Mario Kart 7: My thoughts of the game.
User Rating: 7 | Mario Kart 7 3DS
I got this game for Christmas last year and I thought that Mrio Kart 7 was a decent game, but has some of the annoying traits carried over by Mario Kart Wii. You start with 8 characters in the beginning of the game: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Toad and Koopa Troopa. You can unlock 8 additional characters: Metal Mario, Daisy, Wiggler, Queen Honey, Shy Guy, Lakitu, Wario and Rosalina by finishing first in every cup in 150cc. You can also unlonk your Mii as a playable character if you win all cups on any cc level. I like playing with all of the characters, even with the girls. Now to gameplay. The gameplay in Mario Kart 7 is very much the same as all of the other Mario Kart games, but the most relatable title Mario Kart 7 resembles is Mario Kart Wii. You can do stunts while you are in the air after going over a jump, or a bump. However, you can't do stunts on the glider. You can customize your vehicle by unlocking various parts by earning coins in each race. To unlock all of the parts, you will need at least 20,000 coins. You basically have the same items as you did in the previous Mario Kart 7, except there is one new item: the 7. The 7 utilizes the seven basic items used in Mario Kart 7. There are more than seven items in the game. One item I noticed that Nintendo removed was the Boo item. I liked that item; why did Nintendo have to remove it? The two most annoying items are present in this game: Spiny Shells and Lightning Bolts, which is what brings me to what annoying traits from Mario Kart Wii that Mario Kart 7 possesses. One trait is when you are leading the race comfortably, near the end of the race, you get pelted with Spiny Shells, Lightning Bolts and Red Shells, which cause you to lose the race. I was very frustrated when this kept happening to me when I was trying to get a three star ranking for each cup. Another trait are the split courses. What I mean by "split courses" are the courses that have one or more sections to the track. I'd prefer the courses be one big piece, not broken up into sections. This is my old-school voice talking, so feel free to disagree. Another trait is that the power sliding has been dumbed down, just like it was in Mario Kart Wii. In the older Mario Kart games, you had to do a lot of power sliding and have exceptional driving skills to go very fast and win. In Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, when you try to power slide manually, the kart does not react to well to your command to power slide. When you turn into the corner, the kart will automatically power slide. To get the maximum effect of the power slide, you have to turn the kart very sharply to a point where you accidentally run off the road, or hit a barrier etc. I don't like this, because no matter which line you run in the corners, you should be able to power slide easily. It seems as though Nintendo is really taking away the skill from the game and making it to where anybody can do well. I remember Mario Kart Wii when I raced without the items. I easily obliterated the field and do know why? I'll tell you. I have pure driving skills! In Mario Kart 7, if in a race where no items are used, I would easily win each race. The Mario Kart franchise continues to go very well, but the franchise is starting to disappoint old school gamers like myself, who have played Super Mario Kart up until Mario Kart DS. I would recommend buying, or renting this game if you own a Nintendo 3DS (whichever option you feel is the most comfortable).
