Mario Kart Tour

Mario Kart Tour

If this is the actual Mario Kart 9, then it would be a major disappointment to Mario Kart fans.

Genre:	Kart-racing
Platforms:	Android iOS
Release Date:	September 25, 2019
Developer:	Nintendo EPD
Publisher:	Nintendo^AGW
Franchise:	Mario Kart
Previous Game:	Mario Kart 8

Mario Kart Tour is a kart-racing game and an entry in the Mario Kart series for iOS and Android, developed and published by Nintendo in September 2019.

Why It Sucks

The game's monetization system is very egregious much like Dr. Mario World, even for a mobile game and Nintendo standards with an insulting inclusion of loot boxes.
Rubies, the game's main currency, take too long to obtain. You cannot use them to buy characters, karts, or gliders. Instead, the only thing you can buy with them is pipes, which randomly unlocks one of the three aforementioned things.
- To make things more annoying, there's a chance of getting something you already have.
200cc and many parts are locked behind a $5 a month "Gold Pass", which is incredibly lacking. Yes, this is actually more expensive than the $4 one-month Nintendo Switch Online membership and the same price as Apple Arcade, both of which have a lot more features than this Gold Pass.
Trying to steer with a touchscreen device is very clunky and awkward.
Drifting is automatic, which means you'll always drift when you turn, even if you don't need to drift.
You only start as Toad or Toadette, the rest of the characters are locked through the loot box system, and the chances to get them are very low. Yes, Mario himself is locked in a Mario Kart game.
- To add insult-to-injury, some characters are locked behind overpriced paywalls! The most infamous is Diddy Kong, who is about $40, almost as much as a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which is a better deal than that pack!
Lack of other vehicles from previous games like bikes and ATV's.
- Wheel customization is also missing.
You are unable to drive off road, something of which you can do in every other Mario Kart game. This takes away some challenge as a result because driving off the road would normally slow down your kart.
- This, along with the fact that you automatically accelerate, makes it possible to win races by doing absolutely nothing.
Like with most free-to-play titles, it has always-online DRM, so an internet connection is required to play the game.
- Even then, you'll race against CPUs most of the time, similar to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Plants vs. Zombies 2's Battlez mode.
- With that said, you can't pause normally during a race. Fortunately, It works by bringing either the notification center or the control center if you’re playing on iOS.
Some of the characters are currently absent for no reason, like Luigi (despite appearing in the game's artwork) and Waluigi.
Recycled tracks that have been in multiple Mario Kart games, examples being Koopa Troopa Beach and Yoshi Circuit.
The beta version of the game had a stamina system, forcing players to complete tasks and level up quickly or they will be unable to play for a while unless they pay for more stamina. Fortunately, it was removed in the final release.
- However after enough races, rewards will be heavily reduced unless the player waits the next day, acting very similar to it.
There are no tracks from Mario Kart Wii or Mario Kart 8.
The Coin item is still in the game. When will Nintendo learn from their mistakes?
While it's nice to see the Mega Mushroom return from Mario Kart Wii, it's a shame that the POW Block doesn't.
Even more clone characters in the form of Musician Mario and Peachette.
You have to wait a while to get cups. This wait time can range from a few hours to a week.
The game can only be played in portrait mode and with swipe gestures for steering, which is unacceptable for a mobile racing game, so don’t expect to play it with a controller.
False advertising: Luigi's on the title screen but not in the actual game at all (at least not yet. He'll probably be added into the game later on).
There are no My Nintendo points to earn, making this app pointless for those that want them.

Redeeming Qualities

It's great to see Pauline being playable in Mario Kart.
Some great items return here, such as Bowser's Shell and the Mega Mushroom.
At least the Fake Item Box and Thunder Cloud, which are awful items, aren't in the game.
The graphics are pretty decent.
Mission mode returns again, since Mario Kart Wii's tournament mode.
Most of the aforementioned characters are planned to be added in future updates.
At least the microtransactions aren't as extreme as the ones in CSR Racing 2 or Asphalt 8: Airborne (after Vivendi’s hostile takeover of Gameloft) and doesn't restrict the grinding heavily unlike Dr. Mario World and Team Kirby Clash Deluxe.

Reception

Mario Kart Tour was met with mostly mixed reception from critics and mostly negative reception from gamers. On Metacritic, the game has a critic score of 58/100, and a user score of 4.0/10.^[1]