Mario Kart has been around for many years now, and has succeeded in producing many great games one after another. Now the 3DS is out an inevitable Mario kart comes with it, this time with a few new tweaks added to the classic formula.
Mario kart has always played things safe ever since the original, it has never made any changes too drastic, And Mario kart 7 is no different. This is not a bad thing though, if its not broke dont fix it right? This game has all the solid kart racing mechanics as all the ones previous to it. You pick one of eight characters from the Mario universe (More are unlockable) and you race for the top spot.
16 new tracks have been added this time around. As well as 16 more from older games of the series, giving the game an impressive list of 32 playable tracks. The new courses have their ups and downs. Some are interesting and stand amongst some of the best yet like Piranha plant pipeway and Warios galleon. The first being a nostalgic trip through old school looking mario pipeways and the latter haves you driving through wario`s own pirate ship. But many are rather dull simple courses. Mario circuit, Wuhu island loop and toad circuit are basic tracks that lack imagination. They all look great aesthetically but they dont have much going for them gameplay wise, just regular hills and turns, unlike other levels that have you dodging windmills and icicles. The best tracks in the game are the ones from the previous games, Luigi`s mansion and the Dino Dino Jungle are as good as ever.
The items in the game are mostly the same. Red shells, green shells and bananas are all there. Unfortunately the blue shell also makes a return, the blue shell can still screw up a perfect race and have you coming 3rd. Its an iconic item definitely but in my opinion its iconic for the wrong reasons.
New items this time around include the tanooki tail, a tail that you can wack your fellow racers with once they are in range. A fire flower, an item that lets you spam continuous but weak fireballs. And lucky 7, which gives you 7 items you can use one after another. The items are fine and the new ones make it more interesting but I would have welcomed a return from character special items from the gamecube version with open arms.
This time around they have introduced gliders to the karts, as well as propellers. The first lets you glide your character through the air and the second allows you to swim through the water. The water parts of the levels are nothing special as the gameplay is basically exactly the same besides a bit slower. But the gliding parts of the game are one of the best new things about the game and are the highlights from most tracks.
Kart customisation makes an appearance too, the problem is the karts are not really customised. The changeable parts of the kart are not to give it your own personal decoration, but more to change the performance. It was a shame, it never felt like it was mine. I was not looking for Modnation racers standard of customising but more would have been nice. I soon realised everyone online just had whatever made them go faster, so everyone ended up with basically the same kart...
Which brings me to online, probably the best thing about MK7. There are other single player modes like Balloon battle and coin battle (and a suprising lack of "Single Race Mode") but the online is where you`ll spend most of your time. Its pretty much the single player but against real people from around the world. Its a lot more fun than playing against the AI and it sets a new standard for handheld consoles. I never had trouble getting into a game, and could join a friends game easily. I`ll be very happy if the multiplayer for other 3DS software works as well as this.
Its worth noting that local multiplayer is available too. And Download play works as it did on the DS, only one card is required for multiple people to play. Provided they have a 3DS obviously. None of my friends have a 3DS so I played online but its a great thing to have and im glad they kept it.
Overall I enjoyed my time with MK7 and dont regret my purchase. Despite a few unimaginative tracks, no way to play one race at a time in single player and a character roster that could have been better. The multiplayer, solid gameplay and replay value makes it for it. Definitely something to add to your 3DS collection.
Mario Kart 7 has been unexpectedly updated for the first time in more than a decade.
Even after a decade, this handheld iteration of Mario Kart is still magic.
Nintendo will be shutting down the eShop for the 3DS and Wii U completely in 2023. Makes sure to check out these games before they do.
If they're not important enough to be held on their own official storefront then they're not important enough to give your money to Nintendo.
Buy these, physically, used or simply emulate them.
This article comes off as nothing more than advertising games that Nintendo, themselves, don't care to offer you... buy now!
Wait hang on where all the outrage? I swear when Sony tried to do this with PS3 last year. There was outrage from all corners of the gaming universe.
Why does no one care Nintendo is doing it?
There has been.
A lot of it.
Simply type in "3DS" in Google and tell me what you see.
Oh I have a fair few websites reporting on it. But where is the outcry on here? I remember their was 2-3 approved top voted articles when Sony announced they where closing the PS3 store. All slating them and not caring about customers.
I should of worded it better. Where is all the outrage on n4g?
N4G is a fanboy site, mainly frequented by only Sony.
Microsoft is their direct competition, so you'll typically only see articles that are made to rile up those fanbases.
Nintendo does it's own thing, so they're rarely brought up, aside from their fans. The most you get is the same typical two or three posters claiming Nintendo is only for infants.
If you come to N4G for educated discourse and reasonable discussion, this isn't the place. Sad as it is.
It's lame that it is shutting down. Now I feel rushed buying all the rpgs I missed out on the system.
You guys know that even archive.org has 3DS roms, and all other console roms. I'm downloading 846GB of 3DS roms and will add the best games to my soon to be soft modded New 3DS 😁. Might as well throw in DS and other emulators in there to. Guys this would be the best way to play and enjoy the 3DS. Just need to buy a bigger micro SD card and format it to FAT32, which you can if it's even 256GB or larger there are ways.
This should help if you want to soft mod it excellent guide and up to the latest and probably last 3DS firmware update: https://www.youtube.com/wat...
Comments are welcome :)
I enjoyed this game a lot. However I still prefer the old Nintendo DS version. I think the DS version, in my opinion, had better characters and an abundance of single player events.
The graphics and 3D look impressive in Mario Kart 7 though, that's one thing I prefer about this installment over the old DS version.
That was a well written review Blastoise =)
and i totally agree with you about the blue shell lol
although it would feel abit weird having a mario kart game
without it.
Good review. You can tell that online is the main feature of this game, and it works great. FAR better than the DS version, that's for sure. Even tired and true modes like time trial get an online facelift. While racing ghosts is nothing new, racing 7 of them in a psuedo race is. Little things like that are welcome additions. Also, the item distribution is FAR more balanced than the Wii version, which is great news.
The fact that they took out single player vs mode bugs me though. I used to use that a lot when I just wanted to play a few races. I also really miss the mission mode from the DS version. That was fun.