Mario Kart 7 - 7 Things You May Not Know
By:
Andre Segers
|
November 22, 2011, 10:22 pm

Mario Kart 7 is nearly upon the gaming masses, and we've been having a lot of fun with it here in the office. Now as long-time fans of the Mario Kart series, we noticed some details that haven't really received a lot of coverage, so we decided to write about them! 7 of them, conveniently, in fact!

 
The N64 Version of the Blue Shell is back...mostly!
When the Blue Shell first appeared in Mario Kart 64, it functioned a little differently than it has in recent games. Instead of flying above every racer to home in on the 1st place position, it used to race along the track knocking anyone in its path out of its way. But now we get the best of both worlds: the Blue Shell races along the track like in MK64, before taking to the air as it reaches the first place racer to dive-bomb them, creating an explosion that can also affect nearby racers.
 

Being in first sounds great...literally.
Yes, we all love being in 1st, but now there’s an extra special incentive: the music actually changes. Whenever you snag first (and hold a comfortable lead), you’ll hear additional instruments layered into the music, similar to when you hop on Yoshi in the Mario platforming games. It’s a small detail, but one that makes that 1st place seem all the sweeter.

No Snaking.
Mario Kart 7 uses the same time-based power-sliding mechanic as Mario Kart Wii, which means snaking is a thing of the past. For those unfamiliar, in the older Mario Karts, you could power-slide back and forth along straightaways to gain a significant speed advantage against your opponents. But that changed with Mario Kart Wii, which replaced the ‘tilting the control stick’ method of power-sliding with one based on time, preventing its abuse (hey, we were abusers too!).
 


 
Tricks are Back!
First introduced in Mario Kart Wii, the trick-system returns, allowing you to perform a trick when going off a jump to gain a quick speed-boost once you hit the ground. However, while in Mario Kart Wii, you had the option of using motion controls or a button press to perform one (depending on your control scheme), it’s handled strictly with the R-button this time around.

Computer Opponents are Smarter
The Mario Kart series has always had a troubled history with CPU opponents. The original featured complete simpletons who wouldn’t deviate from their set-path and could only use a single weapon assigned to them. Things have improved gradually in the games since, but never before have your opponents been so adept at weapon usage. Whether it was shells or fireballs, they would hit me with alarming frequency, forcing me to up my defensive strategy. Hell, I even noticed one of the CPUs holding out on using a lightning bolt until just after I had exited a “blast tunnel” in which I was immune. That’s smart.
 
They're watching...
 
 
Retro tracks are back, but different!
It’s become a trend in the more recent Mario Kart games to supplement the new tracks with ones from older games. And while there were always some small tweak, they were pretty accurate recreations. 

That’s changed. 

In Mario Kart 3DS, many of the Retro tracks have undergone some significant changes, such as some brand new paths (some  have been removed), altered shortcuts, and new aerial and underwater sections to take advantage of the new gameplay mechanics. It’s actually really neat to explore these classic levels that are still recognizable, but different enough to seem slightly unfamiliar. 
 

 
 
Online Play is Great
Nintendo has been rightly lambasted for its often frusterating online setup, but Mario Kart Wii was one of the few games to get it right. And luckly for Mario Kart 7, that's remained intact. In fact, the online setup is almost identical, right down to the global interface showing where your opponents are from. Which means if you’re coming from the DS version, this is a significant upgrade. Now a full 8-people can play online (as opposed to 4), items can be dragged behind you, and you can now ram into your opponents as well. It’s extremely seamless, and almost seems as if you’re in the same room as your opponents. Now if only there were voice chat.
 
Check out the rest of our Mario Kart 7 coverage...
 
 
 
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