The Denki Files: [Review] Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

As the king of portable racers, Mario Kart has always yielded high expectations and met themeasily. Though Mario Kart DS hadsnaking and attracted a crowd of dexterious gamers, recent Nintendo trends inpreviously competitive games like SuperSmash Brothers have been to simplify them for the general gaming public.With this in mind, gamers stepping into MarioKart 7 will still enjoy the comparatively casual, yet still fast pacedexperience.

Though the 3DS’s screen may be small, gamers will be able tosee the graphical improvement upon MarioKart DS at first glance. Everything from the racers themselves to the trackshave a lot more details and the 3D visuals provide a sense of speed not feltbefore. In terms of character selection, avid Nintendo fans will be graced bynewcomers such as Metal Mario and Wiggler, whose characters only shine morewith the inclusion of taunts and various in game actions.

As expected of Nintendo’s recent releases, the game has beensimplified to reach a larger audience, leaving no traces of snaking behind. Mario Kart DS veterans may have toadjust to this, but it ultimately means that players will have to rely on mostracing games’ basics, such as using the right lines and course knowledge inaddition to the game’s core drifting mechanic. The result is a game thatencourages players to practice as much as it encourages them to simply play anddiscover new ways to go around levels. Unlike previous games that have alsoincluded classic tracks, the levels have been improved to include shortcuts andsegments that make use of the game’s new gliding and underwater racingabilities, breathing new life into otherwise familiar courses.

With the game’s drift toward simple gameplay, the Mario Kart series’ most glaring issuesare still there. Players are still punished for being in the lead, constantlygiven subpar items and at danger of being struck by blue shells and lightning, effectivelyundoing two laps of hard work. Luckily, new items Tanooki leaf and Fire Flowerare still obtainable when players are relatively close to first place, both ofwhich provide a decent defense mechanism against incoming shells or peskyplayers. The newly added first person mode, which allows players to steer usingthe gyrometer, is a poor substitute for the precision of either the d-pad oranalog stick.

Taking a cue from the SNES and GBA Mario Kart games, this version includes coins that will boostplayers’ speed as more are collected, in addition to unlocking more in-gamecontent like karts and wheels. The intervals between new unlocks are frequentenough so that players feel a reward at the end of practically every grandprix. Eventually, after everything is completed, rewards come less, which willdrive the ambitious to either play online or wirelessly with friends, neither modeof which were problematic.

The 3DS left gamers wondering if Nintendo could still claimthe title of king of portables, giving a paltry selection of titles for themajority of its release so far. With the release of Mario Kart 7, it is clear that Nintendo won’t be dethroned soeasily. The game adherence to Nintendo’s trend of simplification is by no meansa deal breaker and only serves to help its growth.