Mario Kart 7 is an exciting racer that achieves what a karting game should – lighthearted fun and great replay-value.
Racing in Mario Kart 7 entails selecting a difficulty first. This is split into three sections, name 50cc (easy), 100cc (normal) and 150cc (hard). You start out with only a couple of tournaments at first, but unlock more as you go along. Tournaments are groups of four tracks pooled together, and your points – tallied after you've completed your fourth race – determine what overall position you end in. As you go along and achieve high overall finishes you unlock more and more tournaments. There are eight in total, and consist of a wide variety of locations – from Luigi's Mansion to a giant pinball-machine and Koopa Troopa beach. The game does a good job at staying fresh, and odds are there will always be a tournament that you haven't played in a while – one which is just waiting to be enjoyed.
There is a great degree of customisation in Mario Kart 7. You unlock custom karts, wheels and gliders by collecting coins whilst racing. The gliding aspect of the game – which sees you soar through the sky at chosen intervals – is a great addition to the series and adds gloss to an already shiny product. There are few things as satisfying as shooting down opponents midair like a fighter pilot. The controls are easy to master, and you use the analog pad to steer whilst using the A button to go forward and the R button to drift around corners.
Apart from tournaments there are three additional modes; Time Trials, which see you trying to post the fastest lap possible; Balloon Battle, in which you try to pop your opponent's balloons; and Coin Battle, where you try to collect the most coins from a sandbox map before the time runs out. These modes offer charming distractions, but the main focus of the game remains the Grand Prix mode (4-race tournaments). On the down side, Mario Kart 7 contains no Quick Race option – races are all grouped as tournaments – and so if there is a track you particularly like you have to race the tournament to get to it. This however distracts less than one would imagine. The races are quick (all consist of 3 laps) and you speed through a tournament rather quickly. Although the multiplayer is great – you can play both locally and online – the experience isn't quite as awesome as it would be playing on regular console with a large screen. Once you beat the game by winning the gold cup of every tournament you unlock the option to race as your Mii avatar, which is a nice touch.
In conclusion, Mario Kart 7 is a great game packed with enough tracks, difficulty levels and customisation to keep you coming back for more. The rivalries you strike up whilst racing (Mario vs Luigi for one) – even when it's only you and the AI – feel authentic, and pipping an opponent to the overall trophy of a tournament is greatly rewarding. Mario Kart 7 has great replay-value, and should be in the collection of any self-respecting 3DS owner.