Well before XBOX and PlayStation were in stores all around the nation, Nintendo’s Wii had one of the greatest video games in its possession: “”Super Mario Kart”.” As if the game being streamed on a television wasn’t enough, Mario Kart then developed into a chip for a Nintendo DS, allowing for people to play mobily on tablets for the very first time. Then, by surprise to all, the app store launched “Mario Kart Tour,” bringing back the happiness the races first brought us all. On Sept. 25, kids of all ages were filled with excitement as “Super Mario Kart” made its grand debut on the app store.
The creation of this app has brought a lot of enthusiasm to past lovers of “Mario Kart” who have not had the opportunity to play the game since Wii was extremely popular at the time.
“I used to play ‘Mario Kart’ when I was little and it was my favorite thing to do,” Ava Dedominico ’23 said. “Now I get to do it again and bring back some good memories.”
From its release date, “Mario Kart Tour” has already passed about 10 million downloads worldwide. However, this was not a surprise considering “Super Mario Kart” was one of the most popular franchises created by Nintendo, according to VentureBeat.
The game has remained mostly the same as when it originally came out in April 2008, when it was just a car race simulation that the players could control on the remote. With the development of the app now, the cars are controlled by the movement of the users’ finger on the screen.
“I find it a lot harder to control the car with my finger,” Shannon Conte ’21 said. “Other than that, the features are generally very similar to the Wii version.”
Players believe that the game was a true way to bring people together. The Wii version of the video game included an element where users could race other users, although the mobile app has not added this feature to the game. Despite this, the app does include certain features such as receiving prizes to unlock new cars and characters and cups that allow the player to advance into more difficult races. The original video game did not include these features.
“As a kid, I used to play “Super Mario Kart” all the time on Wii,” Emmy Bassler ’21 said. “With all of my family, we would have a lot of fun races together.”
The overall reaction to the release of the game has been generally very positive and the game has officially hit the top spots in the app store.
“Having the game available in the app store rather than on Wii makes it much easier to play,” Bassler said. “Bringing the game back really makes life more fun.”