Mario Kart Tour: Race in the Mobile version of your Mario Kart Dream Land!

Nintendo brings Mario Kart to your android devices. No need of having to switch to a console to play your favourite game. Hit the road with the definitive version of Mario Kart Tour and play anytime, anywhere! Race your friends or battle them in a revised battle mode on new and exciting adventures.

The actual driving works well & feels impressively similar to the actual Mario Kart. It’s similar but not quite the same, tour’s racing is more restricted & simpler, making it an undeniable downgrade from Mario Kart 8 but the transition to one-handed mobile devices is handled well.

Classic tracks have been tweaked and redesigned to take advantage of the vertically oriented screen & the single input touch controls work nicely although, it does take some getting used to. Swiping up to launch weapons feels natural. Controls around curvy paths are tricky with the touch controls but moments like speeding down the tracks, & expertly launching turtle shells at opponents feel like a real Mario Kart game.

Tracks are short and races are only two laps leading to short mobile-friendly sessions. Winning a cup requires succeeding in only three races capped off with unique missions which also involves racing through rings. These special bonus races are fun because you get to use race gear & karts you haven’t unlocked so far. They also allow you to master the act of using boosts effectively.

If we talk about the character roster, the game offers a lot of funky characters, the majority of which is what we’d call different variations of Mario & peach. The character roaster holds other exciting costumes as well like Mario SNES & Rosalina Halloween just to name a few.

The game also has a landscape mode to ease your gameplay & you can also choose the kind of control option you’re comfortable with, which further simplifies your gaming experience.

However, the odds of getting what you want on a pipe containing 100 items is very low. Although, recent tours have implemented special limited-time pipes that contain 30 or 50 items. Not all these pipes have specific guaranteed items but the odds of getting what you want are much better. Also, if you collect enough grand stars you get 4 free pipe pulls, two from each of the main pipes. Not only this but if you play through all the cups you get a special pipe pull that’s guaranteed to contain a high-end driver kart or even a glider.

Another method of unlocking content is by participating in different events. Midway through the game you become eligible to collect green event tokens. The method of collecting tokens varies as per each level but it’s pretty easy to get them and these tokens can be used in the event shop.

The playtime is generous & you can race as much as you want and as often as you want. You might also encounter occasions where you won’t be able to unlock all of the race’s stars even if you finish the race first because you don’t have the right racer or the kart yet. In those instances, you feel like being cheated out of an earned victory.

Initially, the game allows you to start as a single-player. It’s only after you’re collected a cup, that can unlock the multiplayer option. Which makes the game all the more competitive!

The biggest downgrade is the price tag next to the microtransactions, they are surprisingly big which is an absolute bummer! To regularly receive assorted goodies, drivers & karts you can subscribe to any of the currency packages. These prices are way too expensive. Subscribing is also the only way to access the 200 cc speed.

All in all, the actual gameplay and racing of Mario Kart Tour is very well done, controlling the karts feels good, the courses & characters look & sound great but I’d say that the road to a mobile version of Mario Kart is a bumpy one. Tourist prices are prohibitively high. And the game isn’t optimized for all devices.