What should have been an easy sell for Nintendo is becoming the newest laughing stock of mobile games across the web. Nintendo’s latest release into the app store and Google Play store stormed its way into the market only for the ugly truth to be discovered; it was a letdown. “Mario Kart Tour” looked promising but under closer review, it seems Nintendo is trying to sell a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The general gameplay is not too bad. The graphics look good, all of the sounds are on point with previous titles, but that is where it stops. One of the biggest issues with the game is the fact that you can not play it horizontally on your device. It has to be vertical including using the motion steering. This is an immediate turn-off and should raise red flags for the gameplay’s design. Even with motion control on, it is still a nightmare to get the kart to get that perfect drift around tracks like Yoshi’s Circuit, Toad’s Circuit and some with even harder turns. Another issue is with the item algorithm. The classics are still in the game: red shell, banana peel, the infamous blue shell and more classics as well as new items such as the bubble, banana barrels and double bob-ombs. But probably the most useless item is the coin. It appears when you are in the top three and gives you coins. This may sound nice, but at the faster levels, most racers want to slow down the other racers versus get money. If you are in first, expect nothing but coins and a good chance of losing first place.
Another glaring issue is the way Nintendo uses micro-transactions. It is common for a free mobile game to have micro-transactions. But Nintendo went over everyone’s heads and presented so many options that none of them are worth it. The game does not prompt you but if you wanted to buy rubies or coins, the rates are much higher compared to more popular apps. The worst out of this is the app’s gold pass, which is a monthly subscription to “Mario Kart Tour” for $4.99 a month. For context, student Spotify is $4.99 a month which includes Spotify Premium and Hulu with limited ad time during shows and movies. The gold pass offers you extra benefits, but nothing truly special. These extra benefits can be easily earned by doing challenges or leveling up.
Finally, “Mario Kart Tour” has a severe lack of content. Although it can be fun, it gets repetitive quick. There are only a hand full of maps that are just rehashed into different ways (normal, reverse and extra elements) the racer roster is very small and bland, only featuring a few major Mario characters. Although more are supposed to be released as time goes on, it hurts the fan base now. The fact that all the opponents are computers and not actually people is the worst of it all. A game that is traditionally a multiplayer game is trying to trick consumers into thinking they are playing against other people.
Overall, this app should have waited longer before being released. The fact that it is all computer opponents, no multiplayer release date and an awful lack of characters, maps and content just leaves players hanging. Even though there is promise for future updates, first impressions are important and can affect an entire game before it comes into full form. “Mario Kart Tour” from release has failed to make a good first impression. With all the hype and anticipation, many flocked and helped make the game one of the most downloaded games in the world. Despite all the downloads and attention, this game was nothing more than a recognized brand trying to trick people into spending money.
Image from Nintendo Mobile via YouTube
