Impressions: Mario Kart (3DS)

Impressions: Mario Kart (3DS)

Perhaps not surprisingly, Nintendo unveiled (as part of their 3DS software onslaught) a new Mario Kart title this week. With a working title of simply Mario Kart, the game—for the most part—is as expected. However, having played every Mario Kart title on every system to date, there are some interesting points that I noted about what seems to differentiate this game from recent installments in the series.

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For starters, a new gliding mechanic has been added, where a glider pops out of the player’s kart once airborne. It isn’t a heck of a lot different from simply flying through the air as you could certain tracks in previous Mario Kart games, but you do have the ability now to soar much further without experiencing any significant amount of slowdown. I found this to be a fun addition.

Something else that fans are likely to appreciate is the revival of the coins/speed mechanic, which rewards players for collecting coins scattered throughout the tracks with an incremental speed enhancement. This means that there’s now a real incentive to collect these, adding a much greater element of strategy to the racing. Personally, this is one feature which I have deeply missed in the most recent Mario Kart titles.

A little underwater racing
Waterproof up to 100 mushrooms.

Speaking of strategy, something else which I’ve greatly missed is a palpable degree of actual skill-oriented balance in the games. As I’m sure most of you would agree, the biggest problem with the most recent Mario Kart games is that the items are far too disruptive. Sure, the entire appeal of the game is the chaos of the racing—but the action becomes significantly less fun when simply fading into last place will earn you a compensatory lightning bolt or blue spiked shell. While there’s no guarantee that this problem has been addressed here, it’s at least worth noting that during our twenty-plus minutes with the game at E3 this year, we didn’t notice anything outrageously disruptive on the items front. Surely we’ll see the return of the lightning bolt and possibly even the blue shell, but hopefully now the incidence of such items has been notably reduced.

There’s also some kart customization on the menu, as we spent a short few moments putting together our very own prior to racing the three-track circuit.  This worries me a little bit, as it generally means that the playing field isn’t level for all players—yet another feature of recent Mario Kart games which has made them all but inhospitable for players who appreciate some skill in their gaming.  It remains to be seen, however, just how extensive this customization is.  Hopefully in the end it’s more cosmetic or at the very least quite well balanced so that players can’t beat the game, unlock some sort of super kart component, and then dominate all other players.

Technically-speaking, the game is impressive. Visuals appear to be on par with their console counterparts, and the music—at least from the three different races we played—seemed to be, yet again, more dynamic than that of other recent attempts. The track designs also seemed solid and are promised to be littered with the usual spattering of secret passages and shortcuts. Word has it that Retro Studios is actually working on the track designs with Nintendo, so considering their penchant for phenomenal level design (as evidenced by Donkey Kong Country Returns), this ought to be a positive move for the series as well.

Thus far, the tracks are typical.
Thus far, the tracks are typical.

Suffice it to say, I was a little bit taken aback by the number of positive changes which struck me while enjoying Mario Kart. Again, it’s a little too early to know whether or not these details will change as development progresses on the title, but if things keep shaping up in the direction which they’re currently headed, this just might end up being the best Mario Kart title since the Game Boy Advance days. Fingers crossed!