Despite a somewhat inconsistent record with smartphone gaming, Nintendo continues to add to its roster, revealing that its next endeavor will be a mobile Mario Kart.
Update: Mario Kart Tour is in closed beta on Android, and we've updated this article with what we know. Bottom line: it's all about bringing a true Mario Kart experience (albeit vertically aligned), although it seems like there are a lot of coins and micro-transactions in the game that you'll have to deal with to get all of your characters. favorite.
Originally announced as in development in February 2018, Mario Kart Tour remains a mystery, because Nintendo hasn't provided any details about its game, its pricing model, or even the final release date. But we're starting to see footage from the closed beta version of the game, which was released in May, and it seems like the Mario Kart game we know and love has been faithfully reproduced.
After the failure of Miitomo, Mario Kart Tour is a good sign that Nintendo will invest in mobile adaptations of its most popular IP addresses, rather than trying something weirder or newer in the near future.
Although we don't know much about the game so far, that's all we do know, and we'll continue to update this page as more details are revealed.
Cut to the hunt
- What is Mario Kart on mobile!
- When can I play? It will be published between April 2018 and March 2019.
- What can I play in? Nothing confirmed, but it will probably be iOS and Android.
Mario Kart Tour - When can I play?
The exact release date for Mario Kart Tour has yet to be revealed, Nintendo leaves us with a very large window. We know the game is going to happen, but we don't know when. Fortunately, it has been released in closed beta on Android, which is promising. We will take this as an encouraging sign for a 2019 release.
We were right to be a bit pessimistic as the game was beyond our expectations for a "early 2019" release. Nintendo's mobile titles have always been delayed, and given the fact that Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp are still being updated, we don't know when the time has come to release another major work. intellectual.
Mario Kart Tour - how much will it cost?
In previous versions of Nintendo for mobile phones, we cannot be absolutely sure that Mario Kart Tour is a free title with microtransactions or a one-time game with no paid extras. Now that the closed beta is out, full of microtransactions and various currencies up for grabs, we are almost certain that the final mode will be monetized.
A recent Wall Street Journal report announced that the game would be "free." Although it is not clear, Super Mario Run is also a free game that gives an idea of how Mario Kart Tour can translate the model.
The DeNA CEO said "Mario Kart Tour," a smartphone game on Nintendo-DeNA scheduled for Exercise 18, will be free. February 8, 2018
It is still possible for Mario Kart Tour, like Super Mario Run, to be released as a free trial that gives access to one or two tracks and a limited number of characters and maps. Once the trial phase is over, players will be able to purchase the full game for approximately € 10 / € 10 and access all game features, as well as free updates in later stages.
The game may be set up as Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, which is free to download, but the content of which is only accessible for a fee. Although this is a model that would also work for Mario Kart Tour; We could easily see that the game is free to download with some songs, characters, and cars that require additional purchase.
But Mario Kart Tour is much more likely to go the way of the previously released free Nintendo titles such as Fire Emblem Heroes, which are converted in the form of a gacha into the form of a random object / character via The Coin of the World. game, which can still be purchased with IRL money.
This is a setup that has worked well for Nintendo: Two years after Fire Emblem Heroes was released, players spent a total of € 500 million for the game, detection per turn. Hopefully, Mario Kart Tour's monetization mechanisms won't be too egregious - Nintendo just told its partners to stop microtransactions.
Mario Kart Tour: what platforms will it be installed on?
Although Nintendo hasn't confirmed anything here yet, we think it's safe to assume that Mario Kart Tour will be released on iOS and Android, like other titles for mobile devices.
Mario Kart Tour - How will you play?
Unfortunately, Nintendo hasn't released any official details about the actual course of Mario Kart Tour. But if closed beta is anything to do, the game appears to be a stripped down version of console games. Take a look at this beta sequence and its explainer.
Characters advance automatically when you slide your finger across the screen to rotate it. Some items (like invincible stars) are used automatically if you retrieve them, others are activated simply by tapping the screen. This is very similar to how Super Mario Run, Nintendo's first mobile game, has been simplified from its console versions.
There is even room in this type of motion control system, in which players turn their phones and on the screen like a steering wheel, but we haven't seen this game yet.
As in the latest Mario Kart games, players choose a driver, a kart, and a glider, and then go up against seven other players online. The cards are a mix of the entire series - the first cut features courses from the SNES, 3DS, and GameCube versions of Mario Kart. There is an assumed list of cards collected in a ResetEra thread.
The way in which the multiplayer element will enter the game has not been confirmed yet, although the information in the beta version suggests that it will be a multiplayer connection for 8 people on the internet.
Nintendo mobile games generally require the player to be online, but it is not yet clear whether they compete in live races or just on a track filled with artificial intelligence and are trying to win in various rankings.
Mario Kart partly enjoys the unpredictability of confrontation with real opponents. We would really like to see live races rather than a qualifying system.
While details are limited for now, please come back to us as we will continue to update as we hear about Mario Kart Tour.