Any time during a race, you can hit up on the d-pad to switch to cockpit view, or hit down to switch to normal, third person view. You also unlock several characters and tracks as you progress through the game, and that definitely adds to the replay value of the game as well.Ĭockpit driving is another addition to the formula. It lends depth and replay value to the game, as you want to keep unlocking more stuff to play around with on your kart. You can shape your karts the way you want them, placing all sorts of bizarre accessories on them that don’t just affect them visually, but also performance-wise. As you play the game, you unlock many goodies to use on your kart and make it optimal for your use. These also add a unique twist to the racing- do you go out of your way to collect them, or do you carry on normally and not reap the rewards?Īh, that reminds me of kart customization, a great new addition. The more cons you collect, the higher your top speed becomes, and the more items you unlock with which you can customize your kart. These should absolutely become staples for Mario Kart games from now on.Ĭoins, last seen in Super Mario Kart, are also back. They actually lend strategy to the experience, and it’s fun to see how well they’re implemented. Probably the most innovating additions to Mario Kart 7, however, are the hang gliding and underwater driving sections. The rubber band effect has also been removed, adding more balance to the gameplay. This time around, the enemy AI actually gives you formidable competition, and it’s almost as much fun the play the game offline as it is online. Previously in Mario Kart games, you could win races without much difficulty. However, enemy AI has been perfectly improved. The fact that the rest of the items are so balanced makes this even more annoying. I once got hit by three blue shells in a matter of five seconds while playing online. The blue shell is still here, though, and it’s frustrating as hell. The items are much more balanced now, and a semblance of fairness has returned to the racing. Gone are the times when you would be miles ahead of all opposition, and just as you’re about to win the race, you would get knocked out by thunderheads piercing the sky or other ridiculous happenings that would make you scream profanities at the world. Not only are they cleverly built (a few like the tanooki tail and Lucky 7 come to mind), but they’re also highly rebalanced this time, focusing on both, offense and defense. The items in Mario Kart 7 are also much better than what you will see in other games of the series. Traps and obstacles are cleverly placed, and the tracks look visually stunning too. Old timers like Rainbow Road and Maple Treeway are back, with adjustments made to their structure, and we also get to see some brilliantly designed new tracks, like Music Park and DK Jungle. What makes the racing even better is the excellent track design. The chaotic, kiddish giddiness you got when you played Mario Kart games in the past is still here. The mechanics are awesome and work really well, and the circle pad works rather well, though it’s disappointing to know that there’s no option to use the direction pad to steer your kart. To see so many baffling exclusions is a little disheartening. Mario Kart Wii featured a total of 25 playable characters. While all these characters are great (though some of them look really goofy while driving a kart), the size of the roster is a little disappointing. The full character roster includes 17 characters, including basics like Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and others, while unlockable characters include Lakitu, Metal Mario, Wriggler, Honey Queen etc. You choose from 8 characters, and as you progress, you unlock more. The game boasts of 32 tracks, with 16 of them returning from previous games with adjustments and additions made to their design to incorporate the new features of Mario Kart 7, and 16 are all new tracks. Grand Prix races, divided in 8 cups, each having 4 tracks, are available off the bat when you begin the game in three difficulty levels- 50cc (easy), 100cc (medium) and 150cc(hard). The structure of the game is similar to previous entries in the series. Mario Kart 7 is just as fun as everybody would expect it to be, if not more, with all new additions that refresh the formula, much needed tweaks that make the unbalanced gameplay more balanced and excellent online play. Each new Nintendo system after SNES has received a Mario Kart installment, and each has been known for just how fun it was, despite all its faults. That has always been the identity of the Mario Kart series.
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