Another Nintendo System, another Mario Kart. On the show floor I was able to get my hands on the demo for Mario Kart for the 3DS, racing two tracks (against the CPU only). The new elements in this iteration look to include some new kart customization, as well as new Air/Land/Sea portions where the kart automatically transforms with the necessary equipment to traverse the terrain. Read: glider for air, submarine under water.
For my cart in the first race I picked the default options, but it would seem that this time around the choice of character may have less of an impact since you can customize the kart with things like giant wheels. Some of the customization options were grayed out for this demo, though.
The first track, which was shown in various smatterings in the trailer during Nintendo’s press conference, has sections were the hang glider pops out the back as you glide down to the ground from off of a ramp. In certain instances you can aim yourself with the proper trajectory to gain a bit of a lead by cutting through the course in the air.
The second track, also seen in the trailer, had portions where you went under water, with a little propeller popping up on the back of the vehicle. From my brief play through, these sections mainly seemed to just add some good variety to each race, and little more than that. Coins are also back in this version, which have not been seen since Mario Kart Super Circuit on the GBA. However in my play through, being instantly familiar with the classically inspired controls, I came in first both times and, frankly, am not sure if a lack of coins causes a spin out if hit by other racers (as in previous versions).
As I mentioned above the controls were instantly familiar if you have played Mario Kart on the DS (or really any Mario Kart since Mario Kart 64). The ability to “snake” didn’t seem to be there (like it was in Mario Kart DS), and it felt more familiar to how they handled the “snaking” problem in Mario Kart Wii.
The 3D effect was one of the better use cases, as there is little moving of the game unit, and it ran at a solid rate with crisp and bright colors. So far, I imagine something really awful has to happen from now until “Holiday 2011” to not make this an enjoyable addition to the series even if there is no drastic game play change a la Mario Kart Double Dash.
1 Comment