Though the 3DS was critically acclaimed upon its birth into the marketplace back in 2011, it had a very slow start with pretty underwhelming sales. This was largely due to the relatively high price tag and the poor catalogue of games that were on offer at launch.
Nintendo rectified this by firstly lowering the price making it more affordable for their customers to actually buy one, and then they boosted the catalogue before Christmas by adding Ocarina of Time, a remake of the N64 classic; Super Mario 3D Land, a brand new Mario Land; and the big one: Mario Kart 7.
Mario Kart has always been a huge staple for Nintendo, appearing on every single console since its genesis on the SNES. In terms of gameplay it’s as simple as you’ll find – Mario characters racing about in go karts, but this simple formula is so unique to Nintendo that many have tried to replicate it, and all have failed. In terms of racing games, this is as good as it gets; you can keep your realistic F1 games – all I want to do is toss a barrage of red shells at the leader and steal first place!
So what’s new with Mario Kart 7? Well first of all it’s called Mario Kart 7, the first time the franchise has ever used a number in its title, which to be honest is pretty boring, but hardly an issue. To celebrate the seventh instalment of the series there are several new additions in this game as the developers, Retro Studios, attempt to keep the game fresh.
The most noticeable additions are the karts themselves, each one is now customisable in body, wheels and a new glider option that allows your kart to get some air on big jumps. This brings me quite nicely to the gameplay which is just as you’d expect from a Mario Kart game, as soon as you start playing you’re at home. Saying that there are elements added to this one that are new.
The aforementioned glider jumps are now positioned in various locations to give you different options to choose from mid-race. These are a decent addition although they can be vastly unfair in several ways. Take for example Maple Treeway, the Wii course that has made a return as a retro track in this one. Remember the canon that fires you into the main tree, and the waving net towards the end? They’ve been replaced by glider jumps which now make the course far worse and too unfair. If you’re flying over a jump and someone uses lightning for example (which happens a lot) you head straight down into the abyss only for Lakitu to place you at the start of the jump again. Imagine that happening at the net jump on the last lap. Your 1st place just turned into last place.
The second major addition is the underwater sections; yes, now you can drive under water. When your kart goes underwater a propeller fan automatically appears on the back of your kart and boosts you forwards through the marine. This is generally a good addition although some retro tracks have been altered too. Koopa Cape, again from the Wii, is one such track that makes the pipe section underwater, eliminating the rotating electrical obstacles in the process.
The last major new addition is more of a return than a new feature: coins are back. The coin feature was a part of the original and then Super Circuit on the GBA, since then they’ve never returned. This is a good addition as it adds more to the tactics of the game. Several areas in the courses provide you with a choice to either use a boost or collect coins. The choice here is to take the short term gain with the boost pad, or to take the long term gain by collecting coins. One you reach 10 coins you gain a small consistent speed boost that could make or break your race.
The Tracks
The tracks included in Mario Kart 7 are good but at the same time disappointing. It’s not that they are particularly bad courses; it’s just that they don’t really leave an impression on you as they have done in all other Mario Kart games. Take Bowser’s Castle for example, a level that has always been one of the best on all others; this one is terrible. First of all, it should be called Bowser’s Back Garden as you spend most of it in what I suppose are the castle grounds. Then there’s the fact that it doesn’t feel anything like a Bowser’s Castle track, it feels more like Grumble Volcano on the Wii. And then there’s the underwater section that has lava in it, I’m no scientist but that makes no sense to me.
There’s also a different style of race in Mario Kart 7 - on some courses, instead of laps, there is one long track with three different sections that constitute laps. There are three of these, Wuhu Island Loop, Wuhu Mountain Loop and Rainbow Road. One of them is good, one is poor, and one is the worst Mario Kart track of all time.
Wuhu Island Loop is the good track, borrowing elements of Toads Turnpike and Moonview Highway, it features a few cars, a few jumps, different ways to go, it’s generally quite good. As for the poor track, well that would be Rainbow Road, which doesn’t feel at all like Rainbow Road. It should be called Moon Motorway or something as you spend very little time actually on the rainbow itself.
This brings me to the worst track: Wuhu Mountain Loop. First of all as you’re probably aware there is a cheat to be had on this course where you can jump into a certain bit of water and be brought back onto the course a whole section ahead. This isn’t the only reason it sucks though. It’s just a terribly designed track that is just too short. If you get knocked back on this track, you won’t make the podium, you just won’t.
There are however some very good tracks on the game: Koopa City is a great course, as is Wario’s Galleon, Melody motorway is quite innovative and Shy Guy Bazaar has grown on me a lot. Unfortunately though there are more average courses than excellent ones, which shows when you compare it to other Mario Kart games. People may also be disappointed by the retro courses; there are four Wii courses which, for me, is a little excessive considering Super Circuit and Double Dash just get one each.
The Items
What would Mario Kart be without items? Getting this element right is absolutely imperative for a Mario Kart game. It pleases me to tell you then that Mario Kart 7 gets it as close to perfect as it’s ever been. Although Mario Kart Wii was a fantastic game overall, it was let down by its items. Remember the Lightning Cloud? The POW Block? Woeful items indeed, you’ll be happy to hear they are gone.
The new items in Mario Kart 7 are the Leaf, the Fire Flower and the probably never to be seen again Lucky 7 item. The Leaf brings out a Tanooki tail behind you which you can use to hit other racers in close proximity. It’s pretty useful and also stops shells from hitting you from behind, I tend to just spam the hell out of it until it goes. The Fire Flower gives you several shots of fire, which hurt others a little. They’re not as powerful as shells but offer more shots meaning your chances of hitting are much greater. The Lucky 7 item produces seven items around you and use them as you please when the one you want appears in front of you. These items are: a green shell, red shell, blooper, bomb, star, banana and a mushroom. There is an obvious hindrance to this that you may have figured out already. You’re carrying a bomb which means if anyone within a few feet of you touches it, you both go up. My advice is to either use it asap, or use the star power.
The Characters
Unfortunately the character roster is a bit of a bug-bear for this game. It starts with just 8: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Koopa Trooper, Bowser, and Donkey Kong. These are fine but the unlockable characters are not very good at all. Alright, so there isn’t much room for brand-new characters now, but my word it shows. There are four brand-new characters in this one, five if you include Shy Guy who was a stand-in multiplayer character on Mario Kart DS when you played local multiplayer with one cartridge. I’d tell you I’m about to reveal spoilers at this point, but the game does this anyway by showing you them all during the credits anyway (which you see after completing just 50cc).
Daisy, Wario, Rosalina, and Mii all make a return, but joining them is Wiggler, Lakitu, Metal Mario and Queen Honey Bee. The term scraping the barrel comes to mind. This means then, that characters like Waluigi, Baby Mario, King Boo, Dry Bones, Birdo and Bowser Junior are all overlooked, and for who? Wiggler and Queen Honey Bee? No… just… no.
Multiplayer
There are many things that have been improved in Mario Kart 7, none of them more so than the multiplayer. The Wii’s multiplayer was very good, but this one is even better. It’s on a handheld console which helps, and there are now a maximum of 8 racers instead of the Wii’s ridiculously hectic 12. It’s much quicker, less loading times, and there is a new community feature that allows you to join several others and modify different elements to the races. Want to change all items to bananas? Well now you can.
It’s not all brilliant, lagging can sometimes be an issue, there’s nothing quite like throwing a red shell at a mirage, and there is that little cheat I mentioned earlier on Wuhu Mountain Loop which means the course gets picked a lot by idiots who want to exploit it and gain VR points. I’m proud to say I never use it, and those who do I lose all respect for. You may gain 50 VR points, but you lose 5,000 respect points from me. I really hate playing this track and, because I know the best I can come is usually 6th, I spend a short while attempting to block the others from jumping in the cheat pond. Imagining their frustrated faces amuses me greatly.
In conclusion then, Mario Kart 7 is a great new addition to the franchise. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s managed to capture the essence of Mario Kart. With plenty of game modes, a good range of items and a brilliant multiplayer, this game will keep you occupied for a long time to come. If you haven’t bought a 3DS yet, this is probably the game that should make you do so. It did for me.
Final verdict: 8/10. For its sheer enjoyment factor. Still room for improvement though.
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