It's the "and more" part that proves particularly sticky. The game is everything you remember about your favorite Mario Kart and more. Hell, there's even a Communities feature that allows you to create a specific Community Code, which acts like a shared specialized Friend Code, and easily enjoy the finely responsive online aspects without fear of outside interlopers.Īll this serves to underscore the double-edged sword of Mario Kart 7. The game similarly offers a wide array of play modes, from single-player Grand Prix and mini-games to local and online multiplayer. New additions like the Fire Flower, Super Leaf and Lucky Seven power-ups ably supplement combat, and everything from the new terrain types to a heavy focus on drifting, drafting and the hop mechanic – which provides a wicked speed boost if you execute it at the apex of a ramp jump – make the core race experience feel both broader and more refined. It is, in a very real way, almost too Mario Kart-y. Which I think we can all agree is a pretty good problem to have. If I had to sum up my meager complaints about Mario Kart 7 in a single defining statement it would be that the game just does too much. (Apologies to Matt Blum for that dreadful pun those are really more his forte.) While I understand that Nintendo is simply giving us a taste of these new movement types that will undoubtedly be fleshed out in later games, I can't help but feel as though they should have instead let the player dive right in to these exciting new additions. While some tracks, like the pair set on Wuhu Island, rely on three individual "sections" rather than traditional laps, and thus feel sprawling by comparison, the much-touted air sequences last only a few seconds.
The problem is that these segments are relatively small by comparison. Such additions help to spice up old tracks, and they really do add a satisfying wrinkle to the gameplay. These sections are paralleled by new underwater segments that both reduce speed and genuinely alter the steering response. Depending on speed and trajectory, these can put you at the head of the pack or kill your hard-fought momentum, but such is the nature of Mario Kart. Each kart is outfitted with some semblance of wings that deploy on certain jumps. The glider marks one of the game's newer elements: flight. This provides additional excitement, but too often results in disappointment when components from the third category, gliders, seldom materialize while those from the first two, kart bodies and tires, tend to stack up. A new component becomes available after every 50 coins collected, but sadly the player has no choice over the new part in question or even from which category it comes. Not only do coins provide a speed boost and help protect from combat damage, in Mario Kart 7 they also serve as currency used to unlock additional parts for kart customization.
#Mario kart 7 all karts series
The drift mechanic, cartoon-y vehicular combat and starting line speed boosts that made the series great (not to mention recent twists like Mii integration) rest at the core of the game experience, but both fresh new and nearly forgotten old game mechanics also help to flesh the title out.Ĭoin collecting – an element mostly missing since the game's Super Nintendo debut – again makes an appearance, but this time around it affords even more functionality. At its core it’s a gloriously responsive iteration of the classic Mario Kart concept that benefits from the new handheld's ergonomic thumb-stick and snappy, well-placed buttons. If you've ever drifted around a precarious curve on Rainbow Road or tossed a blue shell at the hapless lap leader on Luigi Raceway, Mario Kart 7 will feel like home. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean it's flawless. This larger-than-life showing says a lot about Mario Kart 7 as a game, because it might just be, despite its diminutive size, the biggest Mario Kart title yet. Designed by West Coast Customs (of Pimp My Ride fame), the concept vehicles both served to highlight the game's emphasis on customization and as an over-the-top treat for the Nintendo faithful, as one of the vehicles is being offered as a prize in a Gamestop PowerUp Rewards contest. In case there was ever any doubt, it became fairly obvious that Nintendo understood that the holiday release of Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS was a big deal when a team including Cindy Gordon, VP of Corporate Affairs for Nintendo of America, showed up at the LA Auto Show with a pair of real-life karts.