Introduction
Today we are going to dive into a Mario Kart game but not just any old Mario Kart, we are racing onto the mobile with Mario Kart Tour! The answers that we are looking for are, is this game really free to play? Is the gameplay good, or is this just a cash grab? We have played with the gold pass which grants you awards and more loot, and afterwards without, how hard do you need the gold pass to progress? Since this is a mobile game that changes cups, aka levels, each week, there will be no story in this review.
What did I think before playing Mario Kart Tour?
I wanted to find a few mobile games to review, I am still angry at Super Mario Run for deleting my files when switching to another phone. Instead, I found another game, Mario Kart Tour! I have always been a fan of Mario Kart games, I sadly have not gotten enough time to start reviewing them yet, thus I wanted to start now! For more information, I went to the official website.
The Microsoft store page
https://mariokarttour.com/en-US
This site contains all the information you could need, some of the characters that you can collect, it also mentions the gold pass I spoke about earlier. Most of the courses seem to be based on cities, but there are also courses from the other Mario Kart games, but in some places they are altered.
Rating
I rate Mario Kart Tour with a 7.1 before playing.
This game seems like a lot of fun, but I was a bit skeptical since it is a kind of gacha game where you need to collect drivers, karts and gliders.
Gameplay
Mario Kart Tour gameplay has modules of two weeks, this means that there will be new cups and races every two weeks with new rewards and gifts. However, to get most of these gifts, you will need the gold pass. The rarity of drivers, karts and gliders goes from common to super to high end. If you do not have the gold pass, most gifts will be common, while gold pass users will get super and high-end rewards.
The races are usually two laps and 150CC is the highest race speed unless you are a golden pass user. If you own the golden pass, which is a monthly subscription, you can race on 200CC. In each cup section, you can also complete challenges on bingo cards. However, one of them is locked behind the gold pass. The other needs to be paid for next to the golden pass. There is also a daily shop, but items can get expensive coin wise, while gold pass users get overflowed with coins in the beginning of a tour, normal players barely get any coins.
In races, you can only collect 300 coins each day, however with gold pass, this limit goes up to 600. One high-end item costs 12,000 coins. Meaning that with the tour gifts, daily coin farming, and maybe even some coins from multiplayer, you can barely afford one high end. Which is where rubies also come in. The ruby to coin ratio is horrible! You can use rubies to get new drivers, but if you have horrible luck, you will need to pay up once again or just take your losses.
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Mario Kart Tour with a 3.0
This was a hard rating to give, the game is fun when you have the gold pass. However, this is the caveat, you need to keep paying to get items in this game, stop paying, and the game basically craps over you, there is no nicer way of saying it. Free to play is simply not an option with this game. Before long, you will have lost mountains of real gold, and it barely got you anywhere in the game at all.
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics are good and, weird enough, free! There are many possible combinations with drivers, karts and gliders. That is, if you have any luck with the pipes. Or you just happened to join a great event where you can get one high-end item with event tokens!
Sound
The sound is mediocre at best, Most of the soundtracks and sound effects are from other Mario Kart games or just slightly altered. Nonetheless, it is Nintendo and I did enjoy the soundtracks.
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Mario Kart Tour with a 7.3.
At least you have something pretty to look at while your wallet is being emptied.
What did I think after playing Mario Kart Tour?
I can barely fathom in words how horrible this game actually is. I do not mean the gameplay per se, this is a casino, where you need to pay to enter. A casino altered perfectly for young kids and adults to spend all their hard-earned dough and barely get anything back. Maybe you get some virtual, awesome high-end driver. It will give you a high, and you keep on spending, and spend even more, before you know it, you are broke like in a real casino. Some people would spend so much that they get debts or even lose their house.
I would advise leaving this game alone, or play it if you can restrain yourself from purchasing anything, you might have fun while playing this game. If you have however any issue with restraining yourself from making purchases, you should avoid this game at all costs.
Rating
I rate Mario Kart Tour with a 1 after playing.
I would rather pay a single time price instead of getting dragged into a casino hidden in a game.
What are my personal thoughts about Mario Kart Tour?
Mario Kart Tour seems like a great game at first sight, but in fact, you could better play any other Mario Kart.
Rating
My personal Rating of Mario Kart Tour is a 1.0
This is not a game that you should play if you are prone to buy microtransactions.
Last Words
Pros
- Mario Kart Tour has a lot of different drivers
- There are many different levels to race on that switch every two weeks
Cons
- You need the gold pass montlhy subscription to gain access to all the rewards
- You might need to pay a lot to get what you want in this game
- There is a huge grinding curve if you want to gain new items.
Characters all have their favorite course, to get enough points, you will need many different drivers and level them up! However, I would just avoid this game.
Final Rating
4.6
Let me know what you think of Mario Kart Tour in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
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Such a cash grab game…
“You might need to pay a lot to get what you want in this game”
DROPPED
2022 is the year when players should collectively agree to shun licensed mobile games based on other video games.
Don’t think I seen this game before and looks cool, reminded me of Mario Kart DS.
Looks like a fun game, even on mobile.
All we ask, Nintendo, is keep this microtransaction crap in your mobile games and far far away from your consoles.
And please bring your games to the PC lol.
Strict reviewing i like it. I always though those microtransactions in mobile games are crazy but hey, if they weren’t very profitable to producers they wouldn’t use this model 😛
There are only a few people that pay boatloads, those are the people keeping this model alive.
i hate mobile games, they are cash grab trash
Great Review!!!!
not my kind of game… thanks for the review nonetheless!
still gives off the authentic mario kart vibes. its just a big no cause of the microtransactions
The microtransactions are horrible.
Shame on it all
Predatory microtransactions = instant 0/10
I know how you feel.
That sounds horrible! I hate this
The game is fun, if only it had no microtransactions.
Very big fan of Mario games, tnx for the review
You are welcome!
This is my kind of game, but F2P nonsense like daily rewards and premium passes and gambling mechanics always gets a hard NO from me.
It can be fun if it is cosmetics only.
the man, the myth, the Mario
I had already heard about the horrible practices that Nintendo implemented in this game, but after reading the review I see that it’s worse, much worse than I thought.
It can indeed be predatory, I would prefer complete games.