Mario Kart Tour

Mario Kart Tour is a mobile game in the Mario Kart series. First announced during a financial briefing on January 31, 2018, it is the third Mario mobile game overall, following Super Mario Run and Dr. Mario World, the ninth main installment in the Mario Kart series, and the sixteenth installment overall. Like Super Mario Run, it is free-to-start from the App Store and Google Play. Unlike Super Mario Run and similar to that of Dr. Mario World, the game more heavily incorporates a free-to-play microtransaction mechanic, where players have restrictions and timers unless they spend some of the various types of currencies in-game, as well as having es in the form of items being launched out of pipes. The game reuses many assets from Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, and Mario Kart 8, as well as returning gameplay mechanics such as gliding and character specific special items. In addition, the game introduces some features new to the Mario Kart franchise such as reverse tracks and ability to deploy a large amount of any item during a race, including Spiny Shells and Bullet Bills. On April 23, 2019, Nintendo opened applications for participating in a closed beta test of the game to Android users in North America and Japan, which began on May 22, 2019 and ended on June 4, 2019.

The game officially launched for both iOS and Android devices on September 25, 2019 in 163 territories, which covers nearly the same roster of availability as Super Mario Run, with the exceptions of Belgium and Vietnam, the former of which banned games with loot boxes in 2019. Users who pre-registered acquired the game a day early. Unlike previous Mario mobile games, a Nintendo Account is required to be playable.

Gameplay
The goal of the game is to be in first place at the end of each race, using items obtained by driving through Item Boxes. The game is played in a portrait position, while the phone's touch controls are used to play the game, such as dragging the finger across the screen to steer the kart. There are three ways the player can make turns. For the phones supporting it, the gyroscope can be used to steer. Touch controls can be used in two configurations. The main setting has the driver jumping every time the screen is tapped, making drifting the main way to take turns, controlled by how the fingers slide on the screen. In the other configuration, the kart does not jump when tapping the screen, which results in it steering and auto-drifting as the fingers slide on the screen. This configuration does not allow the charge of an Ultra Mini-Turbo. Similarly to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with auto-accelerate and smart-steering enabled, karts accelerate automatically and can steer players away from walls. The intensity of smart-steering can be changed in the game's settings.

The game's mechanics are based on Mario Kart 7 and most of the Retro Courses are also available as either normal or retro courses in Mario Kart 7. A few features from Mario Kart 8 that required substantial changes to the game, such as Bikes, ATVs, anti-gravity, and 12-player races, are missing, while the 200cc class is present. Other features from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, such as auto-accelerate, smart-steering and Ultra Mini-Turbos, return. Unlike previous games the player cannot customize their tires.

When a race is completed, the player will be awarded with Grand Stars, experience points for the used driver, kart and glider, and coins. If the player finishes in the top three places, the gauge to level up will be filled, while if the placement is 5th or lower, the gauge will be dropped. When the gauge is already empty, however, the player will not go level down. Grand Stars are awarded depending on whether a certain point threshold has been reached. Experience points for the driver, kart and glider are awarded depending on the placement. The coins obtained are those collected during the race, but a player will get one additional coin for every 1,000 points obtained during the race. Each day, it is possible to obtain up to 150 experience points for drivers, karts and gliders and up to 300 coins by racing. When those limits are reached the player cannot obtain experience points or coins by racing until the next day. In order to continue gaining experience points or collecting coins, the player can use point-boost tickets for the former and can play Coin Rush or get rewards from challenges for the latter. Grand Stars are used to unlock new cups and to receive Tour Gifts that appear in the form of gift boxes in the race selection screen. Experience points for drivers, karts and gliders are used to increase the points earned for a race by selecting a said driver, kart or glider. Coins are mainly used in the shop to purchase items. Filling up the gauge to level up gives a reward to the player, increases the points earned when reaching a specific placement in the race and, when level 7 or level 12 are reached, allows the player to buy more items in the shop.

The game features Tour Challenges and Gold Challenges, which reward Grand Stars, and Standard Challenges, which reward rubies, which are the game's premium currency. Beside being bought with real-life currency, rubies can also be obtained as rewards. They can be used to launch pipes which randomly shoot out a driver, kart or glider, all which have their own rarities. A counter keeps track of the number of Normal, Super and High-End items obtained from a certain pipe, so that up to a certain number of Normal, Super and High-End items can be obtained. It is possible that a player obtains an item from a pipe that already has been obtained. When this happens, the level gauge of that item will be filled. A pipe contains 100 items, including one featured High-End character, kart and glider which are guaranteed to have been launched from a pipe if the player emptied it. A new pipe replaces the former one each week, and the player can reset a pipe manually as well. Rubies can also be spent in Coin Rush where the player can obtain a great amount of coins. Over 300 coins are found in the course. For each tour, another course is available in Coin Rush and Gold Mario is the regular driver. The coins obtained from Coin Rush are multiplied by a certain number, depending on how many rubies a player has spent.

Another premium item, bought with real-life currency according to a monthly subscription model, is the Gold Pass, which grants access to the 200cc engine class, additional items from Tour Gifts and Gold Challenges.

Each driver, kart and glider have favored courses, on which they offer advantages if they are used. Each course has three tiers for each driver, kart and glider. Third tier drivers receive one item from every Item Box, second tier drivers receive two items and first tier drivers receive three items. Second tier karts give a bonus points multiplier of 1.5 and first tier karts give a bonus points multiplier of 2. Second tier gliders increase the time between two point-gaining actions to count as combo and give a combo bonus multiplier of 2 and first tier gliders increase the combo-time even longer and give a combo bonus multiplier of 3. The player can enter a Frenzy by obtaining three of the same item at the same time, which allows the player to temporarily use that item an infinite amount of times in addition to granting them invincibility. Super and High-End drivers, karts and gliders have a higher number of points gained when choosing them and more preferred courses. In addition, drivers have their own special items, similar to Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'s item system. Karts have their own driving-related bonus such as increasing the effectiveness of drafting, while gliders increase the likelihood of obtaining a certain item and the points gained when using this item. All drivers, karts and gliders can be leveled up, and they all come with upgrades when done so.

The courses the player can play depends on the tour, which changes every two weeks. Each tour has sixteen cups, and adds new drivers, karts, gliders and courses, including one course that is new to the series. Each cup contains three races and one bonus challenge. Bonus challenges require the player to beat a certain goal with a certain character, kart and glider. Once each of the courses and the bonus challenge is played and enough Grand Stars are obtained, the player can move on to the next cup. Tour Gifts appear between cups which give the player items if enough Grand Stars are obtained. Every week, one of the tour's cups is a ranked cup. In a ranked cup, the player is placed on a leaderboard based on their overall score in the game against nineteen other players. The player gains a reward and increases in tier at the end of the week if the end position is within the best ten places.

Each tour has three sets of Tour Challenges. The first one is unlocked from the tour's beginning, the second one unlocks after the one week, and the third one is exclusive to Gold Pass members.

Courses
In addition to the courses listed below, many alternate courses are also featured in the game; courses can have an "R" (Reverse) and/or "T" (Trick) variant. Courses marked with "R" are driven in backwards orientation; the track will have alterations if necessary to make this possible. Courses marked with "T" feature many additional ramps and trickable obstacles, and are otherwise the same.

Original

 * Another New York-inspired course, featuring the and a tunnel road similar to the one found on Maka Wuhu from Mario Kart 7.
 * Paris Promenade, a course inspired by Paris, featuring the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe as traversable landmarks.

Mario Kart DS (DS)

 * DK Pass

Tours
Each tour consists of a series of cups, with each cup containing three courses and a bonus challenge. The featured character of the cup has the preference for every track in it increased by one tier. The following tables list the courses that make an appearance in each tour; "N" indicates a normal course, "R" a reversed course, "T" a trick course, and "R/T" a reversed trick course.

Drivers
There are currently 40 playable characters (41 if including Gold Mario, who appears exclusively in the Coin Rush mode) in Mario Kart Tour. Upon launching the game for the first time, players start with either Toad, Toadette, or Peachette. Unlike other Mario Kart games, there are no weight classes between characters, but they are sorted by their rarity of unlocking them, via opening up randomized green pipes with rubies. There are three tiers of rarity: Normal, Super, and High-End. While the Normal characters are easier to unlock, rarer characters have a greater amount of starting points, have a higher top speed, higher coin-earning rates, likelihood of picking up mid-race weapons and items, and have more favored courses. Once players clear the tutorial, they are rewarded with a random Super-class character.

The following lists the playable characters and their special item.

Future drivers
The following characters have been confirmed to be playable, though their rarities are unknown, as they are currently not available.
 * Shy Guy wearing a chef outfit

Other
The following karts were revealed in the game's trailers:
 * Prancer
 * Bullet Blaster with Monster tires
 * A macaron-themed vehicle

The following karts were present in the game's beta, but are currently unavailable:
 * Zucchini
 * Egg 1
 * Blue Seven
 * Bruiser
 * Bolt Buggy

Item Box items
Items function mostly the same as in previous installments in the series. As in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, every character has their own special item that most other characters cannot get. A large change to the item system is introduced; depending on the character and course they're used on, players can get one to three items at once. In the case that a character gets three of the same item, they will activate the new Frenzy Mode, in which they become temporarily invincible and can use unlimited supplies of the respective item until the invincibility runs out. Any item can appear in Frenzy Mode, except for the Star, which is exclusive to certain bonus challenges.

The game introduces six new items to the series, being the Bubble, the Banana Barrels, the Mushroom Cannon, the Coin Box, the Dash Ring, and the Bob-omb Cannon, all of which are character-exclusive items.

Inventory items
These items are collected throughout the course of the game through various means, such as challenges, log-in bonuses, and Tour Gifts.

Bonus challenges
Bonus challenges are similar to the Missions mode from Mario Kart DS and the tournaments from Mario Kart Wii, and are found at the end of each cup.


 * Ready, Set, Rocket Start: "Pull off a Rocket Start!"
 * Ring Race: "Clear (number) rings."
 * Do Jump Boosts: "Do (number) Jump Boosts."
 * Big Reverse Race: "Aim for 1st!"
 * Goomba Takedown: "Hit (number) Goombas."
 * Glider Challenge: "Glide at least (distance)."
 * Steer Clear of Obstacles: "Don't crash!"
 * Vs. Mega (opponent): "Aim for 1st!"
 * Smash Small (opponent): "Smash (number) opponents."
 * Break Item Boxes: "Hit (number) Item Boxes."
 * Time Trial: "Go for your best time!"

Challenges
Challenges are objectives the player can complete to earn various badges and rewards depending on the type, of which there are three: Standard Challenges, long-term challenges the player accomplishes throughout the course of the game; and Tour and Gold Challenges, challenges that last for the duration of the tour, the latter of which are exclusive to Gold Pass members. Completing Standard Challenges awards the player with rubies, while Tour and Gold Challenges award extra Grand Stars. Each challenge card holds nine challenges aligned in a 3×3 grid, and for every bingo the player acquires (i.e. any horizontal, vertical, or diagonal match), they earn 50 coins (100 coins for Standard Challenges). The player also receives a reward upon completing an entire challenge card.

The following are the Standard Challenges in the game. For the tour-specific challenges, see List of tours in Mario Kart Tour.

Updates
The following is a list of updates the game has received since launch.

Version 1.0.2
Release date: October 3rd 2019  
 * The game may become unplayable if a nickname is not entered when linking a Nintendo Account.
 * Certain players may encounter error code 805-9314 after linking a Nintendo Account and become unable to play the game.
 * The game may become unplayable when players transition to the main screen after the game starts up.
 * Other minor issues.

Version 1.1.0
Release date: October 16, 2019  
 * You can now view a list of badges you have obtained.
 * You can now check the points required to get Grand Stars, the number of Grand Stars, and your current best score on the screen for courses and bonus challenges.
 * Addressed known issues.


 * Specific/unlisted changes
 * CPU drivers are now able to use item frenzies during a race.
 * The "FINISH!" label for cups that have been finished but not yet fully completed has been changed to "CLEARED!"
 * On the final race results screen after the base point increases, and when using point-boost tickets, the player can tap the screen to proceed through the animations faster.
 * Selecting a challenge on a challenge card highlights it with a yellow frame.

Version 1.1.1
Release date: October 23, 2019 Addressed known issues.

Reception
Initial impressions of the beta have been mixed. Journalists have praised the gameplay and graphics, but have criticized the free-to-play gacha elements of the game. Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica has compared the game's in-app purchases to Spiny Shells, blowing up the classic Mario Kart experience. He has suggested that "the developers pick a side: attach an annoying economy to a deeper control scheme and more legitimate online options, or make it cheaper and less obnoxious to watch Mario drive himself." Ethan Gach of Kotaku has also stated that the game is "a mostly faithful but stripped-down recreation of Mario Kart decked out with all the microtransactions and lottery mechanics mobile games are infamous for" and also lamenting the lack of a multiplayer mode. Steven Asarch of Newsweek has complained about the game's "freemium greed" and that it is "ruined by microtransactions".

As of October 11, 2019, Mario Kart Tour received mixed reviews, with a Metacritic Metascore of 59.

Pre-release and unused content
The beta version of the game saw multiple changes in the final game. The stamina element was removed, and the timers restricting access to certain cups can be sped up using quick tickets. Additionally, rubies were originally emeralds.

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong: Portions of this game can be seen in Times Square's screens in New York Minute.
 * Super Mario Kart: Mario Circuit 1, Ghost Valley 1, Mario Circuit 2, Choco Island 2, and Rainbow Road appear as returning courses. Also, one of Princess Peach's artworks from this game is reused for the "Dash Panel Plus" Special Skill icon.
 * Mario Kart 64: Koopa Troopa Beach and Kalimari Desert appear as returning courses. The results theme is an arrangement of the winning results theme from this game.
 * Mario Kart: Super Circuit: Bowser Castle 1 appears as a returning course.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Special Items return. Yoshi Circuit and Dino Dino Jungle appear as returning courses. The Turbo Yoshi, Koopa Dasher, Bullet Blaster, and DK Jumbo return as karts.
 * Mario Kart DS: Luigi's Mansion, Waluigi Pinball, and DK Pass appear as returning courses. The Mushmellow, Royale, and Poltergust 4000 return as karts. Challenges with unique objectives return as the fourth and final race in every cup.
 * Mario Party 8: Dry Bones's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: Bowser Jr.'s artwork is reused from this game.
 * Mario Party DS: Diddy Kong's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Mario Kart Wii: The Daytripper, Super Blooper, Cheep Charger, and Flame Flyer return as karts. The jingle that plays when earning a new kart or racer is recreated. Diddy Kong's voice clips are reused.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Peach's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Mario Kart 7: Toad Circuit, Daisy Hills, Cheep Cheep Lagoon, Shy Guy Bazaar, Mario Circuit, Rock Rock Mountain, and Neo Bowser City appear as returning courses. Rainbow Road retains its retro course design from this game. The Birthday Girl, Soda Jet, and Cloud 9 return as karts, and the Barrel Train retains its design from this game. The Swooper returns as a glider. The Lucky Seven appears as a Special Item. The rankings screen uses the theme used in Local Multiplayer from this game. Lakitu and Metal Mario's artworks are also reused from this game.
 * Mario Party: Island Tour: Luigi's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Mario Kart 8: Many characters' animations and voice clips are reused from this game. Yoshi Circuit retains its retro course design from this game. The Mach 8, Badwagon, Biddybuggy, Landship, Circuit Special, and Prancer return as karts, and the B Dasher retains its design from this game. The Parafoil, Peach Parasol, Flower Glider, Wario Wing, and Cloud Glider return as gliders, retaining their design from this game. The Boomerang Flower and Super Horn return as items.
 * Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: The third-level Mini-Turbo boost, Ultra Mini-Turbo, returns. The Koopa Clown retains its design from this game.
 * Mario Party 10: Yoshi, Bowser, Toad, Waluigi, and Toadette's artworks are reused from this game.
 * Super Mario Odyssey: Musician Mario is derived from Mario's Musician outfit from this game. The Yellow Taxi is based on the taxis from this game. Pauline's voice clips reference her singing from this game.
 * Mario Party: The Top 100: Rosalina and Wario's artworks are reused from this game.
 * Super Mario Party: Donkey Kong's artwork is reused from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe: Peachette appears as a playable character with her Emblem being a Super Crown.
 * Luigi's Mansion 3: King Boo's design from this game is used as an alternate form of King Boo.

Trivia

 * Mario Kart Tour, alongside Mario Kart DS, are the only games in the series where Lakitu does not appear as referee at the start of a race.