Much like every other Nintendo console since the Super Nintendo, the Nintendo 3DS sees a Mario Kart game installment. It is a welcome addition to the handheld console, which was released just last March.

Mario Kart 7 runs a lot like its predecessors. You pick a character, race around courses and can use items such as the green shell, lightening bolt, and banana peel to take out or slow down other racers. However, there are lots of differences in this version as well.

The first difference should be an obvious one considering the game system you have to use. You have the ability to turn up the 3D slider and experience the game in stereotropic three-dimension. What makes this feature worthwhile is that it adds a completely new element to Mario Kart racing by making items like the ink blot become more realistic. Furthermore, you have a better idea of where you are relative to other racers when you are in close range.

Another difference is the ability to customize your kart, a long-awaited feature for many fans of the series. While customization is a nice addition, the rather limiting amount of ways you can alter your kart is underwhelming and doesn’t live up to what it should.

The online feature is great, and seen previously in Mario Kart DS. Fortunately, this game improves on the feature vastly over the DS version. The connection settings are much less complicated, and playing the worldwide option connects you with potential racers much quicker. Having the option to play online adds a whole new dimension to the game and allows you to gain and lose points depending on how you place in each race. All of this adds to the game’s replay value, an important element of any game.

When it comes to the racing tracks, the game features 16 new tracks and 16 classic tracks—a trend the series has been following for the past couple of games. The classic tracks are really good picks, including N64’s Koopa Beach, Wii’s Maple Treeway, and the original Rainbow Road for the Super Nintendo game.

As for the new tracks, it is probably the best new set in a long time. Every race in the game brings its own fun quirks, with some not even having laps but three separate parts making it one very long and unique racetrack. In other tracks, you have the ability to go underwater where your kart gets a propeller to enable you to drive. Likewise, if you go off a high ramp, your kart now has a glider, which enables you to fly through the air, adding yet another new element of fun.

Mario Kart installments in the past have a habit of not adding many new features to subsequent game releases; Mario Kart 7 does not follow this pattern. This game has a lot to offer to any fan of the series or for those just getting a Mario Kart game for the first time. In fact, for first-time players, it will be like having 32 brand new courses.

This game is a great addition to the ever-growing catalogue of games for the Nintendo 3DS and should be on the shopping list for anyone who owns one.




Source: Game Review: Mario Kart 7 | the Muse