Mario Kart Tour

Mario Kart Tour is a racing game about everyone's favorite plumber, his friends, and enemies. They engage in go-kart races. You should navigate twisty tracks and use turtles, bombs, and banana peels to take out the competition.

Gameplay

The gameplay here is a simplified version of other Mario Kart games. It's all about racing against AI-controlled opponents and other players. Races have two laps, and the AI seems to be more forgiving than it is in other Mario Kart games, to the point where every race is easy.

Item Ticket simplifies the game even further. It can be used to fill empty slots during the race. If you are racing with three item slots and get three of the same items, you will go into the Frenzy mode. In this mode, players can use the item as many times as they want.

Monetization

Mario Kart Tour offers rubies in exchange for real money. There are also packages that include rubies with a bonus kart or a driver. Rubies can get you more coins, which will buy you more drivers, gliders, and karts. You can earn coins in the game, but there is a daily limit.

Rubies can be used to fire off the pipe cannon. Ruby packages range from $1.99 and go all the way up to $69.99. As you can see, Mario Kart Tour is paying to win – karts are tiered, and higher-tiered ones drive faster. If that's not enough, you can also get a Gold Pass that gives you exclusive rewards and bonuses. Everything is done to make you spend more money.

Leveling up is crippled, so if you want to get more points per race, you'll have to spend coins to buy tickets. Without rubies, you can't get enough coins to buy everything you need.

Not Recommended

Mario Kart Tour could have been a great game, if not for the monetization system. We wouldn't recommend it to fans looking for a way to play their favorite game on mobile. The exploitative design and simplified gameplay mechanic screams of a game made to increase profits. This is a spot on Mario Kart's perfect reputation.

Pros

• An approachable racer;
• Simple control scheme;
• Impossible to fall off the track.

Cons

• Pressures to spend money;
• Favors players who buy rubies.