One click for the App Store, another for the search bar, one more for the game and finally one for the new mobile Mario Kart experience. The App Store recently added the Mario Kart game as a mobile game. Previously, it could only be played on other platforms like Wii. 

Nintendo released the game as Mario Kart Tour and it launched on September 25. The game is free to download and users simply link their Nintendo account or create a new one in order to play.

Players move through two-week long tours. Each tour has about 16 cups that are labelled with character’s names.Such cups include the “Mario Cup” and the “Bowser Jr. Cup.” Players move through these cups by gaining “grand stars,” the more you get, the farther into the tour you can play.

The first tour came out upon the game’s release on September 25 and was set in New York. The second tour began on October 9 and will be set in Tokyo. 

The game offers a variety of courses, some of which are recognizable from previous Mario Kart game versions, but there are a few that are new. Each course is detailed and different, which offer a new and entertaining experience when playing the game.  

Many of the courses in a tour reflect the location itself. The New York Tour included a course called “New York Minute,” which features a Mario-version of Times Square and Central Park. The Tokyo Tour features a “Tokyo Blur” race where players get to race through Tokyo.  

Aside from the racing component of the game, there is plenty to see and do. There are weekly point rankings for specific cup and there is also a store where characters, karts and gliders are available daily for purchase. 

The game is extremely popular and highly anticipated. It is one of the most successful mobile Nintendo games ever. Even though its popularity was unmatched by other Nintendo projects, there are some things that can be fixed. The game can only be played in portrait mode, though a landscape mode might make more sense. The game is also missing some of the characteristics of previous versions that fans enjoyed: off-road driving and reversing

 Though there are some improvements to be made, it is safe to say that Mario Kart Tour is one of the biggest mobile successes from Nintendo so far. In general, the rating would be four out of five stars.