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 fourteenth 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, having elements in the form of items being launched out of pipes. The game reuses many assets from Mario Kart 7 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.

On March 2, 2020, Nintendo announced that multiplayer would officially be implemented into the game on March 8, 2020, 8:00 p.m. (PT). Prior to this, on October 31, 2019, Nintendo announced the first multiplayer beta test exclusive to Gold Pass members, which began on December 18, 2019, 11:00 p.m. (PT) and ended on December 26, 2019, 9:59 p.m. (PT). On January 21, 2020, Nintendo announced a second multiplayer beta test for all players, regardless of having a Gold Pass subscription or not, which began on January 22, 2020, 11:00 p.m. (PT) and ended on January 28, 2020, 9:59 p.m. (PT). The second multiplayer beta test allowed players to play with each other in their immediate vicinity based on their device's location data.

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 or landscape 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. The player can choose what action is started when tapping and sliding the fingers on the main area of the screen, with the other action being performed by tapping a small circular button at the bottom and then sliding the fingers if needed. The main setting has the driver jumping every time the screen is tapped, allowing the kart to drift by sliding the fingers. In the other configuration, the kart does not jump when tapping the screen, which results in it steering when sliding the fingers on the screen. After steering for a while, the kart starts auto-drifting and charging Mini-Turbos and Super Mini-Turbos, but not Ultra Mini-Turbos that are only charged when drifting. 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 within the same game. 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 whose base points are not maxed out 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. Only the points gained in the specific course will be lost, meaning that the first race on each course won't make the player lose experience points even if they arrive in 8th place; similarly, each course has an experience points cap. When arriving in the first three places, fewer experience points will be awarded until the cap is reached. At that point, only the experience points lost due to arriving in 5th place or lower will be regained when arriving in the first three places. The total amount of experience points gained in a course is never reset and is carried to the following tours, forcing the player to drive in new courses to still keep gaining experience points and leveling up. 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, plus one additional coin for every 1,000 points obtained during the race. Each day, it is possible to obtain up to 450 experience points for the drivers, karts and gliders and up to 300 coins by racing (900 experience points and 600 coins when the player is subscribed to the Gold Pass starting with version 2.4.0). 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. 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. Currently, the maximum level the player can reach is 150.

The game features Tour Challenges and Gold Challenges, which reward Grand Stars, and Standard Challenges, which reward rubies, the main premium currency of the game.

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. The course introduction fanfare also uses more instruments for players with an active gold pass.

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 a 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. Starting with the Baby Rosalina Tour, each tour has twelve cups, and adds new drivers, karts, gliders, and courses. During certain tours, mainly ones themed around real-world locations, the game includes 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.

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 for finishing in the top 10 and will increase in tier at the end of the week if the end position is near the top, while they will lose one or two tiers if finishing poorly enough above tier 20. Since the Cooking Tour, tier 25 and up reward points-cap tickets for the top few positions. These tickets, along with the corresponding point-boost tickets, rotate between driver, kart, and glider tickets on a weekly basis.

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.

Points

 * See also: Mario Kart Tour race points system

Points are collected during standard races and are used to gain Grand Stars and to rank the players, both overall and in ranked cups. There are three ways of obtaining points in races: base points, bonus points, and position points.

Base points
Base points are given at the beginning of the race and are the sum of the base points of the character, kart and glider selected. They range from 800 to 2800 points. The base points can be increased through experience points obtained at the end of the races or through point-boost tickets that provide 50 experience points each. The experience points are used to fill a gauge that when filled will increase the base points until the maximum amount has been reached. The amount of experience points needed to fill the gauge increases every time the gauge is filled. Since the Cooking Tour, points-cap tickets are added to the game, making it possible to to raise the maximum amount of base points of a driver, kart, or glider.

Bonus points
Bonus points are points awarded every time a special event happens during the race. Said event might be a Jump Boost, gliding for a certain amount of time, finishing the lap in a certain position, hitting opponents or hazards, and various other cases. If a further event happens before about two seconds have passed from the previous one, the combo indicator goes up and the points obtained are increased. The actual time that can pass between one event and the next can be increased by choosing a glider of a higher tier in the course, by choosing a glider of higher rarity or by leveling up the glider. The number of points given is calculated as follows:

Points = (base points of the event × multiplier due to kart tiering in the course × multiplier due to kart rarity and skill level) + combo bonus + bonus point boosts + eventual increase from kart's special skill + eventual increase from glider's special skill

The combo bonus is calculated as follows:

Combo bonus = multiplier from glider's tiering in the course × Min{combo count - 1 ; (cc of the engine class) / 10}

For the purpose of the calculation, 200cc is considered the same as 150cc.

The bonus point boost is calculated separately for the driver, kart and glider chosen, that are in the first tier of the course, as follows:

Bonus point boost = base points × (skill level - 1) × [(cc of the engine class) / 30000]

In this case as well, 200cc is considered the same as 150cc. If more than 200 events happen, the bonus point boost is not applied from the 201st event onward.

Position points
Position points are awarded to the player depending on their placement at the end of the race. They are calculated as follows:

Position points = [(position points due to the level of the player + engine class bonus) × position multiplier] + bonus point boosts for position

The bonus point boost for position is calculated separately for the driver, kart and glider chosen, that are in the first tier of the course, as follows:

Bonus point boost for position = base points × (skill level - 1) × number of events happened in the race × position multiplier × [(cc of the engine class) / 30000]

As in the other cases, 200cc is considered the same as 150cc.

The engine class bonus is the following:

The position multiplier depends on the placement at the end of the race and works as follows:

Additional internal data (RaceScoreParam)
The following internal data stems from the Peach Tour.

The engine class affect the obtained points in various other ways, as shown by the internal data:

The InterimRankBonus multiplied by the InterimRankBonusRate is the amount of points obtained at the end of the first lap or the first two sections of three-sectioned tracks. The InterimRankBonus has the following values:

Finally, the maximum time between events in a combo apparently depends on the combo counter, as shown by this combo-related data:

Grand Stars
Grand Stars are the main collectibles related to individual tours. Up to five of them can be earned by reaching certain points threshold in each standard race and up to three of them can be earned by clearing specific goals in each bonus challenge. Furthermore, clearing each day the daily challenge will warrant a Grand Star, and clearing Tour Challenges and Gold Challenges will reward the players with Grand Stars as well. Finally, using a star ticket will reward a Grand Star per ticket used.

They are used to unlock items in the cup bar of the course selection screen, namely cups and gifts. When the last gift will be obtained, coins will be rewarded in place of Grand Stars, and when a new tour starts, the Grand Stars obtained are reset to 0.

Rubies
Rubies are the main premium currency of Mario Kart Tour. Besides being bought with real-life currency at the Shop, rubies can be obtained as daily login bonuses, as a player level up bonus, as part of tour gifts, as a reward for the ranked cup, and as a reward for the Standard Challenges.

Rubies can be used in two different ways: to buy launch pipes and to play Coin Rush mode.

Coins
Coins are collected during a race and rewarded for the number of points obtained during said race, up to 300 per day. In a single race, the amount of coins earned is

Coins earned = coins obtained during the race + floor((total points earned in the race)/1000)

The coins obtained during the race are capped at 99, while no cap on the coins obtained through points is known yet.

Besides the main way of obtaining coins, coins can also be obtained in Coin Rush and in several rewards, such as obtaining three Standard Challenges, Tour Challenges or Gold Challenges in a row, column or diagonal, in gifts, as daily login bonuses, as player level up bonuses, while waiting for Multiplayer races, and as rewards for ranked cup placements and friend ranking.

In Coin Rush, the player can spend Rubies to obtain a great number of coins. Over 300 coins are found in the course. For each tour, another course is available in Coin Rush, Gold Mario is the regular driver, and the Gold Standard is the regular kart driven (although in the New York Tour, Gold Mario drove his respective Pipe Frame instead). The coins obtained from Coin Rush are multiplied by a certain number, depending on how many rubies a player has spent.

During the Cooking Tour, the Coins Aplenty Event was added to the game. This event gives the player 24 hours to obtain a large amount of coins from a certain cup, which varies between players. 300 coins are awarded at the end of the first race on each course in the cup during the duration of the event, for a total of 900 guaranteed extra coins from the event; these coins do not count toward the daily cap of 300 coins from races. In addition, the daily cap is ignored on each of these three races, providing 3 extra opportunities to score coins beyond the cap if it has already been reached.

Coins are mainly used in the Daily Selects section of the shop.

Banners
On the top of the menu, players can purchase special offers or subscribe to the Gold Pass.

Multiplayer


Multiplayer mode was added to Mario Kart Tour on March 8, 2020, where up to eight human players can play against each other. There are three modes available: a mode to play with friends or other players nearby; Standard Races, a mode where the player competes against random players from around the world; and Gold Races, a mode exclusive to Gold Pass members where the player competes against other members. Players race against each other in three courses in a chosen cup of the current tour; the cup changes every 15 minutes. In the "With Friends or Others Nearby" mode, the player can set the rules themselves, including the engine class (50cc, 100cc or 150cc), number of item slots (1, 2 or default (3)), number of teams (none, 2, 3 or 4), and inclusion of COM racers. The player can also create a Room for which they can invite players to join with a code.

In Standard Races, there are two sets of rules that interchange daily: 100cc with default item slots, and 100cc with two item slots. In Gold Races, there are four: 150cc with default item slots, 150cc with two item slots, 200cc with default item slots, and 200cc with one item slot. The Team Game rule can also appear in Standard Races and Gold Races. In both of these modes, there is also a grading system for players that changes depending on their performance. The grades range from F to A (S then S+1 to S+6 in Gold Races).

When the player is waiting for a multiplayer match to be found, they will earn coins. Every day, the player can earn up to 100 coins this way.

Challenges
Challenges are objectives the player can complete to earn various badges and rewards depending on the type, of which there are four: Standard Challenges, long-term challenges the player accomplishes throughout the course of the game, Multiplayer Challenges (added in Baby Rosalina Tour), which are challenges for multiplayer mode, and Tour and Gold Challenges, challenges that last for the duration of the tour, the latter of which are exclusive to Gold Pass members. Added in the Cooking Tour are Expert Challenges, which contain challenges that are harder to succeed than Tour, Gold, and Standard Challenges, and last for 12 weeks. Completing Standard and Multiplayer Challenges awards the player with rubies, while Tour and Gold Challenges award extra Grand Stars and Expert Challenges do not award the player at all. 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 a certain amount of coins. The player also receives a reward upon completing an entire challenge card.

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

Tour Gifts
Tour Gifts give the player items if enough Grand Stars are obtained.

Shop
The shop consists of three different sections.

Pipes
Pipes can shoot out a driver, kart or glider, all of which have their own rarities. A pipe contains a determined amount of Normal, Super and High-End items, all of which are chosen randomly within their class and rarity, plus a featured driver, kart and glider. The items are not ordered, so each item, including the featured ones, can be potentially found in any placement within the pipe. 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 increased by one unit. The player can reset the pipe at any moment. A new pipe is introduced each week and, since the Halloween Tour, the pipes last until the end of the tour. Usually, the pipe contains the following items, with the spotlight items frequently taking the spot of a Super or High-end item:

Until the New Year's Tour, the pipe typically contained the following items:

Another common variant is the pipe holding 50 items, used in special events and frequently not featuring any spotlight item, but rather a slightly different distribution of items to take into account the peculiar items that can obtained in it.

The probability of obtaining a certain type of item from the pipe is (number of items of that type remaining in the pipe)/(total number of items remaining in the pipe), the probability of obtaining a specific item is (probability of getting an item of the type of the desired item)/(number of available items of the same type of the desired item).

Daily Selects
The Daily Selects section is renewed each day. It consists of four rows, of which the first three each contain three items. The last row is Coin Rush. The first row is available to all players and contains only Normal items and point-boost tickets; the second row is available to players level 7 and above and contains Normal and Super items along with item tickets and quick tickets; and the third row is available to players of level 12 and above and contains only Super and High-End items. The first time an item's skill level is maxed out, level-boost ticket of the same or lower rarity of the maxed out item and of all types start appearing, mainly in the bottom right corner. As soon as an item of higher rarity is maxed out, the tickets of the corresponding rarity start appearing as well.

Since the Paris Tour, in addition to tickets, only a subset of non-tour-exclusive items can be found as Daily Selects in all the Tours, here referred to as Base set. The listed items are most Normal items from the Tokyo Tour and most items from the New York Tour. More items were added as of the Cooking Tour at an increased cost; they are marked with an asterisk (*) and referred to here as Additional.

Event Shop
As of the Wild West Tour, the Event Shop appears during events. The player can buy items in this shop with event tokens.

Ruby purchase
The player can purchase different amounts of rubies with real-life currency.

Badges
The player can collect badges by completing challenges, and by ending in the top 1,000 in the All-Cup ranking. Sometimes badges will also be given in the Gift Box. Out of all their collected badges, the player can choose one that will be visible for other players next to their username.

Friends
The player can become in-game friends with other players. The player can see the points of their friends on the different cups, and invite them to join a multiplayer room.

Since the Baby Rosalina Tour, a cumulative reward is given to the player if the combined total cup points of the week's ranked cup of the player and all of their friends reach certain amounts. In the Flower Tour only, the reward was rubies instead of coins. Since the second week of the Wild West Tour, the coin amounts have changed.

News
Every time that an announcement is being made, a new part of a tour starts, an update of the game is released, a new special offer or pipe is available or something else has been changed, the player receives a message with detailed information about what is new. Messages regarding known issues also appear here.

Gifts
Sometimes the player receives additional gifts, which can be rubies, coins or badges. Mainly, these gifts are given at celebration occasions such as celebration days, the start of a new tour or the launch of Multiplayer mode. Sometimes it happens that the player does not receive a reward due to a technical problem in the game. These rewards can appear as gifts at a later time. Gifts remain available for 14 days.

Skill level point and points cap raising requirements
The following table lists the amount of skill level points needed to bring an acquired driver, kart or glider to a certain skill level. Raising the skill level of a driver, kart or glider requires obtaining duplicates of them as Tour Gifts, from the Pipe or the Shop, or from using level-boost tickets that match the type and rarity.

The following table lists the amount of points-cap tickets needed to raise the maximum amount of base points of a driver, kart or glider to a higher cap.

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 backward 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. "R/T" (Reverse/Trick) variants feature the elements of both reverse and trick courses. “RMX” (remix) tracks are courses with new layouts, albeit set in the same setting as their namesake course, and generally feature additional ramps and obstacles.

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.

Drivers



 * For the tables to convert the Level shown here in the actual statistics used by the game, see Mario Kart Tour in-game statistics.

There are currently 92 playable characters (93 if including Gold Mario, who appears exclusively in the Coin Rush mode) in Mario Kart Tour, making it the Mario game with the most playable characters. Upon launching the game for the first time, players start with either Toad, Toadette, or Peachette. After the tutorial they are granted a free pipe pull which grants either Peach, Bowser, Metal Mario or Dry Bowser. Unlike other Mario Kart games, characters are sorted by their rarity of unlocking them, via opening up randomized green or gold 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 and have more favored courses. Once players clear the tutorial, they are rewarded with a random Super-class character.

So far, the only changes in the main statistics that were found affect acceleration and weight, and depend on the kart size.

Frenzy
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 immediately activate a Star, can charge all the Mini-Turbo stages much more quickly 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 probability of obtaining a Frenzy depends on the current position and lap and on the driver chosen. In particular, the current position and lap define a base probability that is then increased by a bonus depending on the rarity and skill level of the driver chosen.

The following is the base probability of a Frenzy in single player races used in the Peach Tour, since only two laps are coded, three-sectioned tracks presumably reuse one of those two rows for one of its sections.

Multiplayer races use different Frenzy probabilities.

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 skill that most other characters cannot get.

The game introduces nine new items to the series: the Double Bob-ombs, the Ice Flower, the Bubble, the Banana Barrels, the Mushroom Cannon, the Coin Box, the Dash Ring, the Bob-omb Cannon, and the Giga Bob-omb, all of which are character-exclusive items.

The probabilities used in single player mode outside of Frenzies are reported. It’s possible that the first item boxes of the races use different probabilities. The probability of common items can be increased by using gliders with the respective item skill. The actual probability is calculated as (item probability + glider bonus)/(sum of the probabilities of the eligible items); when no item can be obtained, a Coin is obtained instead. For the detailed probabilities of obtaining an item when an Item Box is opened, see Mario Kart Tour item probability distributions.

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

Hazards, obstacles, and other elements
The following table lists elements that slow racers down, crash them, offer them a Jump Boost and/or simply give them points when interacted with in a certain way.

Cameo appearances
The following are only seen as background or intangible elements.

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. In contrast to races, these challenges offer 3 Grand stars instead of 5 when completed with the highest score needed. The game will set the character for the challenge, even if the player has not obtained them yet, and give them the Pipe Frame and the Super Glider, though this rule does not apply for some challenges, all Big Reverse Races, and all Vs. Mega (opponent) challenges. The numbers in the table indicate the number of times that bonus challenge appears in a tour.

Apple Store demo
The special demo of Mario Kart Tour is made playable at Apple Store outlets and kiosks. Unlike the full consumer version, only three cups are available, the menu and Coin Rush mode are inaccessible, and points cannot be saved when the player quits the app. There are only 10 playable characters, 7 karts, and 6 gliders available in the demo.

Differences in power-saving mode
Like in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart 8, there are some minor and major differences on the menus and race courses when setting the game to "power-saving" mode, to maintain device performance (in older supported phone models) and decrease battery usage.


 * General differences
 * Opponents do not animate nor emit voices.
 * The minimap does not appear in races.
 * The player's model has low quality textures.
 * The sound effect of passing through Dash Rings is present only if they were activated by the player.
 * The screen has a lower resolution, resulting in slightly pixelated graphics.


 * Course-specific differences
 * In SNES Ghost Valley 1 and  DS Luigi's Mansion, the decorative Boos in the course's sky are absent.
 * In SNES Choco Island 1,  SNES Choco Island 2 and RMX Choco Island 1, the brightness of the mud is absent.
 * In DS DK Pass,  N64 Frappe Snowland, and  SNES Vanilla Lake 1, the falling snow is absent.
 * In 3DS Neo Bowser City, the rain is absent, resulting in the removal to the rain's ground and screen effects.
 * In 3DS Cheep Cheep Lagoon, the cheering Toads are absent, though they can still be heard.
 * In DS Airship Fortress, the cheering Shy Guys are absent.

Differences from previous Mario Kart games

 * This is the first Mario Kart game where every character must be unlocked.
 * The number of racers has reverted back to eight, like in all mainline games up to Mario Kart DS and in Mario Kart 7.
 * Aside from 3DS Rainbow Road, all races consist of two laps as opposed to the usual three.
 * Racers, karts, and gliders can be leveled up.
 * The music continues from where it leaves off after the final lap fanfare plays, instead of restarting like in past games.
 * In addition, on the final lap, the music's pitch is increased by four semitones, as opposed to one.
 * The only exception to both of these is 3DS Rainbow Road, which reuses its final lap music from Mario Kart 7 and always begins at the start of the song.
 * The Lakitu referee does not appear at all throughout the race.
 * Stars are not obtainable from regular item boxes in single player mode, with item frenzies having similar effects instead. However in multiplayer mode, stars appear from item boxes in rulesets with less than three item slots, as frenzies are not obtainable.
 * For the first time since Super Mario Kart, Triple Red Shells are absent.
 * This is the first Mario Kart game since Mario Kart: Super Circuit to have numbered nitro courses (e.g. RMX Mario Circuit 1 or Tokyo Blur 2).
 * For the first time since Mario Kart: Super Circuit, the Golden Mushroom is absent, as it is functionally replaced by the Mushroom frenzy.
 * Multiple items can be received from a single item box.
 * So far, there are no retro tracks from Mario Kart Wii or Mario Kart 8 in this game, making it the first Mario Kart title since Mario Kart: Super Circuit to not feature retro tracks from every previous Mario Kart entry (excluding games lacking retro tracks overall).
 * This is the first Mario Kart game to lack losing themes and character losing animations. If the player finishes 5th or lower, the 2nd to 4th place theme will play and no animation will be performed.

Critical reception
Initial impressions of the beta were mixed. Journalists praised the gameplay and graphics, but criticized the free-to-play gacha elements of the game. Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica compared the game's in-app purchases to Spiny Shells, blowing up the classic Mario Kart experience. He 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 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 complained about the game's "freemium greed" and that it is "ruined by microtransactions".

The game's reception on release was mixed to negative. Andrew Webster of The Verge praised how intuitive using items is, while criticizing the controls, calling them imprecise, and the game's monetization, stating that "The problem is so much of the game feels designed around monetization, as opposed to just being a fun game." Chris Scullion of Nintendo Life gave a positive review, praising the lack of an energy system, the points system, and the large amount of cups, while criticizing the time required to get used to the controls, the gyro controls, and listing the game's monetization as a con, stating that opinions on the game's monetization will vary for each person, while arguing that "It’s rubbish to an extent, absolutely, but despite the outrage you may be seeing in some circles, it’s no different to any other game with a loot box system; it’s always nearly impossible to guarantee you’ll get the exact thing you want" when talking about the game's gacha mechanics, and that "More than the gacha system, the Gold Pass is gaining a lot more controversy than it really should be, with some misunderstanding what it does and assuming this subscription service is necessary in some way. To be clear, it really isn’t, and absolutely won’t be of interest to 99% of the player base." when talking about the game's Gold Pass subscription. Michael McWhertor of Polygon gave a negative review, stating that the game "lacks the joy of its fully-featured counterparts", criticizing that the steering feels inconsequential, stating that "the game can feel as if it’s playing itself", the lack of difficulty when playing against computers, the lack of motivation to continue playing, and the game's microtransactions. CJ Andriessen of Destructoid gave a negative review, criticizing the game's microtransactions and how the game rarely gives the player Rubies, stating "Tour's fatal flaw is it's continually pushing players into ham-fisted situations where they have to spend money rather than creating a game so exceptional they'll want to spend money.", the limitations on unlocking, collecting, or upgrading certain things, the game's controls, stating "There are three control options, none of which are completely sufficient.", while praising the variations to courses, though noting that "there is still a bit of disappointment when you wait a day to unlock a new cup only to find it's Daisy Hills again.", the New York Minute track and that Nintendo at the time of the article's publication planned to add more new tracks to the game, though noting that "One of the great joys of any Mario Kart title is seeing what types of new courses the developers have designed and that joy just isn't present in Tour." Kyle Hilliard of IGN, in a mixed review, praised the series' transition from consoles to mobile phones, stating that "during those moments where I was speeding down the track expertly launching turtle shells at my opponents I felt like I was playing a real Mario Kart game" though stating that Mario Kart Tour is an "undeniable downgrade from Mario Kart 8", praised how items are used, the game's bonus challenges, and the brevity of the races, cups, and bonus challenges, while criticizing the game launching without multiplayer, the game's microtransactions and their cost, having to wait for later cups to unlock, and the quantity of Grand Stars unlocked being affected by the kart or character the player unlocked. Jon Cartwright of GameXplain, in a negative review, stated that "Mario Kart is better than this", stating "Because it's so similar to the core games, it becomes comparable to them, amplifying its faults even further.", criticizing the controls, calling them "extremely unintuitive", and "a huge, restrained, letdown" after stating that the controls felt "extremely simplistic", the game's monetization, stating that "This may be a free game compared to a full sixty dollar release, but money has never felt so intrusive in Mario Kart, and the track New York Minute, stating that "this track is not good enough for Mario Kart.", while praising the game's bonus challenges, the game's Reverse tracks, calling them "really cool ideas", while also praising the game's roster and its graphics.

As of May 5, 2020, Mario Kart Tour received a mixed Metacritic Metascore of 58, and a negative User Score of 4.0. Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, as of May 5, 2020, Mario Kart Tour received an average of 4.0 stars on Google Play, and an average of 4.8 stars on the App Store.

Awards and acknowledgements
Mario Kart Tour was nominated for the "User's Choice Game of 2019" from Google Play, losing to . The game won the "Racing Game of the Year" award at the 23rd annual D.I.C.E Awards.

App Store description

 * Race around the world!

■Challenge players worldwide in multiplayer! You can race against up to seven other players, whether they're registered as in-game friends, nearby, or scattered around the world. Multiplayer races can be customized with a variety of rules, such as individual or team races, kart speed, and number of item slots. You can play however you want!

■ Mario Kart takes a world tour! Mario and friends go global in this new Mario Kart as they race around courses inspired by real-world cities in addition to classic Mario Kart courses! These destinations will be featured in tours that rotate every two weeks! In addition to courses based on iconic locales, some of your favorite Mario Kart characters will get variations that incorporate the local flavor of cities featured in the game!

■ Endless Mario Kart fun at your fingertips! The Mario Kart series known and loved by many is ready to take the world by storm – one smart device at a time! With just one finger, you can steer and drift with ease and sling devastating items as you go for the gold in cups filled with new and classic Mario Kart courses.

■ Nab 1st place with items and Frenzy mode! In Mario Kart Tour you have access to an arsenal of powerful items that can mix things up on the racetrack! Turn up the heat by activating the new Frenzy mode, which gives an unlimited supply of a certain item and makes you invincible! Make the most of the ensuing chaos, as Frenzy mode only lasts a short time!

■ Collect drivers, karts, badges, and more! Earn Grand Stars by racing or fire off the featured pipe to receive more drivers, karts, and gliders! You can also proudly display badges, earned by completing certain challenges, next to your in-game name!

■ Bonus challenge courses put a twist on traditional races! In certain races, 1st place isn't always the goal. With names like "Vs. Mega Bowser" and "Goomba Takedown," these bonus challenge courses demand a different approach to gameplay and strategy!

■ Race to increase your online rank! Boost with the best of 'em! Your high scores will determine how you compare to other players all over the world. Keep practicing and trying out different combinations of drivers, karts, and gliders to increase your score and rise to the top!

Note: A Nintendo Account is required to play Mario Kart Tour. 
 * Free-to-start; optional in-game purchases available. Persistent Internet, compatible smartphone, and Nintendo Account required. Data charges may apply.
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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 and New York Minute 2. The clothing colors of Mario (Classic) reference Mario's original design from this game.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The 8-Bit Jumping Mario glider uses Mario's jumping sprite from this game. The game's Japanese logo appears on the Super 1 kart.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels: The clothing colors of Luigi (Classic) reference Luigi's artwork from this game.
 * Super Mario Kart: Mario Circuit 1, Donut Plains 1, Ghost Valley 1, Mario Circuit 2, Choco Island 1, Mario Circuit 3, Choco Island 2, Vanilla Lake 1, Koopa Beach 2, and Rainbow Road appear as returning courses. The tires resembling the tires from this game returns as the Pipe Frame's assigned tires, as well as other certain karts with these tires. Also, one of Princess Peach's artworks from this game is reused for the "Dash Panel Plus" Special Skill icon.
 * Donkey Kong Country: A special video promoting the Rambi Rider as a commemorative kart for the Jungle Tour was released, using clips from the opening and gameplay.
 * Mario Kart 64: Koopa Troopa Beach, Kalimari Desert, Frappe Snowland, Choco Mountain, and Royal Raceway appear as returning courses. The results theme is an arrangement of the winning results theme from this game.
 * Mario Party 2: Wario's Wild West Tour outfit resembles his Western Land outfit from this game.
 * Mario Kart: Super Circuit: Bowser Castle 1 and Bowser Castle 2 appear as returning courses.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Special Items such as the Giant Banana and the Heart return. Yoshi Circuit and Dino Dino Jungle appear as returning courses. The Turbo Yoshi, Turbo Birdo, Koopa Dasher, Para-Wing, DK Jumbo, Barrel Train, Koopa King, and Bullet Blaster return as karts. Birdo's voice clips are reused from this game.
 * Mario Party 6: Both Mario (Classic) and Luigi (Classic)'s artworks are based on Mario and Luigi's profile artworks from this game.
 * Mario Kart DS: Luigi's Mansion, Waluigi Pinball, DK Pass, and Airship Fortress appear as returning courses. The B Dasher, Poltergust 4000, Streamliner, Royale, Egg 1, Mushmellow, and Rambi Rider return as karts. Challenges with unique objectives return as the fourth and final race in every cup.
 * Super Mario Strikers: Some of Hammer Bro's voice clips are reused from this game.
 * Mario Party 8: Dry Bones' artwork is reused from this game. Hammer Bro's artwork, as well as some of his voice clips, are reused from this game.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: Ice Mario appears as a playable variant. Bowser Jr.'s artwork is reused from this game.
 * Mario Party DS: Diddy Kong's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Mario Super Sluggers: Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, Baby Luigi, Shy Guy, King Boo, and Monty Mole's artworks are reused from this game. Black Shy Guy and Pink Shy Guy's artworks are based on Shy Guy's artwork from this game.
 * Mario Kart Wii: The Cheep Charger, Wild Wing, Super Blooper, Daytripper, Offroader, and Flame Flyer return as karts. The jingle that plays when obtaining a level-boost ticket for a High-End kart, racer, or glider is recreated. Diddy Kong and Funky Kong's voice clips are reused.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Peach's artwork is reused from this game. Penguin Luigi appears as a playable character. Iggy's artwork is based off his artwork from this game, albeit without the magic coming from his wand.
 * Mario Kart 7: Toad Circuit, Daisy Hills, Cheep Cheep Lagoon, Shy Guy Bazaar, Mario Circuit, Rock Rock Mountain, Neo Bowser City and Rainbow Road appear as returning courses. SNES Rainbow Road retains its retro course design from this game. Daisy's artwork is an updated version of her artwork from this game. The Birthday Girl, Soda Jet, Cloud 9, Bumble V, Zucchini, Bruiser, Blue Seven, Bolt Buggy, and Cact-X return as karts, and the Barrel Train retains its design from this game. The Swooper returns as a glider. Various tire parts return retaining their design, which are only assigned to certain karts. The Lucky Seven reappears as a Special Item. The rankings screen and multiplayer menu use the themes from this game's Local Multiplayer and Online Multiplayer menus respectively. Metal Mario's voice clips are reused. Lakitu and Metal Mario's artworks are also reused from this game. Honey Queen's emblem is reused from this game as part of the Racer's Soda Lemonade badge.
 * Mario Party 9: Birdo's artwork is reused from this game. Birdo (Light Blue)'s and Birdo (Yellow)'s artworks are based on Birdo's artwork from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U: Nabbit's artwork and emblem are reused from these games.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe: Peachette appears as a playable character with her emblem being a Super Crown; as a result, her artwork is reused from this game.
 * Super Mario 3D World: The artwork for the Double Cherry is reused from this game for the Tropical Grocery badge.
 * 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. Metal Mario's voice clips are reused exclusively for Gold Mario. Yoshi Circuit and Royal Raceway retain their retro course designs from this game. The flying train seen in N64 Rainbow Road returns in the Ring Race challenge set in 3DS Rainbow Road. The Mach 8, Badwagon, Biddybuggy, Landship, Circuit Special, and P-Wing return as karts, and the Pipe Frame and B Dasher retain their designs from this game. The Parafoil, Peach Parasol, Flower Glider, Wario Wing, and Cloud Glider return as gliders, retaining their design from this game. Various tire parts return retaining their design. The Boomerang Flower and Super Horn return as items. The courses from this game are referenced in advertisements and badges, including Toad Harbor, Sunshine Airport, and Mount Wario. The designs of the icons for the Mushroom Cup, the Flower Cup, the Star Cup, the Shell Cup, and the Lightning Cup are reused from this game as badges. The theme for Mario Kart TV's review after winning a cup in Grand Prix mode is reused from this game for the tour-ending movie.
 * Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: The third-level Mini-Turbo boost, Ultra Mini-Turbo, returns. The Koopa Clown retains its design from this game. King Boo’s head icon is recycled from this game.
 * Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker: Captain Toad and Toadette (Explorer) reuse their artwork from this game. The Clanky Kart and its variants are based on the mine cart from this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: Dixie Kong and Funky Kong's artworks are reused from this game. Dixie Kong's emblem is derived from the Dixie Kong Barrel's design in this game.
 * Mario Party 10: Yoshi, Bowser, Toad, Waluigi, and Toadette's artworks are reused from this game. Red Yoshi's and Black Yoshi's artwork are based on Yoshi's artwork from this game.
 * Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker 2: Builder Mario and Builder Toad appear as playable variants. Their respective artworks are reused from these games.
 * Mario Party: Star Rush: King Bob-omb's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Super Mario Run: Event tokens resemble Bonus Medals from this game, emitting the same sound effect when collected.
 * Super Mario Odyssey: Mario (Musician), Mario (Santa), Mario (Happi), Mario (Chef), and Mario (Swimwear) use Mario's Musician outfit, Santa outfit, Happi outfit, Chef outfit, and Swimwear respectively from this game. The Yellow Taxi is based on the taxis from this game. Pauline's voice clips reference her singing from this game. Peach (Vacation) and Peach (Wintertime) use her post-game "tourist" outfits from this game, whereas Peach (Wedding) uses her wedding dress. The red and gold Roving Racers appear as playable characters as Red Koopa (Freerunning) and Gold Koopa (Freerunning) respectively. The artwork of Earth, which is used for promotional material and the title screen, resembles the Earth from this game; The Metro, Snow, Seaside, and Luncheon Kingdoms are visible in the artwork, as well as inaccurate representations of Cap and Cascade Kingdoms.
 * 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.
 * Mario Tennis Aces: Pauline's kart emblem is reused from this game.
 * Luigi's Mansion 3: King Boo (Luigi's Mansion) uses King Boo's design from this game.