Nintendo's smartphone games shrink down their source experience to enjoy on the go, and the next one is big: Mario Kart Tour. This will be the third mobile Mario game, following Super Mario Run and Dr. Mario World - but of course, on the go-karts and tracks beloved by gamers for decades.
Mario Kart takes a world tour! Mario and friends go global in this new Mario Kart as they race around courses inspired by real-world cities in addition to classic Mario Kart courses! These destinations will be featured in tours that rotate every two weeks! In addition to courses based on iconic lo.
Mario Kart Tour will be released on iOS and Android on September 25, which is a mere week away, and will be free-to-play.
The game has been in closed beta for Android in certain countries and, so far, it looks to bring a faithful (though vertically-aligned) Mario Kart experience, though there seems to be a lot of in-game currencies and microtransactions you'll have to deal with to get all your favorite characters.
Following the failure of Miitomo, Mario Kart Tour is a good sign that Nintendo is going to be investing in mobile adaptations of its more popular IPs, rather than trying anything more weird or new any time soon.
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Cut to the chase
- What is it? Mario Kart on mobile!
- When can I play it? September 25
- What can I play it on? iOS and Android phones
Mario Kart Tour – when can I play it?
Mario Kart Tour's exact release date is September 25, on iOS and Android, for free with in-app transactions. It has been released in closed beta on Android, giving players an early look at the soon-to-be-released mobile game.
The game was first announced as in-development in February 2018, Mario Kart Tour was meant to be officially released in early 2019, which has since been pushed to September of this year.
Surprised? Nintendo’s mobile titles have historically been subject to delays, and given the fact that Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp are still undergoing updates, it makes sense that it's taken Nintendo this long to put the final touches on its next big mobile foray.
Mario Kart Tour price – how much will it cost?
Going on Nintendo’s past mobile releases, we can't be absolutely sure whether Mario Kart Tour will be a free-to-play title with microtransactions, or a one-time purchase game with no paid extras. Now that the closed beta has come out, chock-full of microtransactions and multiple in-game currencies, we're pretty sure this is how the final game will be monetized.
A recent report from the Wall Street Journal has said that the game will be ‘free-to-start’. While this is a little unclear, Super Mario Run is also a free-to-start game which does give us some idea as to how the model could translate to Mario Kart Tour. What this means is you can play it for free, but there could be a lot to buy in-game.
DeNA CEO said 'Mario Kart Tour,' a Nintendo-DeNA smartphone game planned for FY18, will be free-to-start.February 8, 2018
It's still possible that Mario Kart Tour will – like Super Mario Run – be released as a free trial which gives access to one or two tracks and a limited number of characters and cards. After players have gone through this trial, they’ll then be able to purchase the full game for around $10/£10 and get access to all of the game’s features as well as free updates at later stages.
It's possible that the game will be set up like Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, which is free to download but has certain content which can only be accessed for a fee. Although this is a model that would also work for Mario Kart Tour; we could quite easily see the game being free to download with certain tracks, characters and cars requiring an additional purchase.
But it's far more likely that Mario Kart Tour will go the route of previously-released free-to-play Nintendo titles like Fire Emblem Heroes that run on gacha-style pay-for-a-random-item/character via in-game currency, which can always be bought with IRL cash.
It's a setup that has worked well for Nintendo: two years after Fire Emblem Heroes launched, players have spent a combined $500 million on the game, per Sensor Tower. Hopefully the monetization mechanisms in Mario Kart Tour won't be too obnoxious – Nintendo did just tell its partners to rein in the microtransactions.
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Mario Kart Tour – which platforms will it be on?
Though Nintendo hasn’t confirmed anything here just yet, we think it’s safe to assume that Mario Kart Tour will be released on both iOS and Android as other mobile titles have been.
Mario Kart Tour – how will it play?
Unfortunately, Nintendo hasn’t released any official details on how Mario Kart Tour will actually play. But if the closed beta is anything to go by, the game looks to be a streamlined version of the console games. Take a look at this beta footage and explainer:
Characters automatically drive forward while you drag your finger on the screen left and right to turn. Some items (like invincibility stars) are automatically used if you pick them up, others are activated just by touching the screen. It's a lot like how Super Mario Run, Nintendo's first mobile game, was simplified from its console versions.
There’s even room in this kind of control system for motion controls, whereby players turn their phone onto its side and turn the screen like they would a steering wheel, though we haven't seen that gameplay implemented yet.
As in the latest Mario Kart games, players pick a driver, kart and glider, then they’re matched against seven other players online. Maps are a mix from the entire series: the initial Toad Cup features courses from SNES, 3DS and GameCube versions of Mario Kart. There is a purported list of maps collected in a ResetEra thread.
How the multiplayer element will come into the game has yet to be confirmed, too, though the beta information does suggest it will be 8-person multiplayer connecting over the internet.
Nintendo’s mobile games usually require that the player be online but whether they’ll face off in live races or simply race around an AI populated track and try to establish themselves on a variety of leaderboards is currently unclear.
A big part of the fun in Mario Kart is the unpredictability of facing-off against real opponents, so we’d definitely like to see live races rather than a leaderboard system.
Mario Kart Tour courses: what can we expect?
So far, 16 returning courses have been announced and include some fan-favorites like Yoshi Circuit from Mario Kart Double Dash!! and Luigi's Mansion from Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 7. Here's a complete list of the courses announced so far:
- Mario Circuit 1 (SNES)
- Choco Island 2 (SNES)
- Rainbow Road (SNES)
- Koopa Troopa Beach (N64)
- Kalimari Desert (N64)
- Bowser Castle 1 (GBA)
- Dino Dino Jungle (GCN)
- Yoshi Circuit (GCN)
- Luigi's Mansion (DS)
- Waluigi Pinball (DS)
- DK Pass (DS)
- Toad Circuit (3DS)
- Daisy Hills (3DS)
- Cheep Cheep Lagoon (3DS)
- Shy Guy Bazaar (3DS)
- Mario Circuit (3DS)
- Rock Rock Mountain (3DS)
Besides the 16 regular courses, Nintendo has announced five reverse courses (a series staple) that include the original Rainbow Road (SNES), Kalimari Desert (N64), Luigi's Mansion (DS), Toad Circuit (3DS) and Waluigi Pinball (DS).
If you're looking for something a little... different, Mario Kart Tour will be the first game in the series to use real-world locations as inspiration for courses.
Two of these courses have been announced so far – one for Tokyo and one for new York (called New York Minute) – the latter of which can be seen in the trailer below.
Unfortunately, Nintendo has yet to announce if these courses will be available at launch or if they'll come ... wait for it ... sometime down the road.
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DeNA and Nintendo have been working together to create a lot of new mobile games from Nintendo's original IP's, and Mario Kart Tour is the latest game to come from that collaboration.
Designed from the ground up with mobile gaming in mind, this Mario Kart has features that no other version has had before.
Start your engines
Mario Kart Tour
Race Mario Characters on your phone
Designed from the ground up to be a mobile experience, Mario Kart Tour has all the best and worst features of a mobile game. Still, it's Mario Kart!
What is Mario Kart?
For those of you who may have never played video games in your life, Mario Kart is a racing game from Nintendo that features characters from its game franchises — mainly from the Super Mario games, but sometimes other characters too — who race around tracks in go-karts or motorbikes.
The goal is, of course, to win the races. You can collect power-ups along the way that will help you succeed against the other racers; some will hurt them, some will boost you.
What's the mobile gameplay like?
Visuals
In a word, Portrait. Nintendo is clearly trying to differentiate its mobile games from its offerings on the Nintendo Switch, and a good way to do that is to limit the screen real estate they take up. The portrait is not terrible as the controls don't actually show on the screen. This means you can still see all of the action that's happening on the track.
Controls
The game uses the auto acceleration of the latest Mario Kart games, meaning even if you do nothing, your kart will make it to the end of the race. The control comes from sliding your finger from left to right to steer and tapping the screen to fire your items.
Unfortunately, the game also uses an automatic control system for moving left and right too. That means if you try and cut corners, you are likely to be pulled back into place. I really hope that this doesn't make it into the full game, or if it does, we can toggle it on or off.
While I understand why some players might like help with controls, it seems to defeat the purpose of playing a game. If I leave the game to its own devices and my character can finish the race — sometimes in the top three — then how can I be sure what I'm doing is actually making a difference?
Drifting
Drifting is at least one thing you can control. By holding your finger down as you turn, you can build up a drift. When you let go, you can give yourself a little boost in speed. In a game that has a lot of automation, being able to give yourself a boost in speed is extremely helpful.
Tilt Controls
Mario Kart Tour does have the ability to use your phone's gyroscope to control your direction, but it's a little strange. Because you are playing the game in portrait mode, the steering feels unnatural compared to landscape mode.
I'm sure there are plenty of people who will like playing it like this, but for me, having the screen move as you turn the wheel is a hindrance, not a help.
How do the items work?
Items are a classic part of the Mario Kart game and allow you to help yourself and hinder others in a variety of ways. Some, like the mushroom, help by increasing your speed, while others, like the red shell, will slow your enemies down to allow you to catch up.
Mario Kart Tour has some fun new ways to use Items as well including an exclusive Frenzy Mode to help maximize your bonuses.
Number of items
The amount of items you can carry depends on the player you are using and the track you are playing on. Most of the smaller players have only one item slot while the bigger characters, like Donkey Kong, have two. This changes, however, if they are on a preferred track.
Preferred tracks
You know how a lot of the tracks look like they are connected to your characters? Well, in Mario Kart Tour they are. One of the tracks in the game is the Toad circuit from the 3DS, and it is the preferred track of both Toad and Toadette. Both these characters get three items on these tracks and get the ability to enter Frenzy mode.
All of the characters have at least one preferred track, and the characters you can buy for more money will have more, making them more likely to frenzy on other tracks.
Frenzy Mode
If you collect three of the same item on your preferred track, then you can enter Frenzy mode. Frenzy makes your racer invincible for a short period, increasing their speed and drifting skill, while also giving you an unlimited supply of the item you picked up.
This adds an element of tactics to which racer you choose on which tracks. Having a favorite racer may not work as well on Mario Kart Tour as on other games.
Are there Micro transactions?
Of course, there are, this is a modern mobile game, after all. Happily, it seems that all of the characters and karts you can buy for real money can also be earned in the game with the in-game currency.
Like DeNA's Pokémon game Pokémon Masters the game offers you a shortcut to buying characters you may want, rather than offering specials that can only be purchased with real money. This is great because it means all you need to is grind to grab the characters you want.
Can I just race forever?
OK, this may be a deal-breaker for me and others. You can't just play the game as much as you like as there is an energy system that forces you to wait. This is fairly common in mobile games like Brave Exvius and is such an awful system.
The only reason to have an energy system like this is to make people who are enjoying the game pay money to keep playing. If there isn't enough energy, the game will quickly be forgotten as people move on to games they can play when they want to.
When will Mario Kart Tour be released?
Mario Kart tour is slated to be released on iPhone and Android on September 25, 2019. The game is already up for pre-registration in both game stores, and we assume, given the microtransactions, the game will be free-to-play at launch.
Start your engines
Mario Kart Tour
Race Mario Characters on your phone
Designed from the ground up to be a mobile experience, Mario Kart Tour has all the best and worst features of a mobile game. Still, it's Mario Kart!
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