Mario Kart Tour facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mario Kart Tour |
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|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Nintendo EPD |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Kosuke Yabuki Yugo Hayashi Shinya Fujiwara |
| Producer(s) | Hideki Konno |
| Programmer(s) | Erika Abe |
| Series | Mario Kart |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Android, iOS |
| Release date(s) | September 25, 2019 |
| Genre(s) | Kart racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Mario Kart Tour is a fun kart racing mobile game released in 2019. It's the fourteenth game in the popular Mario Kart series. Nintendo developed and published this game for phones and tablets, specifically for iOS and Android devices.
The game was first announced in January 2018. It officially launched on September 25, 2019, and you can find it on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Mario Kart Tour brings new adventures with biweekly (every two weeks) themed tours. These tours include different cups, each with three courses and a special challenge. Besides classic Mario Kart tracks, the game also features courses based on real-world cities like New York, Tokyo, Paris, and London.
Contents
Playing Mario Kart Tour: How to Race and Win
Mario Kart Tour changes things up from older Mario Kart games. Instead of just trying to finish first, your main goal is to earn as many points as possible. The game offers different speed options for your races:
- 50cc: This is a relaxed, "leisurely" speed.
- 100cc: This is a "fast" speed.
- 150cc: This is "very fast."
- 200cc: This speed is "too fast" and is only available for Gold Pass subscribers.
A cool feature is that much of the driving, like speeding up and doing jump boosts, happens automatically. But don't worry, you still get to steer and use items! The game also includes fun features from previous Mario Kart games, such as racing underwater and gliding through the air, first seen in Mario Kart 7.
Understanding Tours and Cups
Mario Kart Tour uses a special format called "Tours." These tours are named after real cities, Mario characters, or other fun themes. Each tour lasts for two weeks, starting on Wednesday mornings. During a tour, you can compete in many cups, usually between twelve and eighteen. You can also collect special drivers, karts, and gliders that match the tour's theme. Some special items are only available for a limited time during a tour.
Each Cup has three race courses and one bonus challenge. Sometimes, courses from older cups are used again in new ones. Most races have two laps, while bonus challenges are usually just one lap. Unlike other Mario Kart games, the cups in Mario Kart Tour are named after characters instead of items.
Earning Rewards and Leveling Up
After you finish a race, you earn different rewards:
- Grand Stars: These help you unlock special tour gifts.
- Coins: You can use these to buy things in the game.
- Experience Points (XP): These help your characters, karts, and gliders get stronger.
If you finish in the top three, you also earn player points. These points help you increase your player level. If you finish in 5th place or lower, your level gauge might go down. When your level gauge is full, you level up and get a reward! The highest player level you can reach is 150.
There are daily limits on how many experience points and coins you can earn from racing. Once you reach these limits, you'll need to wait until the next morning to earn more from races. However, you can still get more coins by playing "Coin Rush" or use special "point-boost tickets" for your characters, karts, and gliders.
Bonus Challenges and Tournaments
In each cup, there's a bonus challenge where you need to complete a specific task. The character shown for the challenge is always chosen for you, even if you don't own them yet. Completing a bonus challenge gives you three Grand Stars. Some challenges let you pick any character, kart, and glider you want.
Every week, one of the tour's cups becomes a tournament. You'll be placed on a leaderboard with 20 other players based on your total score for that cup. At the end of the week, you'll see how well you did. If you finish near the top, you'll move up in "tier" and get rewards. If you don't do well, you might lose a tier or two. You can also earn rewards if your score, combined with your friends' scores, reaches a certain amount.
Multiplayer Racing
The game originally featured races against computer-controlled opponents. However, multiplayer racing was officially launched on March 8, 2020. Now, you can race against up to seven other players! These can be your in-game friends, people nearby, or even players from all over the world.
There are two main types of multiplayer races:
- Standard Races: These are for all players and only use the 100cc speed.
- Gold Races: These are only for players who have the Gold Pass. They offer faster speeds like 150cc and 200cc.
In multiplayer, you have a rank (from F to A, or S to S+6 if you have the Gold Pass). When you win a multiplayer race, your rank percentage goes up. If you lose, it might go down or stay the same.
In July 2020, the game received an update that allowed players to choose how they hold their device. You can now play the game in either portrait mode (holding your phone upright) or landscape mode (holding it sideways).
How Mario Kart Tour Was Made
In January 2018, Nintendo announced they were making a mobile version of the popular Mario Kart series for phones and tablets. Before the game was fully released, Nintendo held a special "closed beta" test in April 2019. This test was only for Android users and took place from late May to early June.
The game was originally planned to be released by March 2019, but it officially launched on September 25, 2019. Just one day after its release, on September 26, Mario Kart Tour had already been downloaded over ten million times!
To celebrate the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary, the game got an update that added two new characters. These were SNES Mario and Donkey Kong Jr.. These characters hadn't been seen in the Mario Kart series since the very first game, Super Mario Kart.
See also
In Spanish: Mario Kart Tour para niños
