Mario Kart Tour

Mario Kart Tour is a mobile game in the Mario Kart series. 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, underwater driving, and character-specific special items. In addition, the game introduces some features new to the Mario Kart franchise such as reversed courses and trick courses and the ability to deploy a large amount of any item during a race, including Spiny Shells and Bullet Bills.

The game was first announced during a financial briefing on January 31, 2018. 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 for violating gambling laws. Users who pre-registered acquired the game a day early. Unlike the previous Mario mobile games, a Nintendo Account is required for it to be playable.

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 whether they have 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. Finally, on March 2, 2020, Nintendo announced that multiplayer would officially be implemented into the game on March 8, 2020, at 8:00 p.m. (PT).

Gameplay
The goal of the game is to be in first place at the end of each race and get a high score, 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. If smart-steering is turned off, the player will be able to access most shortcuts without using Mushrooms, albeit slower.

The game's mechanics are based on Mario Kart 7 and many of the Retro Courses are also available as either new 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 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. The more experience points have already been gained on a specific course, the fewer experience points will be awarded by arriving in the first three places 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. 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, Gold Races (and multiplayer ranks S to S+6), additional items from Tour Gifts, and Gold Challenges. Players can gain rewards by renewing their Gold Pass subscription, such as ten rubies every month and a regular high end from a gold pipe for every three months of continuous subscription.

Every driver, kart, and glider has favorite 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 drifting, while gliders increase the likelihood of obtaining a certain item and the points gained when using said item. All drivers, karts, and gliders can be leveled up, and they all come with upgrades once this occurs. Since the 2.6.0 update, drivers, karts, and gliders are able to upgrade a favored course to a favorite course from being leveled up, with Normal items gaining one after reaching level 6, Super items gaining two after reaching levels 3 and 6, and High-End items gaining four after reaching levels 3 and 6.

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 are all played and enough Grand Stars are obtained, the player can move on to the next cup.

Ranked 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 their 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 rewards 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. In some tours, drivers replaced coins in the rewards for moving to a higher tier.

Points
Points are collected during standard races and are used to gain Grand Stars and to rank 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 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, or 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 that occurred 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 affects 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 depends on the base points given by the last action of the combo, with no effect of the combo count, as shown by this combo-related data: The combo time is calculated as follows:

Combo time = Max{Remaining combo time; Combo time of the last action}

where the combo time of the last action is calculated as follows:

Combo time of the last action = Time × multiplier from glider's tiering in the course × multiplier due to glider rarity and skill level

where the multiplier from the tiering is around 1.45 if the course is one of the favorites of the glider and around 1.225 if the course is favored by the glider, being equal to 1 otherwise, and Time is based on the value reported in the table using intermediate values for intermediate scores (i.e. 1.95 seconds for 15 points and 2.25 seconds for 25 points) and either 1.4 seconds or 2.4 seconds for scores smaller than 5 points and greater than 30 points, respectively.

Auto Mode
Introduced in version 2.6.0, Auto mode is a new option in single-player races that allows the player to spectate in a race fully controlled by the AI. The driver, kart and glider chosen by the player will participate in said race and will be the default AI player followed. The player is able to choose the racer followed by the camera and has control on the relative positioning and zoom of the camera. A button at the bottom allows to take screenshots at the rendering resolution of the game rather than the display resolution of the device. Starting with version 2.8.0, seven additional filters can be applied to the camera. When the race ends, the Coins and event tokens (but not team tokens) collected by the chosen driver are given to the player, along with the obtained experience points of the driver, kart and glider. The experience points of the player will instead remain unaffected, regardless of the outcome of the race.

Grand Stars
Grand Stars are the main collectibles related to individual tours. Up to five of them can be earned by reaching certain point thresholds in each standard race and up to three of them can be earned by clearing specific goals in each bonus challenge. Furthermore, clearing the daily challenge each day 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 is obtained, coins are 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. They can be purchased with real-life currency at the Shop, but can also be obtained as daily login bonuses, as a player level up bonus, as part of tour gifts, as a reward for the ranked cup, or 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 (600 if the player has the Gold Pass). 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 as of now.

Besides the main way of obtaining coins, they 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 line, 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. 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 number 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 towards the daily cap of 300 coins from races. In addition, the daily cap is ignored on each of these three races, providing three extra opportunities to score coins beyond the cap if it has already been reached. These events are held every Saturday and Tuesdays. Starting from the Autumn Tour, the number of coins is raised to 500 and held every Saturday, though in the Toad vs. Toadette Tour, the coin amount returned to 300 and the schedule reverted to every Saturday and Tuesday.

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

Banners
On the top of the menu, players can spend rubies to fire one of the tour's pipes, 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 13 minutes. This also allows the player to race in cups that have not yet been unlocked. 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), number of teams (none, 2, 3 or 4), number of races (3, 6, or 12), enabling teams, enabling Friendly-Fire Mode for teams, and inclusion of COM racers. Some tours have a 2-Player Challenge event taking place, where the player could team up with another player to race against a team of set opponents (such as Rosalina and the five babies in Vs. Rosalina Team) and collect event tokens in a set of three courses. The player can also create a Room and invite players to join it with a code.

In Standard Races, there are four sets of rules that interchange daily: 100cc with default item slots, 100cc with two item slots, 150cc with default item slots, and 150cc with two item slots (150cc rule appear in Standard Races since Autumn Tour). 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. Up to 100 coins can be earned per day with this method.

Once every few tours the Kart Pro event will take place, in which the player can earn rewards like badges and rubies by completing challenges on a Kart Pro challenge card, including maintaining a streak of three multiplayer wins. The amount of rubies the player will get as rewards for completing this challenge card depends on their grade. Grades F to A will receive 5 to 10 rubies, and grades S to S+6 will receive 15 to 21 rubies. As of version 2.9.0, players can maintain their streak if they win 2nd or 3rd place.

Challenges
Challenges are objectives the player can complete to earn various badges and rewards depending on the type, of which there are six: Standard Challenges, long-term challenges the player accomplishes throughout the course of the game; Multiplayer Challenges (added in the Baby Rosalina Tour), which are long-term challenges for multiplayer mode; Tour, Tour Multiplayer (added in the Summer Tour as part of the Summertime Challenges, later permanent in the Frost Tour), and Gold Challenges, challenges that last for the duration of the tour, the lattermost of which are exclusive to Gold Pass members; and Expert Challenges (added in the Cooking Tour), which contain challenges that are harder to succeed than Tour, Gold, and Standard Challenges, and last for 12 weeks. The first set of Tour Challenges unlocks from the tour's beginning, while the second set unlocks after the first week. Some special event challenges are one-offs, such as the their Anniversary Challenges in the 1st Anniversary Tour, while other challenges last for three tours, such as the Summertime Challenges. Completing Standard and Multiplayer Challenges award the player with rubies, while Tour and Gold Challenges award extra Grand Stars and Expert Challenges reward the player only with badges. Completing special event challenges award the player with high amount of rubies or a High-End driver. 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.

Daily challenges
Each daily challenge rewarded a Grand Star. The player could have up to three daily challenges available at a time, and upon completing one, a new one would not appear until the following day. Upon entering a new tour, players would receive three daily challenges right away, resulting in a maximum of 16 daily challenges per two-week tour. The daily challenges were selected at random from the following options: From the Snow Tour onwards, daily challenges are no longer featured.
 * Do a Rocket Start.
 * Get 1st place in a race.
 * Perform a Slipstream.
 * Activate Frenzy mode.
 * Use a Mushroom.
 * Land a hit with a Banana.
 * Land a hit with a Red Shell.
 * Land a hit with a Green Shell.
 * Land a hit with a Bob-omb.
 * Land a hit with a Super Horn.
 * Join a multiplayer race.

Premium Challenges
As of the Snow Tour, players can purchase a card for $4.99 USD with additional challenges every tour, with the reward for completing all challenges being a High-End driver, kart or glider. Progress on the challenges is shown whether the player has purchased or not, and all completed challenges can be claimed immediately on purchase. Uncompleted challenge cards can be carried over to the next tour, with up to fifteen able to be held at once.

Total Points Challenge
As of the Snow Tour, the player's total points across all cups can be redeemed for rewards, up to 600,000 points. Among the top rewards are points-cap tickets of increasing levels. Starting from the Singapore Tour, the Total Points Challenge features two challenge cards and goes up to 900,000 points, with more rewards.

Tour Gifts
Tour Gifts give the player items if enough Grand Stars are obtained, with the top rewards often being level-boost tickets of increasing levels. Part of the rewards can only be claimed by Gold Pass subscribers.

Introduced in version 2.10.0, players who started the game for the first time can unlock these characters in the current tour.

Shop
The shop consists of five 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 2019 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 Special 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 be 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) while 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).

As of the Wild West Tour, the player can shoot out one random regular High-End item from an All-Clear Pipe once in a tour, as soon as they have finished every cup from the tour. The list below shows all of the available items from the All-Clear Pipe as of the Singapore Tour.

As of the Wedding Tour, regular login bonuses are replaced with Today's Challenge in which the player must complete a race on a pre-selected course with a pre-selected driver, kart, and glider. After completing this daily race, the player can shoot out a free pipe pull (except on days 5, 10, and 14) which can contain regular items, as well as rubies, coins, and item tickets. The player receives 5 rubies on days 5 and 10, and a special blue-colored badge on day 14 to reward players for playing on every day of the given tour.

Token Shop
As of the Wild West Tour, the Token Shop (formerly known as the Event Shop) appears during events or Team Rallies. The player can buy items in this shop with event tokens.

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 items in the left column are drivers or driver-related tickets, the items in the center column are karts or kart-related tickets, the items in the right column are gliders or glider-related tickets. 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, it is replaced with other items of the same rarity, type and shop rarity until all the items of the corresponding rarity, type and shop rarity have their skill level maxed out, at which point a level-boost ticket is sold in place of these items. If the maxed out category has Normal rarity, only Normal level-boost tickets will be sold, once a Super item sold in the Daily Selects is maxed out, the level-boost tickets will either be Normal or Super, as soon as a High-End item sold in the Daily Selects is maxed out, tickets of all the rarities will be sold. Since the 2019 Paris Tour, in addition to tickets, only a subset of non-tour-exclusive items can be found as Daily Selects in all of 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. The Quick Ticket was removed and more items were added in the Cooking Tour at an increased cost and shop rarity, appearing less frequently in the Daily Selects and being unable to replace the items of the same rarity and type when the skill levels of those were all maxed out. They are marked with an asterisk (*) and referred to here as "Additional". Since the Berlin Tour, "Additional" prices were reduced to the "Base set" price, but their shop rarity appears unchanged, with them still not being able to replace items of the same rarity and price when the skill levels of the latter are maxed out.

Tier Shop
Since the 2020 Halloween Tour, players can buy items in the Tier Shop. The items available in it are replaced every week, and the higher the player's tier, the more items are available for purchase. The top row features drivers, karts, and gliders that are favorites of at least one course in that week's ranked cup, and often includes at least one High-End part. The items unlock based on the player's all-time highest tier and remain unlocked even if their tier drops. Some items can be bought multiple times, though the price increases after the first or second purchase. After unlocking super level-boost tickets, there is a chance that High-End level-boost tickets of the same type will appear in place of them.

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

Profile
Players can visit profile pages of themselves and their friends. On a profile page, the player can display a badge, choose their eight favorite drivers out of the drivers they own and can see their records, which include the amounts of collected drivers, karts, and gliders, their highest score they earned on a single course in the current tour, their number of Standard Race, Gold Race and Kart Pro wins, their highest multiplayer grade and their highest tier. Additionally, their current level, tier, and multiplayer grade are shown for the player and their friends.

Badges
The player can collect badges by completing challenges, by ending in the top 1,000 in the All-Cup ranking, or through other case-specific means (such as a Twitter retweet campaign or winning a team rally). 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 to other players on their profile, though players can view other players' full badge lists. Standard badges have four different types: common badges, gold badges (obtained by completing Gold Challenges and requires a Gold Pass subscription), expert badges (obtained by completing Expert Challenges), and blue badges (obtained by completing Today's Challenge all 14 days of a given tour). Gold, expert (red), and blue badges are all recolored versions of common badges in their respective colors.

Other kinds of badges are grouped separately and obtained by other means. These include badges earned from completing entire Expert Challenge cards, ranking badges, multiplayer badges such as winning a Kart Pro event, top-placement badges, and Team Rally badges.

Friends
The player can become in-game friends with other players, 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
Mario Kart Tour currently features 71 race courses, which is the most of any Mario Kart game to date, and usually gets a new course at the start of every tour. 25 of these are original courses, referred to as "new courses", 39 are classic courses, and 7 are of a new type of course called "remix courses". Mario Kart Tour has the distinction of having the most classic courses, and is the only game with more classic courses than original courses. Most of the new courses are based on real-world cities, these being New York City, Tokyo, Paris, London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Berlin, Sydney and Singapore. The 7 courses in the remix category have the "RMX" term prepended to the name, and are based on classic courses from which they derive the base design elements and setting, but feature a completely new layout and generally newer elements (such as Excitebike Arena’s ramps being prominently featured in the RMX Choco Island courses, the mushroom trampolines in RMX Rainbow Road 2, the geysers in RMX Vanilla Lake 1, or the stairs in RMX Ghost Valley 1). Notably, Mario Kart Tour introduces course variations; each course has both an "R" (Reverse) and "T" (Trick) variant. Courses marked with "R" are driven in reverse orientation, and mostly just have alterations to make this possible if necessary. Courses marked with "T", labeled "X" in some languages, feature many additional ramps and trickable obstacles, but are usually otherwise the same. Some specific instances do change up other things like adding ramps to replace glider sections (like in DS Airship Fortress T), changing the way/order the course is raced around (like in Kalimari Desert 2T), or even changing the starting location (like in 3DS Rock Rock Mountain T). "R/T" (Reverse/Trick), labeled "RX" in some languages, variants feature the elements of both reverse and trick courses. Originally, R/T variants only appeared for city courses, with them introduced in the same tour as that particular city course. Classic courses started getting R/T variants in the 2019 Winter Tour, after which every tour has had three to five R/T variants (of any course type). From then up the 2020 Trick Tour, each tour saw one to three new ones added. Since the 2020 Los Angeles Tour, city courses are added with all four variants in the same tour, while the other courses are first added without the R/T variant, which is usually added in subsequent tours whose exclusive additions are R/T variants.

Almost every tour features classic courses and remix courses, while every new course so far appears exclusively in specific tours.

Other

 * A new layout of Los Angeles Laps

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 course in it increased by one tier. There are also special Team Rally tours that happen once every six tours, which require the player to choose from one of the two selectable teams. In these tours, the player has to collect more team tokens on courses than the opposing team to win.

Drivers
There are currently playable characters ( if including Gold Mario, who appears exclusively in Coin Rush mode) in Mario Kart Tour, the most number of playable characters in a Mario game. Notable new playable characters in the series include Peachette, Pauline, Hammer Bro, Boomerang Bro, Fire Bro, Ice Bro, Monty Mole, Dixie Kong, Captain Toad, Nabbit, King Bob-omb, Kamek and Meowser, with Kamek and Hammer Bro being playable for the first time after having been considered but scrapped from Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart Wii respectively. Some characters also make a return after a long absence from the series, such as Diddy Kong, Funky Kong and Birdo, who were last playable in Mario Kart Wii, and Donkey Kong Jr., who was last playable in Super Mario Kart. Currently, there are only four Mario characters from previous Mario Kart games that are not playable in this game, those being Paratroopa and Petey Piranha from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Wiggler and Honey Queen from Mario Kart 7.

Upon launching the game for the first time, the player will be given either Toad, Toadette, or Peachette. After the tutorial, they are granted a free pipe launch which grants either Peach, Bowser, Metal Mario, or Dry Bowser. Unlike the other Mario Kart games, characters are sorted by their rarity. There are three tiers of rarity: Normal, Super, and High-End. While the Normal drivers are generally easier to obtain from pipes, tour gifts, or the shop, rarer drivers have a greater amount of base points, higher chances to activate Frenzy mode, and more favored and favorite courses. By using a driver on favored or favorite courses, they can obtain up to three items at one time from Item Boxes.

Karts, gliders, and tires
There are currently karts ( if including the Gold Standard, which appears exclusively in Coin Rush mode) and  gliders in Mario Kart Tour, the most of any Mario Kart game. Several karts and gliders return from previous installments, though new ones also appear alongside variants of existing ones; these variants share their in-game model, differing by textures, and are grouped together within the internal files. Like drivers, karts and gliders are organized by three tiers of rarity: Normal, Super, and High-End. Each kart and glider has its own special skill that provides specific benefits during a race; karts give bonus points for performing a particular technique while gliders increase the chance of obtaining a particular item from Item Boxes as well as the points gained from using that item. Each kart and glider also has its own favored and favorite courses, and using a kart or glider on such courses increases their bonus points multiplier, or combo bonus and combo-time, respectively.

Unlike in Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, tires are not customizable, being set to a specific kart, and have no effect on stats.

Frenzy
Depending on the selected driver and course they are 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 Super Star power, and 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 summed to a bonus depending on the rarity and skill level of the driver chosen. The resulting probability is capped at 50%, even if the sum exceeds said value.

The following is the base probability of a Frenzy in single player races used in the 2020 Halloween Tour,. 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 item that most other characters cannot obtain. By upgrading drivers to certain levels, they can obtain improved special items: Normal drivers to level 7, Super drivers to level 5 or higher, and High-End drivers to level 4 or higher.

The game introduces ten 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, the Giga Bob-omb, and the Super Bell, all of which are character-exclusive items. Several items that have been absent from recent entries in the series also return in this game, including Bowser's Shell, Yoshi's Egg/Birdo's Egg, the Giant Banana, the Heart, and the Mega Mushroom from Mario Kart Wii; the former four (from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!) are all special items, while the lattermost is a regular item. Additionally, the Hammer item from the Mario Kart Arcade GP series appears in this game for the first time in a non-arcade Mario Kart game as a special item, though its functions are different. The Lucky Seven and Super Leaf, which were both absent in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, also makes a return in this game as special items.

The probabilities used in single player mode outside of Frenzies are reported. It is 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.

Course 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. For ways to obtain bonus points from these interactions, see Mario Kart Tour race points system § Object interactions.

Other
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. This demo has been the only way to play New York Minute since the New York Tour. 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 have any animations nor do they emit voices.
 * The minimap does not appear in races.
 * The models for the drivers have low quality textures.
 * Course textures are less detailed.
 * The sound effect of passing through Dash Rings is present only if they were activated by the player.
 * The Shy Guys, Yoshis, and Toads that are normally found along the sidelines of several courses are absent, though they can still be heard.
 * The screen has a lower resolution, resulting in slightly pixelated graphics.
 * Course-specific differences
 * In SNES Ghost Valley 1, DS Luigi's Mansion and RMX Ghost Valley 1, the decorative Boos in the course's sky are absent.
 * In SNES Choco Island 1, SNES Choco Island 2, GBA Sunset Wilds, DS Luigi's Mansion, RMX Choco Island 1 and RMX Choco Island 2, the brightness of the mud is absent.
 * In N64 Kalimari Desert and N64 Kalimari Desert 2, the sandy wind that normally blows across the desert is absent.
 * In DS DK Pass, N64 Frappe Snowland, SNES Vanilla Lake 1, Merry Mountain and RMX 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 DS Waluigi Pinball, the sound that plays after leaving the pinball table is absent.
 * In Wii Maple Treeway, the petals on the water and the falling leaves are absent.

Version 1.0.2
Release date: October 3, 2019  
 * In some cases, it may become impossible to play if no nickname is entered during the Nintendo Account linking process.
 * After linking the Nintendo Account, certain players may encounter error code 805-9314 and playing may be impossible.
 * In some cases, it may become impossible to play when the player enters the main screen on the startup of the game.
 * Other minor issues.

Version 1.1.0
Release date: October 17, 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.

Version 1.2.0
Release date: November 17, 2019  
 * Adjusted race controls.
 * (A button has been added to the bottom of the screen that allows a player to drift or steer depending on the Manual Drift setting. The rearview mirror button has been relocated to the bottom-right of the screen.)
 * (A player can now perform Ultra-Mini Turbos even when Manual Drift is off by using the drift button. Using the steer button with Manual Drift on does not allow Ultra-Mini Turbos.)
 * Added a list of tickets you currently have. (A player can now see the inventory of tickets at a glance by tapping Tickets in the Menu.)
 * You can now earn bonus points for finishing a race in Frenzy mode. (A "Frenzy Finish" action has been added.)

Version 1.4.0
Release date: December 11, 2019  
 * You can now see more information about other players in your ranking tier, including the driver they are using.
 * Adjusted how the ranking announcement and menu screens are displayed. (The animations for the ranking announcement have been streamlined.)

Version 2.0.0
Release date: March 4, 2020  
 * Added support for racing against players from around the world via multiplayer. This service is scheduled to become available on March 8th, at 8:00 PM PT. (The Multiplayer button icon is added in the main screen.)
 * Added a camera feature. Using this feature during a race allows you to freely move the camera around your driver as they automatically steer. Use it to view the action from different angles!
 * (Items can also be used while the camera feature is enabled.)
 * (The camera can rotate and zoom around the kart. This feature can also be accessed when the player finishes a race.)
 * (When this feature is enabled, it will not transition to the placement screen until the player exits this feature.)
 * (This feature cannot be used in multiplayer or bonus challenges.)
 * Made other adjustments and addressed known issues to improve the overall gameplay experience.

Version 2.1.0
Release date: May 13, 2020  
 * The Team Game rule has been added to multiplayer.
 * (The Team Game rule will routinely appear in the Standard Race rule rotation.)
 * The Room Code feature has been added to multiplayer.
 * Support for Expert Challenges has been added. These challenges will become available in future tours.
 * Support for the Coins Aplenty event has been added. This event will become available in future tours.
 * (This event will allow you to obtain a large amount of coins.)
 * The issue preventing players from receiving a level-up reward when they advance to the next player level has been addressed.

Version 2.4.0
Release date: July 21, 2020  
 * Added support for landscape orientation during races.
 * (The player can set the orientation for the race screen from the settings menu: Portrait, Portrait / Landscape, and Landscape.)
 * (The Left/Right Controls setting is added for landscape mode. The player can use left side of the screen to steer the kart, and the right side of the screen to use items.)
 * (The tutorial and Practice while Downloading races do not support landscape mode.)
 * Players may now invite their friends to a multiplayer room that they have created.
 * Added support for different events. Further details, including the schedule, will be made available via upcoming in-game notifications.
 * Adjust the appearance of the main screen.
 * (The bottom of the screen features button icons for Multiplayer, Challenges, Tour Gifts, Shop, and Menu.)
 * (Instead of the scrolling notification bar on the top of the screen, the notifications are displayed for the bottom buttons as pop-up bubbles with information regarding multiplayer, new Daily Challenges, new pipes, and updates to the Daily Selects.)

Version 2.6.0
Release date: October 14, 2020  
 * A driver's special skill can now be improved when their level is increased.
 * When a driver, kart, or glider is leveled up, a number of their favored courses are upgraded to favorite courses.
 * Auto mode has been added, which lets users watch drivers automatically drive through courses as well as share screenshots via other applications.

Version 2.6.2
Release date: November 8, 2020  </i>
 * Adjusted the number of Greeting Coins received and the animation when receiving them.
 * (The player now receives 5 coins upon opening a Greeting Coin from another player in their friends list.)
 * (The animation showing 1 coin being received has been replaced with a small text banner that reads "Received 5 Greeting Coins!".)
 * Addressed known issues.

Version 2.8.0
Release date: February 17, 2021  </i>
 * Made preparations for the new Kart Pro event, which challenges players to achieve consecutive multiplayer wins.
 * Made preparations for a system that rewards players depending on the total of their highest scores across all cups in a tour.
 * In landscape mode, players can now play with steering controls on the right side of the screen and item controls on the left.
 * Added photo filters for auto mode.

Version 2.9.0
Release date: April 14, 2021  </i>
 * Adjusted the rules for Kart Pro so that a player's win streak will be maintained if they get 2nd or 3rd place.
 * Adjusted the chance for opponents in a single-player race to use the Lightning or Spiny Shell items.

Version 2.9.1
Release date: May 23, 2021  </i>
 * Made preparations so that players will receive gifts for continuing their Gold Pass subscriptions. This will begin in a future tour.
 * Made preparations for Today's Challenge, in which players race with a preselected course and driver for a chance at receiving gifts like rubies or firing a pipe. This will begin in a future tour.

Version 2.10.0
Release date: September 15, 2021  The following changes are planned to be implemented in future tours. </i>
 * You can now join Standard Races/Gold Races that a friend is playing.
 * You will be able to see detailed play records for each past tour.
 * (Tour stats from the Kamek Tour onwards are recorded.)
 * Additional rules for events to collect event tokens.
 * (This includes causing opponents to crash, performing mini-turbos, and chaining a combo.)
 * We're preparing an event in which you can get lots of event tokens.
 * ("Tokens Aplenty" will be implemented.)

Differences from previous Mario Kart games

 * This is the first and only Mario Kart game where every character must technically be unlocked, and where there is no set starting roster.
 * The number of players in each race has reverted back to eight, like in all mainline games up to Mario Kart DS and in Mario Kart 7.
 * Apart from 3DS Rainbow Road, one of the sectioned courses in the game, all races consist of two laps, not the usual three.
 * Drivers, 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, not one. In Merry Mountain, the music's pitch is increased by five semitones.
 * The only exception to both of the above 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 the beginning of nor throughout races.
 * Starting from the New Year's 2021 Tour the Lakitu referee in his festive attire appears as a playable driver known as Lakitu (Party Time).
 * 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 fewer than three item slots (as frenzies are not obtainable).
 * For the first time since Super Mario Kart, Triple Red Shells are absent. This is likely due to how using multi-items (such as the Triple Mushrooms or the Lucky 7) sends out all of their items at once, which would be useless for items that always lock onto the next racer.
 * This is the first Mario Kart game since Mario Kart: Super Circuit to have numbered new courses (e.g. Tokyo Blur 3) and the first Mario Kart game to feature numbered versions of unnumbered classic courses (e.g. N64 Kalimari Desert 2).
 * Unlike in the previous games, these numbered courses take place in the same map, but use a different course layout: the starting line is in the same location (except for Los Angeles Laps 3, where the starting line is at a different location compared to Los Angeles Laps), but the courses split off from each other onto different routes.
 * The remix courses feature numbers in their names as well, but in that case when the number changes the map layout changes as well.
 * 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 classic courses from Mario Kart 8 in this game, making it the first Mario Kart title since Mario Kart: Super Circuit to have classic courses but not at least one from every previous Mario Kart game.
 * Due to the absence of anti-gravity in Mario Kart Tour, very few courses from Mario Kart 8 would be able to be included. Despite this, GCN Yoshi Circuit and N64 Royal Raceway retain their overall design and layout from their Mario Kart 8 iterations.
 * This is the only Mario Kart game so far to lack an original Bowser's Castle course.
 * This is the first Mario Kart game to lack losing themes and animations after races. If a racer finishes in 5th place or lower, the theme for finishing in 2nd to 4th place will be played and no animations of the racer will be shown. Despite this, losing voice lines for most of the characters can be found in the game's files.
 * This is the first and only game in the series to use solely the American English localization for courses, karts, and gliders instead of differing names in British and American English versions.
 * The only exception to this rule is the B Dasher Mk. 2, using its British English name as opposed to its American English name, which is the Sprinter.
 * Karts that originally had moving parts (not counting tires), such as the tentacles on the Super Blooper and the blower on the Flame Flyer, no longer have them move.
 * The word "Ouch!" appears if an opponent hits the player.

Producer

 * Hideki Konno

Creative Director

 * Kosuke Yabuki

Game Directors

 * Yugo Hayashi
 * Shinya Fujiwara

Characters Voices

 * Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Metal Mario, and Monty Mole
 * Samantha Kelly as Peach, Baby Peach, Pink Gold Peach, Toad(s), Toadette, Captain Toad, and Peachette
 * Deanna Mustard as Daisy and Baby Daisy
 * Kenny James as Bowser, Dry Bowser, and Meowser
 * Laura Faye Smith as Rosalina and Baby Rosalina
 * Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi(s) and Birdo(s)
 * Takashi Nagasako as Donkey Kong
 * Katsumi Suzuki as Diddy Kong
 * Caety Sagoian as Bowser Jr.
 * Toru Asakawa as King Boo and Dry Bones
 * Nate Bihldorff as Shy Guy(s)
 * Tadd Morgan as Lakitu
 * Michelle Hippe as Larry Koopa
 * Dan Falcone as Roy Koopa
 * Ashley Flannegan as Wendy O. Koopa
 * David Cooke as Morton Koopa Jr.
 * David J. Goldfarb as Ludwig von Koopa
 * Ryan Higgins as Iggy Koopa
 * Carlee McManus as Lemmy Koopa
 * Motoki Takagi as Hammer Bro, Boomerang Bro, Fire Bro, and Ice Bro
 * Kate Higgins as Pauline
 * Toshihide Tsuchiya as Funky Kong
 * Kahoru Sasajima as Dixie Kong
 * Natsuko Yokoyama as Nabbit
 * Atsushi Masaki as Kamek
 * Dolores Rogers as Wigglers
 * Sanae Suzaki as Boos

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 lamented 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 and the game's Reverse tracks, calling them "really cool ideas", while also praising the game's roster and its graphics.

As of August 26, 2020, Mario Kart Tour received a mixed Metacritic Metascore of 58, and a negative User Score of 3.8. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, as of August 26, 2020, Mario Kart Tour received an average of 4.1 out of 5 stars on Google Play, and an average of 4.7 out of 5 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.

Mobile app store description
 ■ 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!
 * Race around the world!

■ 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. * For information about our ads, please see the "How we use your information" section of the Nintendo Privacy Policy. * May include advertising. </i>

Pre-release and unused content
The beta version of the game saw multiple changes in the final game. Among them, 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, New York Minute 2, New York Minute 3, and New York Minute 4. The clothing colors of Mario (Classic) reference Mario's original design from this game.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The 8-Bit Jumping Mario and the 8-Bit Jumping Luigi gliders use Mario and Luigi's jumping sprites from this game, the 8-Bit Star uses the Super Star sprite from this game, the 8-Bit Fire Flower uses the Fire Flower sprite from this game, and the 8-Bit Bullet Bill uses the Bullet Bill 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.
 * Famicom Grand Prix: F-1 Race: The artwork of Mario in a Formula One car is reused as a badge from this game.
 * Super Mario Kart: Mario Circuit 1, Donut Plains 1, Ghost Valley 1, Mario Circuit 2, Choco Island 1, Donut Plains 2, Mario Circuit 3, Choco Island 2, Vanilla Lake 1, Koopa Beach 2, Vanilla Lake 2, and Rainbow Road appear as returning courses. The tires resembling the tires from this game return as the Pipe Frame's assigned tires, as well as other certain karts with these tires. Much of the artwork from Super Mario Kart, such as Yoshi spinning out, is reused in badges from this game, in addition to the cover art of the game being used for the Super Mario Kart Glider. Additionally, one of the game's commemorative badges says "Since '92" which references the Mario Kart series having debuted on this game's release date in 1992. Mario and Donkey Kong Jr.'s sprites are reused from this game for separate playable variants. The sound effects used for the pre-race jingle, item roulette, and post-race jingle are reused from this game exclusively for the two aforementioned characters. The Super Mario Kart Tour is themed after this game.
 * 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. The new Kalimari Desert 2 course allows racers to race inside the train tunnel, similar to how players could go inside Kalimari Desert's train tunnel in Mario Kart 64.
 * Mario Kart: Super Circuit: Bowser Castle 1, Bowser Castle 2, Cheep-Cheep Island, and Sunset Wilds appear as returning courses.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Mario (Sunshine) wears the Shine Sprite shirt and sunglasses originating from this game.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Special Items such as the Giant Banana, Bowser's Shell 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: The artwork for Mario (Classic) and Luigi (Classic) is based on Mario and Luigi's profile artwork 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, Cucumber, Mushmellow, and Rambi Rider return as karts. Challenges with unique objectives, similar to the missions from this game, appear as the fourth and final race in every cup. Also, the Item Box pickup and roulette sound effects return.
 * Super Mario Strikers: Some of Hammer Bro's voice clips are reused from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros.: Koopa Troopa's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Mario Party 8: Dry Bones and Hammer Bro's artworks are reused from this game. Some of the latter's voice clips are reused from this game.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: Ice Mario appears as a playable variant. He and Bowser Jr. reuse their artworks 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, Pink Shy Guy and Green Shy Guy's artworks are based on Shy Guy's artwork from this game. Mario and Bowser's artworks from this game appear on billboards in Los Angeles Laps 3.
 * Mario Kart Wii: DK Summit and Maple Treeway appear as returning courses. The Cheep Charger, Wild Wing, Super Blooper, Daytripper, B Dasher Mk. 2, 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 an arrangement of a song from this game. The sound effect used for the tricks is reused from this game. Diddy Kong and Funky Kong's voice clips are reused. The music from GBA Shy Guy Beach is reused for GBA Cheep-Cheep Island.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games: Dry Bowser's artwork is reused from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Peach and all of the Koopalings' artworks are reused from this game, including Iggy's artwork, albeit without the magic coming from his wand. Penguin Luigi, Penguin Yellow Toad, and Penguin Mario appear as playable characters.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: Tanooki Mario'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, Wario Shipyard, Neo Bowser City, Rosalina's Ice World, Bowser's Castle, 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, Koopa Clown, 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, Flower Glider, Peach Parasol and Gold Glider return as gliders. Various tire parts return retaining their design, which are only assigned to certain karts. The Lucky Seven and Super Leaf items reappear. 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 as part of the Racer's Soda Lemonade badge.
 * Mario Party 9: Birdo's artwork is reused from this game. Birdo (Light Blue)'s, Birdo (Yellow)'s, Birdo (Blue)'s, and Birdo (Black)'s artwork are based on Birdo's artwork from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2: Gold Mario appears as an exclusive playable character in the game's Coin Rush mode.
 * 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 and Penguin Toadette appear as playable characters, with the former reusing her artwork and her emblem being a Super Crown.
 * Super Mario 3D World: The artwork for the Double Cherry is reused from this game for the Tropical Grocery badge. Fire Rosalina, Cat Peach, Cat Toad, Cat Rosalina, Meowser, and Tanooki Rosalina appear as playable characters; the first two Cat characters use the Super Bell as their special item and reuse their artwork from this game. Meowser also reuses his artwork from this game. Goombas in floaties appear as obstacles in Singapore Speedway.
 * 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 returns in the Ring Race challenge set in 3DS Rainbow Road. The Mach 8, Steel Driver, Cat Cruiser, Circuit Special, Badwagon, Prancer, Biddybuggy, Landship, Sports Coupe, P-Wing, and Tanooki Kart return as karts, and the Pipe Frame and B Dasher retain their designs from this game. The design of the Standard Kart from this game is used for the Red Standard 8 and Green Standard 8. The Parafoil, Wario Wing, and Cloud Glider return as gliders, while the Flower Glider and Peach Parasol retain their designs from this game. Various tire parts return, assigned to specific karts. 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 non-DLC cups are reused from this game as badges. Many of the game's sponsors are also reused as badges. The theme for Mario Kart TV's review after winning a cup in Grand Prix mode is reused 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) appear and reuse their artworks 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, Blue Yoshi's, Pink Yoshi's, Black Yoshi's, and White Yoshi's artworks are based on Yoshi's artwork from this game.
 * Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker 2: Builder Mario, Builder Toad, Builder Luigi, and Builder Toadette appear as playable variants. Builder Mario's artwork is reused from the first game, while Builder Toad and Builder Luigi's artworks are reused from the second game.
 * Mario Party: Star Rush: King Bob-omb and Kamek's artworks are 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 (Hakama), Mario (Santa), Mario (Happi), Mario (Chef), Mario (Swimwear), Mario (Sunshine), Mario (Racing), Mario (Baseball), Mario (Satellaview), and Mario (Tuxedo) use Mario's Musician Outfit, Hakama, Santa Outfit, Happi Outfit, Chef Outfit, Swimwear, Sunshine Outfit, Racing Outfit, Baseball Outfit, Space Outfit, and Tuxedo respectively from this game. The Yellow Taxi is based on the taxis from this game. Some of Pauline's voice clips reference her singing "Jump Up, Super Star!" from this game. Peach (Vacation), Peach (Wintertime), and Peach (Explorer) use her post-story "tourist" outfits from this game, whereas Peach (Wedding) uses her wedding dress. The red, blue, purple and gold Roving Racers appear as the playable characters Red Koopa (Freerunning), Blue Koopa (Freerunning), Purple 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 the Cap and Cascade Kingdoms.
 * Mario Party: The Top 100: Rosalina and Wario's artworks are reused from this game.
 * Mario Tennis Aces: Some of Birdo's voice clips are reused from this game.
 * Super Mario Party: Donkey Kong's artwork is reused from this game. Monty Mole's voice clips are also reused from this game. King Bob-omb (Gold)'s artwork is based on King Bob-omb's artwork in this game. Dry Bones (Gold) and Shy Guy (Gold) resemble Dry Bones's and Shy Guy's looks when under the effect of a Golden Drink from this game.
 * Luigi's Mansion 3: King Boo (Luigi's Mansion) uses King Boo's design from this game.
 * Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit: A commemorative badge appears of Mario and the Standard Kart, using the kart's design from this game. Luigi (Painter) is based on his Painter Outfit from this game.
 * Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury: The Calico Parafoil may be a reference to the patterns of the Oyaneko and the calico kittens in the Bowser's Fury campaign.

References in later games

 * Mario Golf: Super Rush: Pauline and King Bob-omb's voice clips are reused for this game.