities, such as wielding a lightsaber or shooting a blaster, in a game its creators hope will appeal to both Star Wars and mobile gaming fans alike.

Angry Birds Star Wars boasts 80 levels featuring settings from the film series, such as Tatooine, the Death Star and Dagobah, and promises hours of game play.

"It's a banner day for us," said Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio Entertainment. "This is our best Angry Birds game yet, and we're excited for our fans to finally meet Luke, Leia, and the rest of the gang! But it's more than just a game launch: we think fans are going to just love the new animated trailer and the Angry Birds Star Wars products, sure to be a big hit this holiday season."

Since its launch in 2009, Angry Birds has become one of the most popular smartphone games on the market, having been downloaded over a billion times, and spinning off a range of games and merchandise; including toys, backpacks, t-shirts, hats and Halloween costumes.

Priced at 99 cents for the iPhone and $2.99 for the iPad, Angry Birds Star Wars appears to be a hit with customers already, with 1,406 of the 1,547 ratings posted on Apple's App Store giving the game five out of five stars at the time of writing.

The game is available across platforms including Android, Windows Phones, as well as PCs and Macs.

Rovio is remaining tight-lipped about sales figures for the latest incarnation of its games, but in May, it released a statement boasting revenue of $103 million for 2011, driven largely by the Angry Birds brand.

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