Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo 3DS) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Despite a slow start, the 3DS is now finally beginning to take off thanks to a glut of high profile games making appearance on the handheld this holiday season. Fronting this full on assault of high profile titles is none other than Nintendo's own Mario Kart, a series of games well known for helping to shift vast numbers of consoles around the holidays through providing excellent pick up and play gameplay that anyone can enjoy. Here we have the seventh entry to hit a Nintendo console, the ninth in total when you consider the two arcade iterations, and it brings with it some of the biggest changes the series has ever seen, with gliders, underwater sections and a major focus on online play.

Gameplay

Little has changed to the standard driving mechanics and anyone who has had previous experience with the Mario Kart games should feel at home instantly. You'll still choose a class setting, from 50cc, 100cc, 150cc and the eventual Mirror Mode that is unlocked through completion of the initial 3 classes, and then a character from a roster of 16, with 8 initially available until you unlock the others through meeting specific criteria, and you'll then take to the track in the hope of beating your opponents to finish line in first place. That much remains the same through the entirety of the Grand Prix mode but changes are abound throughout that add an entirely new layer of strategy to the game that takes the game to a new, and much appreciated, level.

Firstly, rather than characters being split into different weight classes, all characters are put on a level playing field with there being no differences between them when it comes to speed or acceleration. Some may take this a detractor but the removal of character differences has led way to the addition of customisable karts and it is in the setup of these that you'll find the individual differences. You'll be able to choose from a chassis, wheels and a glider, with the former two determining stats such as speed, acceleration and handling leading to tough decisions on whether to have a kart which is good on the road but won't be able to make use of off-road shortcuts or vice versa, or indeed aiming for the middle ground. It's a welcome addition and as new parts are slowly unlocked through collecting coins in the Grand Prix mode, you'll have plenty of opportunity to personalise your setup to the tracks you'll be racing on.

The other big changes this time around future add to this new layer of strategy. Gliders come in to play when you go off specific blue ramped jumps and allow you to glide over chasms and other obstacles, cutting out parts of the circuit or taking shortcuts to get the better of opponents. The strategy for these comes in how long you want to stay in the air. With a tap of the brake button, you can close your glider and instantly return to track, which is more helpful in some instances than diving and climbing with the glider to cut out areas. It's a simple addition that adds so much to the game and you'll scarcely be able to go back to playing other Mario Karts without them. The other addition is of course the propeller, for use in underwater sections of tracks. It doesn't quite work as well as the glider, with driving being floaty due to the different medium you're driving through and doesn't add a huge amount to the gameplay but the tracks designed around this addition, as well as those designed around the glider, do represent some of the best designs seen in the series and choosing between sticking to the track or making use of these new mechanics certainly makes races more interesting than they've ever been.

Weapons have always been a big part of the Mario Kart series and that is no different here. Old favourites, such as green and red shells, return, as does the much loathed blue shell which is now more in line with the N64 version, but it's the new items that will pique your interest. As with the other Mario title on the 3DS, the Tanooki tail makes an appearance offering both offensive and defensive options for play in helping take out both opponents and incoming projectiles. The Fire Flower, a long overdue item for inclusion, allows you to spit fireballs in front and behind you. Finally, Lucky 7 gifts the player all 7 major items, from green shell to blue shell to lightning bolt, but the drawback to this is that if an opponent bumps into you, they can steal your items. As such, there's further strategy added in how you manoeuvre around the course with this item.

A significant emphasis has been put on online multiplayer this time around, and Nintendo have produced one of the best setups yet for one of their titles with a very robust system that is essentially latency free. As you'd expect, you can join up with friends and foes from around the world, as well as random players, online for races or balloon and coin battles, with each player starting out with 1000xp and this increases or decreases depending on your performance throughout the events. The biggest addition to the online is the new Community feature, allowing you to set up specific game type communities with class and weapon settings and have people join the community so they can use your custom settings. It's perfect if you want to setup an online league where the playing field is levelled for players of all skill levels but the scope is slightly limited in that weapon settings only allow for you to make one specific item useable aside from having all items enabled. Running alongside this is a version of the Mario Kart Channel, allowing you to see ghost data sent to you by Nintendo through SpotPass as well as create or join communities.

Local multiplayer options further bolster the multiplayer options, with standard races and battles for local play with or without a second cartridge keeping in line with multiplayer being the key focus of the Mario Kart games. And with all these options, it's likely where you'll be spending weeks or months of your time. But this is also as a result of several issues pushed you away from the single player. The game clearly feels rushed as there is no single race option or a Mission mode severally decreasing the amount of content there and the old adage of rubber banded AI continues, with some of the worst examples of it in the series yet. You'll be bombarded with blue shells and lightning bolts, even on the lowest class setting, just for taking the lead and it shows a lack of AI development when other karting games have managed to get around this issue.

Controls

The game controls largely as it did in the earlier DS version, with a control setup that will be familiar to those who played that game or any of the other racing titles already available for the handheld and, despite some initial trepidation, the 3DS' slider pad works extremely well for driving around the tracks, although some may be disappointed in the lack of a d-pad option with this having been regulated to switching between the third and first person viewpoints. Optional motion controls have been included for those wanting to continue the trend set by the Wii version, but given that it's a handheld title, the standard analogue setup comes off as being more accurate and the use of these will be necessary for tackling the higher skill settings and even for staying competitive online.

Graphics

Visually speaking, the graphics on show are some of the crispest seen yet on the 3DS, with both the teams at Nintendo and Retro Studios having clearly spent significant amounts of time optimising the game to look as smooth and polished as it can on the hardware and it definitely shows, with the game running at a solid 60fps throughout, even with the 3D on, and few jagged edges to any of the visuals. Undoubtedly the hardware could be pushed further but what is on offer here looks superb and carries on the tradition of providing a bright, colourful and cheerful looking title which is easy on the eyes.

Track design is strong, with the 16 new tracks carrying on staple ideas, from simple racing circuits to undulating courses that twist and turn around asteroids and moons, as well as incorporating new ones, such as adding underwater or downhill elements, providing some of the widest array of styles in the series to date and all of them look fantastic, rivalling, and in some case beating, the efforts seen in the previous Wii entry. The 16 retro tracks have also been modernised and while some of the charm has been lost in some of the tracks due to outfitting them for the gliders, particularly the SNES tracks but also the DS ones which now feel too open compared to how tight they felt, they still handle well and look the part. Character models similarly look great, bringing to live both familiar and obscure characters from the various Mario titles over the years and although the karts aren't as personalised as they have been in entries past, they still manage to cradle a thought of individuality thanks to the customisable nature of them all.

Sound

Music selection is a bit of a mixed bag, with the music on show for the new tracks failing to meet some of the high standards set in previous entries in the series, with only a handful of standout pieces. The retro tracks fare better, as you would expect given that they are recalling tracks that will be familiar to most gamers, but in general, the music selection does border on the disappointing. Despite this, there's no dampening of the enjoyment of the game and the overall quality is extremely good, echoing the quality of the Wii version for clarity. Character reactions and weapon effects are as expected and can get annoying, especially that blue shell sound which will be ingraining into your memory after completion of all the class settings.

Special features

The 3D effect is used liberally but does provide a good sense of depth of field for what is happening out on track, smoothing away the few jagged edges that are visible every so often with the visuals and even maintain a rock solid frame rate when used. It's nice but it's not an effect you'll need to, or want to, make use of all the time when playing. StreetPass features are incorporated, allowing you to share time trials ghosts, profiles and stats with players you pass on the street, as well as SpotPass allowing ghosts to be sent to you online, even when not playing the game.

Final comments

Feeling more like a set of new wheels rather than a completely new machine, Mario Kart 7 shows a return to form after the slightly disappointing Wii iteration, offering a balanced set of tracks, new and old, and some new gameplay additions which definitely add a level of strategy to the races. A strong online setup further bolsters the game's offerings but old trends die hard it appears, with some of the worst rubber banding in the series to date and significantly diminished single player options preventing the game from taking the top spot on the podium away from the previous handheld entry. It's still incredibly fun, despite those grievances, and is undoubtedly a must have title for those with a 3DS or those hoping to pick one up this holiday season.

Pro: Superb online features, robust multiplayer, well balanced track design, new gameplay additions are great
Con: Rubber banded AI, lack of Mission Mode and Single Race features, Strange character choices
Final score: 8.5

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