Six very different roads have led us here to Mario Kart 7. Six roads representing six previous Mario Kart games across six different formats. Six roads that all follow the same highway code (red shells home, green shells roam) and share the same sights (from Mario Circuit to Bowser's Castle). And yet scratch underneath the tarmac and the journeys couldn't be more unlike.
Each Mario Kart is tuned and balanced significantly differently to all the others, to the point that it's almost impossible to find someone who can stomach them all. The result; a fractured fanbase, split six ways, who will each be approaching this latest entry in the series from a different direction.
Your hopes and expectations of Mario Kart 7, then, will shift according to which of the previous Mario Karts you consider to be your favourite. Are you hoping for the pure, precision racing of Super Mario Kart on SNES, or a chaotic pinball machine such as Mario Kart Wii? Mario Kart 64's multiplayer bent, or the DS iteration's meaty single-player mission structure? Double Dash's fearless innovation, or the safe pair of hands that was Super Circuit?
In the event, it doesn't matter which road takes you to Mario Kart 7, because the champagne corks will be popping whatever your sensibilities. This time, Nintendo's mechanics managed to balance everything perfectly. Let us introduce you to Mario Kart 7, your new favourite Mario Kart.
Seventh Heaven
Mario Kart 7 is the best in the series so far, and it carries itself like it is too. Throughout, there is a sense of triumphant, exhilarating culmination that rings out loud like the doom-siren of an incoming red shell. It's no longer enough for Mario Circuit to skirt round the edges of Peach's castle - now, the drawbridge is lowered and the track leads directly onto the royal red carpet, leading you through the main hallway before spitting you out high above the Mushroom Kingdom. Conversely Bowser's Castle opens its portcullis outwards, so you can screech around the hideous smelting factory that passes for a moat in the King Koopa's neighbourhood.
And then there's the traditional pièce de résistance, Rainbow Road. Apparently bored of being a lonely heavenly body, our favourite rainbow loop has decided to up sticks and weave itself around the contours of a nearby solar system, incorporating features such as a planetary ring system and a moon crater into its design. It makes for a breathtaking finale, a straight A to B point race that throws up a new surprise round every bend.
You'll coo as the Piranha Plant Pipeway transitions from a Super Mario Bros 1-2 underground homage to a Mario 3D Land tribute in the space of a single hang-glide. You'll grin when you discover that the Melody Motorway is made entirely out of music, the corners comprised of various percussion instruments, each note playing in turn as you powerslide over them. There are many more.
These are the hallmarks of a series - and a developmental team - that's brimming with confidence. Of a series that, like Mario's platformers, has long since established the rules of the world it inhabits and is now trying to push against them. Just when you think that there's nowhere left to go, Mario Kart 7 pushes a little bit harder, deconstructing its most hackneyed settings and rebuilding them as something fresh and new. Into Peach's castle, onto Saturn's rings and beyond.
Comments
27 comments so far...
Stryker89 on 25 Nov '11 said:
Oh yes, Christmas Day will be rather special this year.
Imaduck on 25 Nov '11 said:
Why not have a "positives" and "negatives" at the end like you do with everything else. Seems odd
bennyt on 25 Nov '11 said:
Great review, looking forward to this immensely.
Only seven more days but i'll have rayman origins to fill my time, so i'll manage.
Xmas and Boxing day races sound like a plan...
h15c0r3r on 25 Nov '11 said:
I'm really looking forward to playing this, roll on Xmas!
Taus on 25 Nov '11 said:
Sounds cool, on tue list
Anther old school, fun racer I miss is Micro Machines on PS1
Man that game got fiendishly competitive when racing against mates, the track were brutally fiddly
MK7-katana on 25 Nov '11 said:
Knew it would be the best in the series
Welsh Jester on 26 Nov '11 said:
Spent many hours on the 64 version esp battle mode, they should've just made it the same as that.
Dimpee on 26 Nov '11 said:
Any know if it's embargo'd? Ill be picking up as soon as gamestation get them in if not
BOYD1981 on 26 Nov '11 said:
If this makes it's way on to the Wii I may have to dust it off, but Nintendo will probably save it as a launch title for the Wii U.
Seems very silly making it for the handheld just because it's failing, one of the great things about Mario Kart is playing against other people in the same room and I've never really enjoyed the handheld Karts much for that reason.
DoomGuy84 on 26 Nov '11 said:
Mario kart 7 wont be released on the wii. They already have mario kart wii on there and there would be no 3D effects, also they have released other mario karts on handhelds like the GBA and DS.
BOYD1981 on 26 Nov '11 said:
In my post, which you quoted in full, I kinda touch on the fact I know that there are other handheld Mario Kart games. What I was trying to get across was that although Mario Kart 7 may be a great game it's a shame it's being released exclusively for the 3DS in an attempt to boost sales of the hardware rather than keep hardware that has already sold in large quantities going strong, which a new Mario Kart title would have done.
KesMonkey on 26 Nov '11 said:
That completely depends on how you play it. When playing local multiplayer, it's possible to customise the race rules. Pick the basic weapons set and you'll find none of the overpowered weapons such as blue shells. This, of course, makes it the competitive racer that it should be by default. If you prefer, you can even turn weapons off altogether, and you're left with a racer where the winner is determined solely by skill.
KesMonkey on 26 Nov '11 said:
I respectfully disagree. Having played SNES Super Mario Kart to death back in the day (and absolutely mastered it), I was sorely disappointed with MK64. MK64 is definitely the most 'casual' of all the MK games. There was nothing challenging about the handling, and the tight and challenging course design from the original was abandoned in favour of simpler and much more forgiving track layouts. Of course, the fact that anyone from a five year old to your granny could easily pick it up and get to grips with it in a matter of minutes was part of the reason for it's success (that, and the four player support).
KesMonkey on 26 Nov '11 said:
There's no need to miss it. You can pick up Micro Machines V3 on ebay for next to nothing, and it's playable on every PS console. I still play it from time to time, and it's as great as it ever was.
corkscru74 on 27 Nov '11 said:
For the true experience you have to play it 4 player on the mega drive (with two controllers plugged into the cartridge
Ah, retro heaven. Still a million times better than that shoddy version on XBLA - avoid like ebola!
TheMopFromMars on 27 Nov '11 said:
The 3DS isn't failing, just look at the sales figures.
AJDarkstar on 28 Nov '11 said:
I actually like all the previous Mario Karts - the GBA game has a few weird tracks (cheese land in a Mario game? Really?), but the only ones I hate are the awful, tedious arcade ones with their desolate tracks and overwhelming lack of fun.
TheCleip on 28 Nov '11 said:
It's just that balanced...
kirinnokoshin on 28 Nov '11 said:
Played this at the Eurogamer Expo, had more fun with it than anything else. The 3D is fantastic, best I've seen on the system so far.
Roll on Friday.
antonfkip on 1 Dec '11 said:
i like this game....very awesome
Buddha on 6 Dec '11 said:
Oh man, why o why did I lend the Wii to my landlady. Goddam Zumba...
PMIKE5 on 12 Dec '11 said:
Sounds great! Shame I'll never play it since I won't buy a 3DS...
03b2wgm on 23 Dec '11 said:
How is this game worthy of 9.4? The online doesn't even work.
Balladeer on 24 Dec '11 said:
I'm guessing the reviewer got it to work.
nickhcafc on 4 Jan '12 said:
Online goes off occasionally but it's worth putting up with unless you are very fussy and spoilt
Cocopander on 27 Feb '12 said:
This makes the decesion between a 3DS and Vita a little harder. I love Mario Kart and this one seems better than ever.
Dianess9 on 27 Feb '12 said:
I'm really looking forward to playing this, roll on Xmas!
Me too.