Mario Kart 7

Mario Kart 7
North American box art
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD Retro Studios
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Kosuke Yabuki
Producer(s)	Hideki Konno
Composer(s)	Kenta Nagata Satomi Terui
Series	Mario Kart
Platform(s)	Nintendo 3DS
Release date(s)	JP December 1, 2011 EU December 2, 2011 AUS December 3, 2011 NA December 4, 2011
Genre(s)	Racing
Rating(s)	ACB: G CERO: A ESRB: E PEGI: 3

Mario Kart 7 (マリオカート7, Mario Kāto Sebun) is a 2011 racing video game in the Mario Kart series, developed by Nintendo EAD and Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS handheld game console. The game was released worldwide in early December 2011.

Similar to other games in the Mario Kart series, it incorporates various characters from the Mario games who race against each other on Mario game-themed tracks. New additions to the game include hang-gliding attachments for karts and the ability to drive underwater. Mario Kart 7 received positive reception, gaining aggregate critical scores of 85 and 84.96% on MetaCritic and GameRankings respectively.

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay in the Mario Kart series

Mario Kart 7 carries on traditional Mario Kart gameplay in which players race against each other in go-karts across a variety of themed tracks. While driving, the players are able to obtain power-up items that are used to hinder the progression of opponents or to help the player in the race. Some of these power-ups include the series staple items Koopa Shells, Banana Peels, and Super Mushrooms. Mario Kart 7 also features three items new to the Mario Kart series: the Fire Flower, the Super Leaf, and Lucky 7, which bestows seven items at once. In addition to traditional controls, Mario Kart 7 can be played using the Nintendo 3DS gyroscope, in which the action is viewed in first person and the player steers the kart simply by turning the entire game system.

Mario Kart 7 is particularly notable for sporting features unseen in previous Mario Kart installments. Players are able to customize their vehicles, choosing from various frames which range in weight, a selection of tires which affect a kart's handling on certain surfaces, and a choice of retractable hanggliders, which allow players to glide through the air. Hang gliding may allow players to skip over parts of the track or locate new routes and shortcuts that are otherwise unaccessible. In past games, driving the kart into a body of water was considered going out of bounds and was penalized by delaying the player for several seconds. In Mario Kart 7, the karts are fully submersible and the tracks feature segments that are completely underwater.

The game features 16 playable Mario characters, including Wiggler, Honey Queen, Lakitu, and Metal Mario, who are new to the series, as well as Mii characters saved in the Nintendo 3DS Mii Maker. The characters are divided into different weight classes, which impact their driving styles. Mario Kart 7 offers 32 different tracks, which consist of 16 tracks unique to the game and 16 "classic" tracks, remakes of tracks featured in past Mario Kart games. Coins, originally introduced in Super Mario Kart, are scattered about the tracks; collection increases the player's top speed. The player will lose Coins when he or she comes into contact with hazards or goes out of bounds. Jump actions, which were introduced in Mario Kart Wii as tricks, lets players obtain a brief burst of speed when driving off ramps.

For games played online, Mario Kart 7 utilizes Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and features online multiplayer for up to eight players at once. The game also utilizes the StreetPass and SpotPass modes of the Nintendo 3DS. With SpotPass, players download Time Trial ghost data from other players.

Development

Nintendo EAD began development on Mario Kart 7 in early 2010. The idea to have hang gliding and submersible karts came during the development of the previous Mario Kart game, Mario Kart Wii, and was one of the first gameplay mechanics implemented. The game was first publicly announced at E3 2010 under the tentative title Mario Kart and then shown again at E3 2011, where it was announced for a late 2011 release.

Because Nintendogs + Cats was scheduled to be released first, Mario Kart 7 was given lower priority and only eight staff members were assigned to begin work on it. When it was time to focus on the game, producer Hideki Konno realized that there was not enough staff available due to many other titles being developed at the same time, including The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword which had its production extended into 2011. Nintendo consulted with Retro Studios, which had just finished making Donkey Kong Country Returns, to co-develop the game. Retro started work on Mario Kart 7 in December 2010. The team first focused on producing the classic racing courses, remakes of courses from earlier Mario Kart titles, in order to learn both "lessons about the development process [for Mario Kart games]" and "about what makes a good course from a design perspective."

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	84.96%
Metacritic	85/100
Review scores
Publication	Score
Computer and Video Games	9.4/10
Eurogamer	8/10
IGN	9/10
Nintendo World Report	8.5/10
Destructoid	5/10
Giant Bomb	3/5

Mario Kart 7 has received generally positive reviews. It holds an 85/100 rating on Metacritic based on 60 critic reviews and a 84.96% rating on GameRankings based on 45 reviews. IGN scored it a 9/10, praising "a handful of incredible innovations" and the game's multiplayer, particularly community features and customizable racing rules, but criticizing the small roster of only 17 characters, compared to that of Mario Kart Wii's 25 characters. Computer and Video Games gave the game a 9.4/10 and Eurogamer gave it an 8/10. Nintendo World Report gave the game a 8.5, stating that it is more of the same and the gliding mechanics feel underutilized.

On the more critical side, Destructoid gave the game a 5/10, stating that "sticking to tradition has not worked in Nintendo's favor" and saying the new glider and underwater sections "exist to provide the illusion of variety rather than actually altering the core experience". Giant Bomb scored the game a 3/5, noting "your enjoyment of Mario Kart 7 will likely hinge on your continued appreciation of [the series'] formula".

IGN awarded Mario Kart 7 the IGN's Editors' Choice. Mario Kart 7 was nominated for "Best 3DS Game" and "Best Driving Game" at GameTrailers' 2011 Game of the Year Awards, but lost both respectively to Super Mario 3D Land and Forza Motorsport 4. Digital Spy awarded Mario Kart 7 the "Best Game of 2011" for the Digital Spy readers' awards of 2011.

Mario Kart 7 sold over one million units in the U.S. as of January 3, 2012. In Japan, the game has sold over 1.5 million units as of January 25, 2012. As of January 26, 2012, the game have sold 4.5 million units globally, becoming the second best-selling 3DS game.

External links

• Official website
• Official 3DS-only minisite
• Mario Kart 7 at the Internet Movie Database