Mario Kart 7 - Holy crap the online is awesome what is this

So Mario Kart 7 is out. It's a 3DS game. It's uhh...Mario Kart! Yup. Not exactly much to say there about it generally. You've played Mario Kart before so you know what's up.

BUT...DETAILS. Some of these are different!



From a gameplay perspective, it mixes a number of old concepts with a few newer ones. Derp sequelitis or whatever.

It uses's the Wii game's drift mechanic, so there is no (at least in mainstream play) benefit to snaking. It seems to me that it might even be tuned slightly more to give even less boost as you counter steer but that's just my early impression. I'd have to test more.

Tracks have special launch ramps that will give you gliders now too, and this opens up some of the older tracks, as they can facilitate some interesting shortcut usage. There's an element of speed gain there too when you dive properly as well. There's also shortcuts designed specifically for glider usage.

Similarly, there's new underwater segments that result from falling off the track or otherwise taking different routes. Some of the old stages have been changed slightly to facilitate this mechanic, most noticeably Daisy Cruiser. Handling underwater is different and interesting. You're floatier, but not slower really. Many courses offer ramps to trick off of underwater making many of the routes viable in a race.

The item list has been altered too, some of the more ridiculous Wii items are no longer present, and as a result the game is improved. There's still blue shells, still bullet bills, but the former is a lot less prevalent and the latter a lot less of a game breaker, so things have been tuned for the better.

Kart customization is in, with unlocks being tied to how many on course coins you gather. Every 50 gets you an unlock, be it a new cart, new glider, or new wheel set. Some of the upgrades are pretty drastic in terms of performance, so you can change some of the heavy drivers to behave almost like a light one if you pick the right set up.

There's an online community mode too. Basically you input one friend code type thing (ugh), but then anyone can join this community and race with each other. Probably one of Nintendo's best online implementations yet, actually. Net code is much better than the Wii's as well. Played with Nutty and Mo0 and had zero hiccups.

Streetpass and Spotpass are also in, the former lets you trade ghosts and community data with those you pass by, and the latter lets you get Nintendo chosen ghosts and community updates, amongst other things.



The game contains 32 tracks. 16 new and 16 old, spread over 8 cups. The track list is pretty solid, including one of my personal N64 favorites in Kalamari Desert!

Here's the whole list:

Mushroom Cup

• Toad Circuit
• Daisy Hills
• Cheep Cheep Lagoon
• Shy Guy Bazaar

Flower Cup

• Wuhu Loop
• Mario Circuit
• Music Park
• Rock Rock Mountain

Star Cup

• Piranha Plant Slide
• Wario Shipyard
• Neo Bowser City
• Maka Wuhu

Special Cup

• DK Jungle
• Rosalina's Ice World
• Bowser's Castle
• Rainbow Road

Shell Cup

• Luigi Raceway (N64)
• Bowser Castle 1 (GBA)
• Mushroom Gorge (Wii)
• Luigi's Mansion (DS)

Banana Cup

• Koopa Beach (N64)
• Mario Circuit 2 (SNES)
• Coconut Mall (Wii)
• Waluigi Pinball (DS)

Leaf Cup

• Kalimari Desert (N64)
• DK Pass (DS)
• Daisy Cruiser (GCN)
• Maple Treeway (Wii)

Lightning Cup

• Koopa Cape (Wii)
• Dino Dino Jungle (GCN)
• Airship Fortress (DS)
• Rainbow Road (SNES)

And here's the list of drivers. No Waluigi, but the lineup is pretty solid. The last 8 are unlockables based on beating the cups on 150cc.

Drivers:

• Mario
• Luigi
• Peach
• Yoshi
• Toad
• Koopa Troopa
• Donkey Kong
• Bowser
• Daisy (Unlockable)
• Wario (Unlockable)
• Rosalina (Unlockable)
• Queen Bee (Unlockable)
• Metal Mario (Unlockable)
• Shy Guy (Unlockable)
• Lakitu (Unlockable)
• Wiggler (Unlockable)

Here is the GFF community code: 26-9766-8978-1473

Jam it back in, in the dark.

WHERE ARE YOU PEOPLE

WIGGLER DEMANDS BLOOD

How ya doing, buddy?

If it's the blood of virgins, he's come to the right place.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Why Am I Allowed to CABLE INSTINCTS

No Waluigi

I can't see why anyone would be interested in this game, sorry

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Needs Wiggluigi actually

But for real, fucking hang gliders. Don't be hatin' son.

I was speaking idiomatically.

What's the point of metal mario? They should have just added a costume or alt palette section and given that unlockable slot to waluigi. Unacceptable!

Most amazing jew boots

Making a heavy Mario if he's not heavy already.

I would just say get rid of Honey Bee. I don't see the point of her at all. Give that spot back to Waluigi or Dry Bones.

FELIPE NO

I don't see the point in having all of those other characters. It should just be a lineup of 15 Toads and a Koopa Troopa. Also, wish this was on Wii instead of handheld.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I'm bringing this back up because I haven't played online with any of you since around Christmas time, and that has to change.

Let's set up a time.

How about either tonight or tomorrow night, 7:30 PM central?

Jam it back in, in the dark.