Mario Kart Arcade GP 2

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 is the sequel to Mario Kart Arcade GP. It is the second game in the Arcade series and the seventh overall. The game has custom karts for characters, similar to Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart DS. In addition to this, several new items not seen in its predecessor appear in it. Like the predecessor, Pac-Man characters appear as playable in this game. The game also introduces Mametchi as a playable character. Ingame, it appears to be broadcasted live and has color-commentary of the player by a narrator, whose language depends on the region of the game.

How To Play
To play the game, the player has to insert $2 per turn (in coins of $ 1). First, the player can adjust their seat within the time limit by moving a lever near their feet and sliding to any position on the arcade machine. After that happens, the player can choose a character to play with. Then the player has to take a picture of him or her within the time limit; if the player doesn't take the picture, a countdown starts to force the player to take it. On some instances, the camera cannot used and so the picture of the current character is used as a placeholder.

When the race starts, the players' object is to finish in 1st place. If they get a lower place, they must retry to unlock the course by giving the game certain money or some tokens. If players get 1st place, they move on if they pay the game another token or dollar(s). If not, they get a game over.

Controls

 * Accelerate - Accelerator pedal
 * Brake - Brake pedal
 * Item - ITEM button on center of steering wheel.
 * VS Cancel - VS CANCEL button right of the steering wheel
 * Mario Card holder - Mario Card slot on the bottom right of the screen
 * Money holder - Money slot under Mario Card slot

Rocket Start
The player can get a rocket start when the accelerator is pressed right when the "1" is displayed. If successful, the kart gets a small speed boost. The method of perfoming the rocket start closely resembles the one from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Drifting
Drifting in this game is different from other games in the Mario Kart series. Drifting occurs when the player makes a very sharp turn. Red sparks fly out and it allows for the player to make sharper cuts in the course. Unlike other Mario Kart games, there are no mini-turbos.

Mario Card
A Mario Card is the data card (or save file) that appears was copied from Mario Kart Arcade GP and appears in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2. It appears in all sorts of different colors and designs.

Features

 * The player's chosen nickname
 * The player's amount of coins
 * The player's rank
 * The player's item (e.g. 70 SP Item Get!, 64)
 * The player's amount of VS wins (if any)
 * The card's password for the Internet Rankings
 * The player's completed GP cups and class

Grand Prix
In Grand Prix, the player races against computer drivers for winning the trophies in every race. There are three engine levels available: 50cc, 100cc and 150cc, and as with previous Mario Kart installments, is linear with the difficulty. 50cc being the slowest (Easy), 100cc being the standard (Normal) and 150cc being the fastest (Hard). There are 4 difficulty levels, and each one has two stages. Each cup has 2 tracks, separated into 4 rounds. The first 2 rounds are the tracks in normal conditions, and the last 2 rounds the same tracks in different conditions (time of day, weather, etc.). After having completed each round, the player receives a challenge, similar to the Mission Mode that appears in Mario Kart DS.

Time Trial
In Time Trial mode, the user tries to get the fastest time on the tracks.

VS
After the players insert coins, the machine starts a search for VS races. If players are found, the player selects the track and speed. The players play against each other and four computers.

Mario Coins and Coins
Mario Coins, are coins that the player can pick up in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2. If the player gains an amount of Mario Coins and regular Coins, the player can unlock prizes to save on the player's Mario Card (e.g. new karts, special items).

Item Boxes
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 doesn't feature the normal cube item boxes seen in previous games; it comes with multi-coloured, hexagonal item boxes. They have a white question mark while fake item boxes have a white, upside-down question mark. When taken, they instantly regenerate, unlike other Mario Kart games, in which they take a while.

Basic Items
Unlike in the typical Mario Kart games, items are grouped into these categories: locking-on, passing the item, dropping backward, and shooting forward. Locking-on item involves a moving cursor that stops if it goes over an opponent. If the cursor is locked-in for enough time, the cursor flashes red and the thrown item locks into the player, similar to a Red Shell. Passing items require the item to be thrown, much as a locking-on item. Afflicted players need to collide with other players to evade the hindering effects. Items that drop backward and items that shoot forward act similarly to items in the traditional Mario Kart games.

Unlike in most Mario Kart games, these items can be thrown in only one direction. Also unlike most Mario Kart games, only certain items appear during a race. Three of them are shown before the race starts. Most of these items have a temporary after-effect that can hinder the affected driver.
 * Basin
 * Banana Peel
 * Big & Small Tire
 * Boo
 * Black Shell
 * Driver Wheel
 * Green Shell
 * Invisible Mushroom
 * Metal Mushroom
 * Mouse Catcher
 * Needle Bomb
 * Pie
 * Saggy Gummy
 * Square Tire
 * Star
 * Sticky Oil
 * Tacks
 * Thunder Stick
 * Time Bomb
 * Tornado

Playable Characters
All characters from Mario Kart Arcade GP return along with two new characters, Waluigi and a Tamagotchi named Mametchi. They all have two karts available: a standard go-kart and a personal kart.

Cameo Appearances
Although these characters are not playable in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, they all make small cameos somewhere in the game.


 * Baby Luigi
 * Baby Mario
 * Birdo
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Daisy
 * Diddy Kong
 * E. Gadd
 * Jr. Pac-Man
 * Koopa Troopa
 * King Boo
 * Noki
 * Paratroopa
 * Pianta
 * Rosalina
 * Shy Guy
 * Toadette
 * Toadsworth

Faces
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 features 'faces'. These are the borders around the players face when the player gets their photo taken. Players can also get special, character specific faces if they choose to play as that character. If no picture is taken, then the default face shows the character's mugshot.

Internet Rankings
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, along with Mario Kart Arcade GP, has a Internet Ranking. It is run by Bandai Namco Games Japan, and a Mario Card is required.


 * Rankings (English)
 * More information

Courses
These are the courses the player can race on in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2.

Mario Stage

 * Mario Highway
 * Mario Beach

Pac-Man Stage

 * Pac-Mountain
 * Pac-Labyrinth

Yoshi Stage

 * Yoshi Park 1
 * Yoshi Park 2

DK Stage

 * Donkey Kong Jungle
 * Banana Ruins

Wario Stage

 * Diamond City
 * Snow Panic

Waluigi Stage

 * Stadium Arena
 * Waluigi Stadium

Bowser Stage

 * Bowser's Castle
 * Castle Wall

Rainbow Stage

 * Rainbow Coaster
 * Rainbow Downhill

References in Other Games

 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: Yoshi Park 1's theme is heavily based off this game.
 * Luigi's Mansion: Yoshi Park 2 features a Luigi's Mansion-based attraction, complete with the generic ghosts from the said game and King Boo.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Some sound and voice effects have been borrowed from this game, such as the start signal sound effect.
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP: All aspects return.

Trivia

 * Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 are the only Mario Kart games that don't have battle mode.
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 is the only Mario game featuring Mametchi, a Tamagotchi.