Super Mario Kart came on the Super Nintendo in 1992 and when the Nintendo Wii and DS came out Mario Kart was one of the most popular games played. The fun of being able to race against the computer or some of your friends made it a very competitive game. Players could choose between a variety of different characters to play as and race on many different courses.

Mario Kart Tour came out on mobile devices on Sep. 25, 2019. This put the fun of the game console version in your pocket. However the game has a different approach. Instead of being able to choose any character, you have to earn different characters, vehicles and gliders. Instead of choosing between different courses to choose from, players race in cups to proceed in the game. You must earn enough enough stars to move on to the next cup. This makes the game much harder to get to different courses due to very difficult levels.

I downloaded the game as soon as I heard about it, and I haven’t looked back since. I moved through the first set of cups in a few days, earning five stars on all levels except the very last. 

As a kid I was one of the millions that loved the Wii and DS version of the game. The new mobile game has one very different aspect: no multiplayer mode. At this moment the multiplayer game play is not available and will come out in a later update of the game. 

The mobile game is similar to the console game in many ways. The game has all of the same characters that you can earn with coins throughout the game. The game also has many of the same courses to race on such as Yoshi Circuit, Mario Circuit and Rainbow Road. Also, of course, the in-race gameplay is the same with the gift boxes and drifting.

To continue in the mobile game, unlike the console, you must earn star in each race. You can earn up to five stars and, since there are three races and a challenge that you can only earn up to three stars, in each cup you can earn 18 stars. After you finish each cup, if you have earned all 18 stars, it will say complete and if you finish all cups with 18 stars in each you get an extra reward. You cannot move on to the next cup though if you do not earn the required number of stars which increases after each completed cup. 

I enjoy the mobile game as much as the console game because it comes with a new challenge. Instead of being able to choose any course or character you like, you have to earn them. For me, that gives a fun incentive to play the game. It is a game that never gets old because of the different courses and characters you have every race, unlike on the console where you just raced as your favorite character on your favorite few courses every time.

The only thing for me that makes the console version more enjoyable at this moment is the multiplayer mode. When the multiplayer mode comes out of the mobile game, it will blow up more than it is right now. Multiplayer will bring the people that want to just beat their friends and will make the game even more competitive than the console version.

The mobile version is a big step for Nintendo and Mario Kart. The best part of the app is that it is free to download on your Apple or Android devices, unlike the newest Mario Kart console game, Mario Kart 8, which is $59.99 at any gaming store. That is just another reason why everyone should download the free game and try it out for themselves.