Editor’s Review:

Mario Kart Tour was released on 25 September 2019, for iOS and Android devices, marking the first mobile entry in the Mario Kart series (Wikipedia). The game quickly became a huge success, reaching over 90 million downloads in its first week and ultimately surpassing 200 million downloads. This made it one of Nintendo's strongest mobile launches.

On Metacritic, Mario Kart Tour holds a rating of 59/100, indicating a mixed but generally positive response from both critics and players (Metacritic). Many reviewers praised the game for keeping the spirit of Mario Kart alive on mobile while introducing new features that make it more suitable for short play sessions.

The gameplay focuses on racing with popular Mario characters across tracks inspired by real-world cities and classic Mario Kart courses. Players can drift, glide, and use items to gain an advantage. The game also introduced the Frenzy feature, which gives players a temporary boost when collecting three of the same item.

Nintendo has added tours that rotate every two weeks, introducing new challenges, characters, and rewards. This system helps keep the game fresh and gives players reasons to return regularly. The graphics are bright and colorful, and the controls are designed to work smoothly on touch screens.

Some criticism has been directed at its gacha system, where characters and karts are unlocked through random pulls, as well as at the simplified controls, such as automatic acceleration. However, despite these issues, Mario Kart Tour remains a popular choice for mobile gamers. It offers a fun and nostalgic experience for fans of the franchise and is easy to pick up for new players.

How to Play

Step 1: Download the game from the app store and complete the quick tutorial race.

Step 2: Join the rotating Tours, which are sets of races and challenges updated every two weeks. Each Tour has new tracks and rewards.

Step 3: Learn the controls. Your kart accelerates automatically. Swipe left or right to steer and drift. Tap to use items. Practice drifting to gain extra speed boosts.

Step 4: Collect and use items during races. Items can help you attack opponents or protect yourself. If you get three of the same item, you enter Frenzy mode, which gives you unlimited use of that item for a short time.

Step 5: Try to build combos by performing actions such as drifting, hitting opponents with items, or gliding. Combos increase your score and help you earn more stars.

Step 6: Unlock new characters, karts, and gliders. These can be obtained through the in-game gacha system. Each character and kart has special bonuses on certain tracks.

Step 7: Level up your drivers and vehicles by using them in races. Higher levels improve their abilities and give better scores.

Step 8: Collect stars by completing races and challenges. Stars are used to unlock more cups within each Tour.

Step 9: Participate in ranked races once you have progressed sufficiently. Compete against other players' scores and climb the rankings for rewards.

Step 10: Log in daily and complete events to earn coins, rubies, and tickets. These resources help you unlock additional content and progress more quickly.