Jumping and drifting returns, but no longer has the ludicrous bonus evident in Mario Kart DS where players could drift continuously on straights. The controls are tailor-made to accommodate multiple play styles with both Y and A accelerating as default. I'm crying out for the absent Yoshi Circuit, but it seems that we can't have everything at once. DK Pass is spectacularly covered in snow and Waluigi Pinball is even more perilous in 3D with the pinballs feeling like oncoming boulders of the Indiana Jones variety. The sixteen returning older tracks have largely been re-fitted with some given huge graphical overhauls and additional shortcuts. The sixteen new tracks make use of the 3D and air/water mechanics very well, with a learning curve that is delicately balanced to perfection. There is also a Coin Attack multiplayer addition which is diverting but ultimately nowhere near as fun as Balloon Battle or Grand Prix. Picking one up increases your speed slightly and can be collected to unlock Kart upgrades, like different chassis, wheels and gliders. Something else that Mario Kart 7 brings back from the older titles is the inclusion of coins which are dotted around the track. Excluded are Diddy Kong and Waluigi (who has a track of his own in the game) in favour of Metal Mario, Shy Guy, Daisy, Rosalina, Lakitu and bizarrely, Honey Queen and Wiggler. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Donkey Kong, Koopa Troopa, Bowser and Yoshi return as the staple starting crew, but the rather eccentric choices made for the unlockables is alarming. The character roster answers the demand for new and different Mario universe characters, although I must admit that I was a little unhappy with some of the choices made by Nintendo this time around. Like the Bullet Bill or Golden Mushroom, this item is rare and generally limited to racers stuck at the back of the field who need a catch-up boost. There are new special power-ups, the Leaf which gives your character a raccoon tail (to tie in with the release of Super Mario 3D Land) to hit oncoming targets, the Fire Flower which allows you to fire a few fireballs before wearing off and the unusual 7 item, which gives the player seven of the in-game weapons at once to fire in any order they wish. Other than those, Mario Kart 7 is a pure Mario Kart game with all the laughs and spills you can expect. The inclusion of underwater motors and air-based glider attachments adds small variety, which can be fun to exploit to find shortcuts and jumps.
The gameplay retains that ever important just-one-more-go grab with a searing addictive level I haven't experienced since, well, Mario Kart DS. Anyone expecting anything different will be disappointed. If you like the well-known springy sound effects and safe soundtracks of other Mario games, you'll be pleased. The audio hasn't changed much from the Nintendo staple. Using a speed-boosting Mushroom to escape an oncoming Green Shell looks spectacular when the depth perception is more obvious to the player. Mario Kart DS has been the benchmark for many years now, so what have Nintendo brought to the table to entice fans to shell out for yet another trio of laps around Rainbow Road?Ĭosmetically, the visuals have been given a definite polish, with the 3D effects arguably the best yet seen in gaming. This innovation has been copied (sometimes blatantly) ever since but never bettered, except by some of the subsequent sequels over the last decade and a half. Super Mario Kart on the SNES essentially invented the most precious of game design commodities: shooting while racing. Mario Kart 7 has come along at a key time for the 3DS and is the first example of a quick-fire handheld title that is truly worth paying the price of the hardware. Mario is best known for his Goomba pounding, Fire Flower grabbing antics, but if you ask any seasoned gamer what their favourite Mario game is, the chances are pretty strong that they'll choose one of the Mario Kart games. Of all the multifarious franchises in Nintendo's Mario catalogue, it should come as no surprise that Mario Kart is the most universally loved.
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