Mario on the Go
September 27th, 2019
Review by Candice Cooley-JohnsonStaff Reporter
ORANGE - On September 25, 2019 Nintendo released what fans have all been waiting for, the app Mario Kart Tour, free of cost. An adaptation from the commonly known video game Mario Kart Wii. Almost identical to the original version, the new app consists of the same characters, accessories, power-ups, similar tracks but different named “cups” or tournaments. It also allows you to play with friends.
Every two weeks, the setting changes and you go on another part of the tour. The first two weeks take place in New York. Not everyone has access to a Nintendo Wii, so having the mobile app makes it more accessible to players. Six out of ten players say that the mobile app is more difficult than the console. I disagree with this. To play, you simply glide your finger across the screen to steer your character around the track. To use any power up you receive from the mystery box, simply tap your screen. Just like Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart Tour has two modes that you can play in, “drift” and “simple.” Drift is the more challenging of the two. In Mario Kart Wii it would be called manual and simple would be automatic.
The console version and the mobile app both have cups. Each cup has different tracks in it, the only difference is that the cups are named differently. Mario Kart Tour names it’s cups after characters whereas Mario Kart Wii mainly names it’s cups after the power ups found in the game. For example, Mario Cup, Donkey Kong Cup, and Yoshi Cup vs. Mushroom Cup, Banana Cup and Shell Cup to name a few. Some other new features to the mobile game is that after each level or track you complete, you earn coins and rubies that you can use to buy characters in the shop. My personal favorite feature is that it doesn’t allow you to fall of cliffs blackening your screen. This is a great app and a useful time waster. It is available in the App Store and Google Play for IOS and Android devices.