Mario Kart Tour - Kiến Thức Cho Người lao Động Việt Nam

Mario Kart Tour is a mobile game in the Mario Kart series. Like Super Mario Run, it is free-to-start from the App Store and Google Play.[6] The game reuses many assets from Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, as well as gameplay mechanics such as gliding, underwater driving, and character-specific special items. In addition, the game introduces some features new to the Mario Kart franchise, such as reversed courses, trick courses, and the ability to deploy a large amount of any item during a race, including Spiny Shells and Bullet Bills.

The game was first announced during a financial briefing on January 31, 2018.[7] On April 23, 2019, Nintendo opened applications for participating in a closed beta test of the game to Android users in North America and Japan, which began on May 22, 2019, and ended on June 4, 2019.[8] The game officially launched for iOS, iPadOS, and Android devices on September 25, 2019, in 163 territories, which covers nearly the same roster of availability as Super Mario Run, with the exceptions of Belgium and Vietnam, the former of which banned games with loot boxes in 2019 for violating gambling laws.[9] Users who pre-registered acquired the game a day early. Unlike the previous Mario mobile games, a Nintendo Account is required for it to be playable.

On October 31, 2019, Nintendo announced the first multiplayer beta test exclusive to Gold Pass members,[10] which began on December 18, 2019, 11:00 p.m. (PT) and ended on December 26, 2019, 9:59 p.m. (PT). On January 21, 2020, Nintendo announced a second multiplayer beta test for all players, regardless of whether they have a Gold Pass subscription or not,[11] which began on January 22, 2020, 11:00 p.m. (PT) and ended on January 28, 2020, 9:59 p.m. (PT). The second multiplayer beta test allowed players to play with each other in their immediate vicinity based on their device’s location data. Finally, on March 2, 2020, Nintendo announced that multiplayer would officially be implemented into the game on March 8, 2020, at 8:00 p.m. (PT).[12]

On September 1, 2022, Nintendo announced that Battle Mode would be added to the game on October 5, 2022.[13] It was released in the eponymous Battle Tour.

Gameplay

The goal of the game is to be in first place at the end of each race and get a high score, using items obtained by driving through Item Boxes. The game is played in a portrait or landscape position, while the phone’s touch controls are used to play the game, such as dragging the finger across the screen to steer the kart. There are three ways the player can make turns. For the phones supporting it, the gyroscope can be used to steer. The player can choose what action is started when tapping and sliding the fingers on the main area of the screen, with the other action being performed by tapping a small circular button at the bottom and then sliding the fingers if needed. The main setting has the driver jumping every time the screen is tapped, allowing the kart to drift by sliding the fingers. In the other configuration, the kart does not jump when tapping the screen, which results in it steering when sliding the fingers on the screen. After steering for a while, the kart starts auto-drifting and charging Mini-Turbos and Super Mini-Turbos, but not Ultra Mini-Turbos that are only charged when drifting. Similarly to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with auto-accelerate and smart-steering enabled, karts accelerate automatically and can steer players away from walls. The intensity of smart-steering can be changed in the game’s settings. If smart-steering is turned off, the player will be able to access most shortcuts without using Mushrooms, albeit slower.

The game’s mechanics are based on Mario Kart 7, and many of its courses (both new and retro) return in Mario Kart Tour. A few features from Mario Kart 8 that required substantial changes to the game, such as Bikes, ATVs, anti-gravity, and 12-player races, are missing, while the 200cc class is present. Other features from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, such as auto-accelerate, smart-steering, and Ultra Mini-Turbos return. Unlike previous games, the player cannot customize their tires.

When a race is completed, the player will be awarded with Grand Stars, experience points for the used driver, kart, and glider whose base points are not maxed out, and coins. If the player finishes in the top three places, the gauge to level up will be filled, while if the placement is 5th or lower, the gauge will be dropped. When the gauge is already empty, however, the player will not level down. Only the points gained in the specific course will be lost, meaning that the first race on each course won’t make the player lose experience points even if they arrive in 8th place; similarly, each course has an experience points cap. The more experience points have already been gained on a specific course, the fewer experience points will be awarded by arriving in the first three places until the cap is reached. At that point, only the experience points lost due to arriving in 5th place or lower will be regained when arriving in the first three places. The total amount of experience points gained in a course is never reset and is carried to the following tours, forcing the player to drive in new courses to still keep gaining experience points and leveling up.

Grand Stars are awarded depending on whether a certain point threshold has been reached. Experience points for the driver, kart, and glider are awarded depending on the placement. The coins obtained are those collected during the race, plus one additional coin for every 1,000 points obtained during the race. Each day, it is possible to obtain up to 450 experience points for the drivers, karts, and gliders and up to 300 coins by racing (900 experience points and 600 coins when the player is subscribed to the Gold Pass starting with version 2.4.0). When those limits are reached the player cannot obtain experience points or coins by racing until the next day. In order to continue gaining experience points or collecting coins, the player can use point-boost tickets for the former and can play Coin Rush or get rewards from challenges for the latter. Filling up the gauge to level up gives a reward to the player, increases the points earned when reaching a specific placement in the race and, when level 7 or level 12 are reached, allows the player to buy more items in the shop. Currently, the maximum level the player can reach is 400.

Placement

Experience points for each non-maxed out driver, kart and glider that was used in the race

50cc
100cc
150cc and 200cc

8
9
10

7
8
9

6
7
8

5
6
7

4
5
6

3
4
5

2
3
4

1
2
3

Another premium item, bought with real-life currency according to a monthly subscription model, is the Gold Pass, which grants access to the 200cc engine class, Gold Races (and multiplayer ranks S to S+6), additional items from Tour Gifts, and Gold Challenges. Players can gain rewards by renewing their Gold Pass subscription, such as ten rubies every month and a regular high end from a gold pipe for every three months of continuous subscription.

Every driver, kart, and glider has favorite courses, on which they offer advantages if they are used. Each course has three tiers for each driver, kart, and glider. Third-tier drivers receive one item from every Item Box, second-tier drivers receive two items and first-tier drivers receive three items. Second-tier karts give a bonus points multiplier of 1.5 and first-tier karts give a bonus points multiplier of 2. Second-tier gliders increase the time between two point-gaining actions to count as a combo and give a combo bonus multiplier of 2 and first-tier gliders increase the combo-time even longer and give a combo bonus multiplier of 3. The player can enter a Frenzy by obtaining three of the same item at the same time, which allows the player to temporarily use that item an infinite amount of times in addition to granting them invincibility. Super and High-End drivers, karts, and gliders have a higher number of points gained when choosing them and more preferred courses. In addition, drivers have their own special items, similar to Mario Kart: Double Dash!!‘s item system. Karts have their own driving-related bonus such as increasing the effectiveness of drifting, while gliders increase the likelihood of obtaining a certain item and the points gained when using said item. All drivers, karts, and gliders can be leveled up, and they all come with upgrades once this occurs. Since the 2.6.0 update, drivers, karts, and gliders are able to upgrade a favored course to a favorite course from being leveled up, with Normal items gaining one after reaching level 6, Super items gaining two after reaching levels 3 and 6, and High-End items gaining four after reaching levels 3 and 6.

The courses the player can play depends on the tour, which changes every two weeks. Since the Battle Tour, each tour has fifteen cups, and adds new drivers, karts, gliders, and courses. Starting with the Baby Rosalina Tour until the Anniversary Tour, each tour had twelve cups. Starting with the 2019 Paris Tour until the Mario Bros. Tour, each tour had eighteen cups. Starting from the New York Tour until the 2019 Halloween Tour, each tour had sixteen cups. During certain tours, mainly ones themed around real-world locations, the game includes one course that is new to the series. Each cup contains three races and one bonus challenge. Bonus challenges require the player to beat a certain goal with a certain character, kart, and glider. Once each of the courses and the bonus challenge are all played and enough Grand Stars are obtained, the player can move on to the next cup. In later tours, cups are automatically unlocked without any requirements. In Mario Kart Tour, cups are named after the playable characters.

Ranked cup

Every week, one of the tour’s cups is a ranked cup. In a ranked cup, the player is placed on a leaderboard based on their overall score in the game against nineteen other players. The player gains a reward for finishing in the top 10 and will increase in tier at the end of the week if their end position is near the top, while they will lose one or two tiers if finishing poorly enough above tier 20. Since the Cooking Tour, tier 25 and up rewards points-cap tickets for the top few positions. These tickets, along with the corresponding point-boost tickets, rotate between driver, kart, and glider tickets on a weekly basis. In some tours, drivers replaced coins in the rewards for moving to a higher tier. Currently, the highest tier the player can reach is 99.

Placement

Rewards

From tier 1

From tier 11

From tier 21

From tier 25

From tier 30

From tier 35

From tier 40

From tier 45

From tier 50

From tier 60

From tier 80

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,000
Point-boost tickets ×3 of each type

Rubies ×25
Coins ×1,100
Point-boost tickets ×3 of each type

Rubies ×30
Coins ×1,200
Point-boost tickets ×3 of each type

Rubies ×30
Coins ×1,200
Point-boost tickets ×3
Points-cap tickets ×1 Normal

Rubies ×35
Coins ×1,500
Point-boost tickets ×3
Points-cap tickets ×1 Super, ×1 Normal

Rubies ×35
Coins ×1,500
Points-cap tickets ×1 High-End, ×1 Super, ×1 Normal

Rubies ×40
Coins ×2,000
Points-cap tickets ×3 High-End, ×3 Super, ×3 Normal

Rubies ×40
Coins ×2,000
Points-cap tickets ×4 High-End, ×4 Super, x4 Normal

Rubies ×40
Coins ×2,000
Points-cap tickets ×5 High-End, ×5 Super, ×5 Normal

Rubies ×40
Coins ×2,000
Points-cap tickets ×6 High-End, ×6 Super, ×6 Normal

Rubies ×25
Coins ×2,000
Points-cap tickets ×7 High-End, ×7 Super, ×7 Normal

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,000
Point-boost tickets ×2 of each type

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,100
Point-boost tickets ×2 of each type

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,200
Point-boost tickets ×2 of each type

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,200
Point-boost tickets ×2
Points-cap tickets ×1 Normal

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,200
Point-boost tickets ×3
Points-cap tickets ×1 Super, ×1 Normal

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,200
Points-cap tickets ×3 High-End, ×3 Super, ×3 Normal

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,200
Points-cap tickets ×4 High-End, ×4 Super, ×4 Normal

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,500
Points-cap tickets ×5 High-End, ×5 Super, ×5 Normal

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,500
Points-cap tickets ×6 High-End, ×6 Super, ×6 Normal

Rubies ×20
Coins ×1,500
Points-cap tickets ×7 High-End, ×7 Super, ×7 Normal

Rubies ×10
Coins ×1,000
Point-boost tickets ×1 of each type

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,100
Point-boost tickets ×1 of each type

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,200
Point-boost tickets ×1 of each type

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,200
Point-boost tickets ×1
Points-cap tickets ×1 Normal

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,200
Point-boost tickets ×2
Points-cap tickets ×1 Normal

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,200
Points-cap tickets ×2 High-End, ×2 Super, ×2 Normal

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,200
Points-cap tickets ×3 High-End, ×3 Super, ×3 Normal

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,200
Points-cap tickets ×4 High-End, ×4 Super, ×4 Normal

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,200
Points-cap tickets ×5 High-End, ×5 Super, ×5 Normal

Rubies ×15
Coins ×1,200
Points-cap tickets ×6 High-End, ×6 Super, ×6 Normal

Rubies ×5
Coins ×500

Rubies ×10
Coins ×600

Rubies ×10
Coins ×600
Point-boost tickets ×1

Rubies ×10
Coins ×600
Points-cap tickets ×1 High-End, ×2 Super, ×2 Normal

Rubies ×10
Coins ×600
Points-cap tickets ×2 High-End, ×2 Super, ×2 Normal

Rubies ×10
Coins ×600
Points-cap tickets ×3 High-End, ×3 Super, ×3 Normal

Rubies ×10
Coins ×600
Points-cap tickets ×4 High-End, ×4 Super, ×4 Normal

Rubies ×10
Coins ×600
Points-cap tickets ×5 High-End, ×5 Super, ×5 Normal

Coins ×300

Rubies ×5
Coins ×400

Rubies ×5
Coins ×400
Points-cap tickets ×2 Super, ×2 Normal

Rubies ×5
Coins ×400
Points-cap tickets x1 High-End, ×1 Super, ×2 Normal

Rubies ×5
Coins ×400
Points-cap tickets x1 High-End, ×2 Super, ×2 Normal

Rubies ×5
Coins ×400
Points-cap tickets x2 High-End, ×2 Super, ×2 Normal

Rubies ×5
Coins ×400
Points-cap tickets ×3 High-End, ×3 Super, ×3 Normal

11–15

No reward

Points-cap tickets ×1 Normal

Points-cap tickets ×1 Super, ×1 Normal

Points-cap tickets ×1 High-end, ×1 Super, ×1 Normal

16–19

No reward

Placement

Tier change

From tier 1

From tier 21

From tier 22

From tier 25

From tier 30

From tier 35

From tier 99

+3
+3
+3
+3
+2
+1
0

+3
+2
+2
+2
+1
+1
0

+3
+1
+1
+1
+1
+1
0

+2
+1
+1
+1
+1
0
-1

+2
+1
+1
+1
0
-1
-1

+1
+1
+1
0
0
-1
-1

+1
+1
0
0
-1
-1
-1

+1
0
0
-1
-1
-1
-1

+1
0
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1

11–15

0
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1

16–19

0
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1

0
-1
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2

Points

See also: Mario Kart Tour race points system

Points are collected during standard races and are used to gain Grand Stars and to rank players, both overall and in ranked cups. There are three ways of obtaining points in races: base points, bonus points, and position points.

Base points

Base points are given at the beginning of the race and are the sum of the base points of the character, kart and glider selected. They range from 800 to 3020 points (3320 points for Mii Racing Suits). The base points can be increased through experience points obtained at the end of the races or through point-boost tickets that provide 50 experience points each. The experience points are used to fill a gauge that when filled will increase the base points until the maximum amount has been reached. The amount of experience points needed to fill the gauge increases every time the gauge is filled. Since the Cooking Tour, points-cap tickets are added to the game, making it possible to raise the maximum amount of base points of a driver, kart, or glider.

Base points of drivers and kart parts

Amount

Drivers

Karts and gliders

Normal

Super

High-End

Normal

Super

High-End

Initial

400

450

500

200

220

250

Base cap

600

675

800

300

330

400

First raised cap

648

765

980

324

366

490

Second raised cap

704

870

1190

352

408

595

Top cap (until Anniversary Tour)

760

975

1400

380

450

700

Third raised cap

768

990

1430

384

456

715

Top cap (since Battle Tour)

816

1080

1610

408

492

805

Bonus points

Bonus points are points awarded every time a special event happens during the race. Said event might be a Jump Boost, gliding for a certain amount of time, finishing the lap in a certain position, hitting opponents or hazards, or various other cases. If a further event happens before about two seconds have passed from the previous one, the combo indicator goes up and the points obtained are increased. The actual time that can pass between one event and the next can be increased by choosing a glider of a higher tier in the course, by choosing a glider of higher rarity, or by leveling up the glider. The number of points given is calculated as follows:

Points = (base points of the event × multiplier due to kart tiering in the course × multiplier due to kart rarity and skill level) + combo bonus + bonus point boosts + eventual increase from kart’s special skill + eventual increase from glider’s special skill

The combo bonus is calculated as follows:

Combo bonus = multiplier from glider’s tiering in the course × Min{combo count – 1 ; (cc of the engine class) / 10}

For the purpose of the calculation, 200cc is considered the same as 150cc.

The bonus point boost is calculated separately for the driver, kart, and glider chosen that are in the first tier of the course, as follows:

Bonus point boost = base points × (skill level – 1) × [(cc of the engine class) / 30000]

In this case as well, 200cc is considered the same as 150cc. If more than 200 events happen, the bonus point boost is not applied from the 201st event onward.

Position points

Position points are awarded to the player depending on their placement at the end of the race. They are calculated as follows:

Position points = [(position points due to the level of the player + engine class bonus) × position multiplier] + bonus point boosts for position

The bonus point boost for position is calculated separately for the driver, kart, and glider chosen that are in the first tier of the course, as follows:

Bonus point boost for position = base points × (skill level – 1) × number of events that occurred in the race × position multiplier × [(cc of the engine class) / 30000]

As in the other cases, 200cc is considered the same as 150cc.

The engine class bonus is the following:

Engine class

50cc

100cc

150cc

200cc

Engine class bonus

200

400

The position multiplier depends on the placement at the end of the race and works as follows:

Placement

Position multiplier

0.85

0.75

0.65

0.55

0.45

0.35

0.2

Additional internal data (RaceScoreParam)

The following internal data stems from the Peach Tour.[14]

The engine class affects the obtained points in various other ways, as shown by the internal data:

Engine class dependent points-related parameters (EngineLevelParams)

Parameter

50cc

100cc

150cc

200cc

AddScoreIntervalWhileGlide

2.5

1.5

1.2

AddScoreIntervalWhileWater

7.5

4.5

3.6

AddScoreIntervalWhileItemType018

2.5

1.5

1.2

AddScoreIntervalWhileDriftKeep

2.5

1.5

1.2

InterimRankBonusRate

0.5

ComboNumMax

The InterimRankBonus multiplied by the InterimRankBonusRate is the amount of points obtained at the end of the first lap or the first two sections of three-sectioned tracks. The InterimRankBonus has the following values:

InterimRankBonus

Position

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

Points

100

Finally, the maximum time between events in a combo depends on the base points given by the last action of the combo, with no effect of the combo count, as shown by this combo-related data:

Combo-related parameters (Combo)

Score

Time

1.4

1.8

2.1

2.4

ComboScoreAdd

ComboScoreRate

0.1

The combo time is calculated as follows:

Combo time = Max{Remaining combo time; Combo time of the last action}

where the combo time of the last action is calculated as follows:

Combo time of the last action = Time × multiplier from glider’s tiering in the course × multiplier due to glider rarity and skill level

where the multiplier from the tiering is around 1.45 if the course is one of the favorites of the glider and around 1.225 if the course is favored by the glider, being equal to 1 otherwise, and Time is based on the value reported in the table using intermediate values for intermediate scores (i.e. 1.95 seconds for 15 points and 2.25 seconds for 25 points) and either 1.4 seconds or 2.4 seconds for scores smaller than 5 points and greater than 30 points, respectively.

Auto Mode

Introduced in version 2.6.0, Auto mode is a new option in single-player races that allows the player to spectate in a race fully controlled by the AI. The driver, kart and glider chosen by the player will participate in said race and will be the default AI player followed. The player is able to choose the racer followed by the camera and has control on the relative positioning and zoom of the camera. A button at the bottom allows to take screenshots at the rendering resolution of the game rather than the display resolution of the device. Starting with version 2.8.0, seven additional filters can be applied to the camera. When the race ends, the Coins and event tokens (but not team tokens) collected by the chosen driver are given to the player, along with the obtained experience points of the driver, kart and glider. The experience points of the player will instead remain unaffected, regardless of the outcome of the race.

Filters

No Filter
Blur
Blur x2
Sepia
Black and White
Fish-Eye Lens
Smear
Cartoon

Collectibles and currencies

Grand Stars

Grand Stars are the main collectibles related to individual tours. Up to five of them can be earned by reaching certain point thresholds in each standard race and up to three of them can be earned by clearing specific goals in each bonus challenge. Furthermore, clearing the daily challenge each day will warrant a Grand Star, and clearing Tour Challenges and Gold Challenges will reward the players with Grand Stars as well. Finally, using a star ticket will reward a Grand Star per ticket used.

They are used to unlock items in the cup bar of the course selection screen, namely cups and gifts. When the last gift is obtained, coins are rewarded in place of Grand Stars, and when a new tour starts, the Grand Stars obtained are reset to zero.

Rubies

Rubies are the main premium currency of Mario Kart Tour. They can be purchased with real-life currency at the Shop, but can also be obtained as daily login bonuses, as a player level up bonus, as part of tour gifts, as a reward for the ranked cup, or as a reward for the Standard Challenges.

Rubies can be used in three different ways: to buy Spotlight items, to buy Mii Racing Suits, or to play Coin Rush mode.

Coins

Coins are collected during a race and rewarded for the number of points obtained during said race, up to 300 per day (600 if the player has the Gold Pass). In a single race, the amount of coins earned is

Coins earned = coins obtained during the race + floor((total points earned in the race)/1000)

The coins obtained during the race are capped at 99, while no cap on the coins obtained through points is known as of now.

Besides the main way of obtaining coins, they can also be obtained in Coin Rush and in several rewards, such as obtaining three Standard Challenges, Tour Challenges or Gold Challenges in a row, column or diagonal line, in gifts, as daily login bonuses, as player level up bonuses, while waiting for Multiplayer races, and as rewards for ranked cup placements and friend ranking.

In Coin Rush, the player can spend rubies to obtain a great number of coins. Over 300 coins are found in the course. For each tour, another course is available in Coin Rush. Gold Mario is the regular driver, and the Gold Standard is the regular kart driven. The coins obtained from Coin Rush are multiplied by a certain number, depending on how many rubies a player has spent.

Coins multiplier

Rubies

During the Cooking Tour, the Coins Aplenty Event was added to the game. This event gives the player twenty-four hours to obtain a large number of coins from a certain cup, which varies between players. 300 coins are awarded at the end of the first race on each course in the cup during the duration of the event, for a total of 900 guaranteed extra coins from the event; these coins do not count towards the daily cap of 300 coins from races. In addition, the daily cap is ignored on each of these three races, providing three extra opportunities to score coins beyond the cap if it has already been reached. These events are held every Saturday and Tuesdays (the latter day has been added since the Super Mario Kart Tour). Starting from the 2021 Autumn Tour, the number of coins is raised to 500 and held every Saturday, though in the Toad vs. Toadette Tour, the coin amount returned to 300 and the schedule reverted to every Saturday and Tuesday.

Coins are mainly used in the Daily Selects section of the shop.

Tokens

Introduced in the Wild West Tour, event tokens are a special type of coins that can be collected during events. The way to collect event tokens differs from event to event. The different ways to collect event tokens are:

Collecting from courses.
Landing hits with shells.
Landing hits with Bob-ombs.
Landing hits with bananas.
Causing opponents to crash.
Performing Mini-Turbos.
Keeping combo bonuses.

Some tours feature a Team Rally event, in which the player can collect team tokens. Team tokens can always be collected from courses, when the player races with a driver that is part of the chosen team. At the end of a race with a driver from the player’s team, the player will be rewarded with additional team tokens for every 1,000 points they collected during the race. If the player’s team has won the race, the player will get even more additional team tokens as a reward.

Since the 2021 Autumn Tour, the Token Aplenty Event is held every Monday (formerly every Tuesday in the 2021 Autumn Tour and the 2021 Halloween Tour). This event is similar to the Coins Aplenty Event, but instead of being rewarded with a fixed amount of coins at the end of the race the player will get a random amount of event tokens (or team tokens, when the event takes place during a Team Rally), ranging from 50 to 300.

Event tokens and team tokens are used in the Token section of the Shop.

Pipes

Pipes can shoot out a driver, kart, or glider, all of which have their own rarities. A pipe contains a determined probability distribution of Normal, Super, and High-End items, all of which are chosen randomly within their class and rarity. It is possible that a player obtains an item from a pipe that already has been obtained; when this happens, the level gauge of that item will be increased by one unit. Usually, if the pipe is about to shoot out a High-End item, it will be golden instead of green (sometimes, however, it might occur that a green pipe shoots out a High-End item).

As of the Wild West Tour, the player can shoot out one random regular High-End item from an All-Clear Pipe once in a tour, as soon as they have finished every cup from the tour. The list below shows all of the available items from the All-Clear Pipe as of the Battle Tour.

As of the Wedding Tour, regular login bonuses are replaced with Today’s Challenge in which the player must complete a race on a pre-selected course with a pre-selected driver, kart, and glider. After completing this daily race, the player can shoot out a free pipe launch (except on day 14) which can contain regular items, as well as rubies, coins, and item tickets. The player receives a special blue-colored badge on day 14 as a reward for playing on every day of the given tour. Until the Anniversary Tour, the player received 5 rubies on days 5 and 10, in stead of a free pipe pull.

Since the Samurai Tour, the player can buy pipe launches in the Token Shop. In some tours, also golden pipes can be bought in the Token Shop.

Since the Battle Tour, pipes appear as Tour gifts and Gold Gifts. Some of the pipes that appear as Gold Gifts are golden.

Banners

Pipes

Special offers

Gold Pass

Main Menu

Multiplayer

Challenges

Tour Gifts

Shop

Drivers

Karts

Gliders

Tickets

Profile

Friends

News

Mii

Gifts

Settings

Banners

On the top of the menu, players can spend rubies to fire one of the tour’s pipes, purchase special offers, or subscribe to the Gold Pass.

Multiplayer

Example of progressing towards a higher multiplayer grade.

The grading system in multiplayer mode, which continues up to S+9.

Multiplayer mode was added to Mario Kart Tour on March 8, 2020, where up to eight human players can play against each other. Players race against each other in three courses in a chosen cup of the current tour, with the cup changing every 13 minutes, allowing the player to race in cups that have not yet been unlocked. There are four sets of rules that interchange daily: 100cc with default item slots, 100cc with two item slots, 150cc with default item slots, and 150cc with two item slots. Matches are also periodically set to be Team Games[15] (not to be confused with Team Rallies), wherein players are randomly divided into two teams and their combined standings at the end of a match decide the winning team. In the “With Friends or Others Nearby” mode, the player can set the rules themselves, including the engine class (50cc, 100cc, or 150cc), number of item slots (1, 2, or default), number of teams (none, 2, 3 or 4), number of races (3, 6, or 12), enabling teams, enabling Friendly-Fire Mode for teams, and inclusion of COM racers. The player can also create a Room and invite players to join it with a code.

Introduced in version 3.0.0, Battle Mode is a mode in multiplayer where players must eliminate each other by popping their balloons. A battle ends if there is only one player remaining, or if the time limit is reached. In the “With Friends or Others Nearby” mode, the rules that the player can set include the number of item slots (1, 2, or default), the option to play with Bob-ombs only or Shells only, number of battles (3, 6, or 12), and inclusion of COM racers.

Multiplayer features a grading system ranging from F to A for regular users, and onward from S to S+9 for Gold Pass subscribers. There are separate grading systems for races and battles. Prior to the version 3.0.0 update in September 2022, the maximum grade was S+6. Until version 3.0.0, multiplayer races were split between Gold Races (exclusive Gold Pass subscribers) and standard races. Gold Races featured additional rule variations (150cc with default item slots, 150cc with two item slots, 200cc with default item slots, and 200cc with one item slot). The player’s grade is split up with a green grade for races and a purple grade for battles.

When the player is waiting for a multiplayer match to be found, they will earn coins. Up to 100 coins can be earned per day with this method. As of version 3.0.0, the Multiplayer Pipe is available, which the player can fire after having saved up enough points from playing races or battles in Multiplayer mode.

Once every few tours the Kart Pro event will take place (with its first appearance in the Snow Tour), in which the player can earn rewards like badges and rubies by completing challenges on a Kart Pro challenge card, including maintaining a streak of three wins in Standard Races or Gold Races. The amount of rubies the player will get as rewards for completing this challenge card depends on their grade. Grades F to A will receive 5 to 10 rubies, and grades S to S+9 will receive 15 to 21 rubies. As of version 2.9.0, players can maintain their streak if they win 2nd or 3rd place.

Some tours have a 2-Player Challenge event taking place, where the player could team up with another player in the “With Friends or Others Nearby” mode to race against a team of set opponents (such as Rosalina and the five babies in Vs. Rosalina Team) and collect event tokens in a set of three courses.

Challenges

See also: List of challenge cards in Mario Kart Tour

Challenges are objectives the player can complete to earn various badges and rewards depending on the type, of which there are eight: Standard Challenges, long-term challenges the player accomplishes throughout the course of the game; Tier Challenges (added in the Mii Tour (2022)) long-term challenges associated with Ranked Cups; Multiplayer Challenges (added in the Baby Rosalina Tour), which are long-term challenges for multiplayer mode; Multiplayer Battle Challenges (added in the Battle Tour), which are long-term challenges for multiplayer battle mode; Tour, Tour Multiplayer (added in the Summer Tour as part of the Summertime Challenges, later permanent in the Frost Tour), and Gold Challenges, challenges that last for the duration of the tour, the lattermost of which are exclusive to Gold Pass members; and Expert Challenges (added in the Cooking Tour), which contain challenges that are harder to succeed than Tour, Gold, and Standard Challenges, and last for twelve weeks. The first set of Tour Challenges unlocks from the tour’s beginning, while the second set unlocks after the first week. Some special event challenges are one-offs, such as the their Anniversary Challenges in the 1st Anniversary Tour, while other challenges last for three tours, such as the Summertime Challenges. Completing Standard and Multiplayer Challenges award the player with rubies, while Tour and Gold Challenges award extra Grand Stars and Expert Challenges reward the player only with badges. Completing special event challenges award the player with high amount of rubies or a High-End driver. Each challenge card holds nine challenges aligned in a 3×3 grid, and for every bingo the player acquires (i.e. any horizontal, vertical, or diagonal match), they earn a certain amount of coins. The player also receives a reward upon completing an entire challenge card.

Daily challenges

Each daily challenge rewarded a Grand Star. The player could have up to three daily challenges available at a time, and upon completing one, a new one would not appear until the following day. Upon entering a new tour, players would receive three daily challenges right away, resulting in a maximum of sixteen daily challenges per two-week tour. The daily challenges were selected at random from the following options:

Do a Rocket Start.
Get 1st place in a race.
Perform a Slipstream.
Activate Frenzy mode.
Use a Mushroom.
Land a hit with a Banana.
Land a hit with a Red Shell.
Land a hit with a Green Shell.
Land a hit with a Bob-omb.
Land a hit with a Super Horn.
Join a multiplayer race.

From the Snow Tour onwards, daily challenges are no longer featured.

Premium Challenges

The first Premium Challenge card in the Snow Tour

As of the Snow Tour, players can purchase a card for $4.99 USD with additional challenges every tour, with the reward for completing all challenges being a High-End driver, kart or glider. Progress on the challenges is shown whether the player has purchased or not, and all completed challenges can be claimed immediately on purchase. Uncompleted challenge cards can be carried over to the next tour, with up to fifteen able to be held at once.

Total Points Challenge

As of the Snow Tour, the player’s total points across all cups can be redeemed for rewards, up to 600,000 points. Among the top rewards are points-cap tickets of increasing levels. Starting from the Singapore Tour, the Total Points Challenge features two challenge cards and goes up to 900,000 points, with more rewards. The Battle Tour later increased the final goal to 999,999 points, which was likely done due to the number of cups being changed from twelve to fifteen.

Tour Gifts

Tour Gifts give the player items if enough Grand Stars are obtained, with the top rewards often being level-boost tickets of increasing levels. Part of the rewards can only be claimed by Gold Pass subscribers.

Since the Baby Rosalina Tour, the player could also unlock free pipe launches from the regular pipes of the current tour, if enough Grand Stars were obtained. Since the Battle Tour, these are no longer available, due to the pipes being replaced by the Spotlight Shop.

Introduced in version 2.10.0, players who started the game for the first time can unlock these characters in the currently-played tour.

Shop

The shop consists of six different sections.

Spotlight Shop

Introduced in the Battle Tour, the Spotlight section consists of selected drivers, karts, and gliders that are in the Spotlight. Spotlight items are available for one week, after which they are replaced. There is also a Daily Spotlight shop, which contains six High-End drivers, six High-End karts, and six High-End gliders, and is renewed each day. Once a day, the player can use a Quick Ticket to change the items in the Daily Spotlight. The player can buy each item up to three times for the cost of 150 rubies for drivers, and 100 rubies for karts and gliders.

Until the Anniversary Tour, the pipe section was available in the shop. A pipe contained a determined amount of Normal, Super, and High-End items, plus featured items. The items were not ordered, so each item, including the featured ones, could be potentially found in any placement within the pipe. The player could reset the pipe at any moment. A new pipe was introduced each week and, since the 2019 Halloween Tour, the pipes lasted until the end of the tour.

Usually, a pipe contained the following items, with the spotlight items frequently taking the spot of a High-End item, though Super items could also appear in the spotlight.

Items obtained from a typical new 100 items pipe

Item

Normal

Super

High-End

Driver

Kart

Glider

Driver

Kart

Glider

Driver

Kart

Glider

Amount

Until the 2020 New Year’s Tour, the pipe typically contained the following items:

Items obtained from a new pipe

Item

Normal

Super

High-End

Featured High-End

Driver

Kart

Glider

Driver

Kart

Glider

Driver

Kart

Glider

Driver

Kart

Glider

Amount

Another common variant was the special pipe holding 50 items, used in special events and frequently not featuring any spotlight item, but rather a slightly different distribution of items to take into account the peculiar items that could be obtained in it.

Items obtained from a typical new 50 items pipe

Item

Normal

Super

High-End

Driver

Kart

Glider

Driver

Kart

Glider

Driver

Kart

Glider

Amount

The probability of obtaining a certain type of item from the pipe is (number of items of that type remaining in the pipe)/(total number of items remaining in the pipe) while the probability of obtaining a specific item is (probability of getting an item of the type of the desired item)/(number of available items of the same type of the desired item).

Mii Racing Suit Shop

Introduced in the Mii Tour (2022), the Mii Racing Suit section consists of 10 different Mii Racing Suits. The player can buy each Mii Racing Suit up to three times for the cost of 100 rubies. However, the first purchase of each Mii Racing Suit costs only 70 rubies.

Token Shop

As of the Wild West Tour, the Token Shop (formerly known as the Event Shop) appears during events or Team Rallies. The player can buy items in this shop with event tokens or team tokens. In several tours, the Token Shop is upgraded to feature various High-End items, tickets, and other items. Since the Samurai Tour, pipe launches can be bought as well.

– In the Token Shop of the Summer Festival Tour, most of the items had lower prices.
– The cost for the first pipe is 50 event tokens, increasing with 10 tokens for every subsequent pipe until the sixteenth, then with 50 tokens between the seventeenth and the twenty-first pipes. From the twenty-second pipe onwards, the cost is 500 tokens.
As of the Battle Tour, the Token Shop no longer has a regular composition.

– In the Battle Tour, the Token Shop included three different balloons, two of which costed 50 tokens and one 150 tokens.

Daily Selects

The Daily Selects section of the Shop, before the base set was introduced.

The Daily Selects section is renewed each day. It consists of four rows, of which the first three each contain three items. The items in the left column are drivers or driver-related tickets, the items in the center column are karts or kart-related tickets, the items in the right column are gliders or glider-related tickets. The last row allows the player to play Coin Rush. The first row is available to all players and contains only Normal items and point-boost tickets, the second row is available to players level 7 and above and contains Normal and Super items along with item tickets and quick tickets, and the third row is available to players of level 12 and above and contains only Super and High-End items. The first time an item’s skill level is maxed out, it is replaced with other items of the same rarity, type and shop rarity until all the items of the corresponding rarity, type and shop rarity have their skill level maxed out, at which point a level-boost ticket or, since the 2022 Mii Tour, a points-cap ticket is sold in place of these items. If the maxed out category has Normal rarity, only Normal tickets will be sold, once a Super item sold in the Daily Selects is maxed out, the tickets will either be Normal or Super, as soon as a High-End item sold in the Daily Selects is maxed out, tickets of all the rarities will be sold. Starting from the 2022 Mii Tour, High-End level-boost tickets can appear on the third row without having to max out items.

Since the 2019 Paris Tour, in addition to tickets, only a subset of non-tour-exclusive items can be found as Daily Selects in all of the Tours, here referred to as “Base set”. The listed items are most Normal items from the Tokyo Tour and most items from the New York Tour. The Quick Ticket was removed and more items were added in the Cooking Tour at an increased cost and shop rarity, appearing less frequently in the Daily Selects and being unable to replace the items of the same rarity and type when the skill levels of those were all maxed out. They are marked with an asterisk (*) and referred to here as “Additional”. Since the Berlin Tour, “Additional” prices were reduced to the “Base set” price, but their shop rarity appears unchanged, with them still not being able to replace items of the same rarity and price when the skill levels of the latter are maxed out. In the Mii Tour (2022), more items were added in the Daily Selects again; they are marked with two asterisks (**). In the Battle Tour, more items were added in the Daily Selects again; they are marked with three asterisks (***).

Tier Shop

Since the 2020 Halloween Tour, players can buy items in the Tier Shop. The items available in it are replaced every week, and the higher the player’s tier, the more items are available for purchase. Until the Anniversary Tour, the top row featured drivers, karts, and gliders that were favorites of at least one course in that week’s ranked cup, and often included at least one High-End part. The items unlock based on the player’s all-time highest tier and remain unlocked even if their tier drops. Some items can be bought multiple times, though the price increases after the first or second purchase. Previosly, after unlocking super level-boost tickets, there was a chance that High-End level-boost tickets of the same type will appear in place of them. Since the Mii Tour (2022), High-End level-boost tickets will appear separately if the player’s all-time highest tier is at least 50.

Tier Shop’s items

Item

Unlock
Rank

Price

Initial price

After first purchase

After second purchase

Quantity

Driver

Normal

N/A

800

N/A

Super

3,000

N/A

High-End

12,000

N/A

Kart

Normal

N/A

500

N/A

Super

2,000

N/A

High-End

10,000

N/A

Glider

Normal

N/A

500

N/A

Super

2,000

N/A

High-End

10,000

N/A

Level-boost ticket

Normal glider

800

1,000

1,200

Normal kart

800

1,000

1,200

Normal driver

1,000

1,200

1,400

Super glider

3,000

5,000

N/A

Super kart

3,000

5,000

N/A

Super driver

4,000

6,000

N/A

Points-cap ticket

Normal

2,000

N/A

Super

5,000

N/A

High-End

20,000

N/A

Level-boost ticket

High-End glider

13,000

N/A

High-End kart

13,000

N/A

High-End driver

15,000

N/A

– Not available anymore since the Battle Tour.

Ruby purchase

The player can purchase different amounts of rubies with real-life currency.

Profile

A profile page showing a badge, favorite drivers and player records.

Players can visit profile pages of themselves and their friends. On a profile page, the player can display a badge, choose their eight favorite drivers out of the drivers they own and can see their records, which include the amounts of collected drivers, karts, and gliders, their highest score they earned on a single course in the current tour, their number of Standard Race, Gold Race and Kart Pro wins, their highest multiplayer grade and their highest tier. Additionally, their current level, tier, and multiplayer grade are shown for the player and their friends.

Badges

The player can collect badges by completing challenges, by ending in the top 1,000 in the All-Cup ranking, or through other case-specific means (such as a Twitter retweet campaign or winning a team rally). Sometimes badges will also be given in the Gift Box. Out of all their collected badges, the player can choose one that will be visible to other players on their profile, though players can view other players’ full badge lists. Standard badges have four different types: common badges, gold badges (obtained by completing Gold Challenges and requires a Gold Pass subscription), expert badges (obtained by completing Expert Challenges), and blue badges (obtained by completing Today’s Challenge all fourteen days of a given tour). Gold, expert (red), and blue badges are all recolored versions of common badges in their respective colors.

Other kinds of badges are grouped separately and obtained by other means. These include badges earned from completing entire Expert Challenge cards, ranking badges, multiplayer badges such as winning a Kart Pro event, top-placement badges, and Team Rally badges.

Friends

The player can become in-game friends with other players, see the points of their friends on the different cups, and invite them to join a multiplayer room.

Since the Baby Rosalina Tour, a cumulative reward is given to the player if the combined total cup points of the week’s ranked cup of the player and all of their friends reach certain amounts. In the Flower Tour only, the reward was rubies instead of coins. Since the second week of the Wild West Tour, the coin amounts have changed.

Total points of player and friends

Coins
(until August 5, 2020)

Coins
(since August 12, 2020)

Rubies
(Flower Tour)

50,000

100

80,000

500

300

150,000

1000

600

News

Every time that an announcement is being made, a new part of a tour starts, an update of the game is released, a new special offer or pipe is available or something else has been changed, the player receives a message with detailed information about what is new. Messages regarding known issues also appear here.

Mii

The player can upload Mii characters from their Nintendo Account or create new ones. Mii characters can also be shared with other players.

The player can collect different Mii Racing Suits for their Miis to wear. Every time the player gets a new Mii Racing Suit, all of their Mii Racing Suits will get ten additional base points. Each Mii Racing Suit that the player owns has to be assigned to a specific Mii of the player’s choice.

Gifts

Sometimes the player receives additional gifts, which can be rubies, coins, or badges. Mainly, these gifts are given at celebration occasions such as celebration days, the start of a new tour, or the launch of Multiplayer mode. Sometimes it happens that the player does not receive a reward due to a technical problem in the game. These rewards can appear as gifts at a later time. Gifts remain available for fourteen days.

Skill level point and points cap raising requirements

The following table lists the amount of skill level points needed to bring an acquired driver, kart, or glider to a certain skill level. Raising the skill level of a driver, kart or glider requires obtaining duplicates of them as Tour Gifts, from the Pipe or the Shop, or from using level-boost tickets that match the type and rarity.

Skill level

Normal

Super

High-End

The following table lists the amount of points-cap tickets needed to raise the maximum amount of base points of a driver, kart or glider to a higher cap.

Cap

Amount of tickets

Courses

See also: List of favored and favorite courses in Mario Kart Tour

Race courses

Mario Kart Tour currently features 92 different race courses (119 if each route is counted for courses with multiple re-routes), the most out of all Mario Kart games, and at least one additional course is often added at the start of every tour. Notably, Mario Kart Tour introduces course variations, with courses having up to three variants in addition to the normal one:

Courses marked with “R” (Reverse), labeled “SI” (Sens inverse) in French, are driven in reverse orientation, and mostly just have alterations to make this possible if necessary or to add in some course elements.
Courses marked with “T” (Trick)[16][17], labeled “A” (Acrobatique) in French and “X” (Extreme) in all other languages, feature many additional ramps, Kanaami Roads, and trickable obstacles, but are usually otherwise the same. Some specific instances do change up other things like adding Kanaami Roads to replace glider sections (like in DS Airship Fortress T), changing the way/order the course is raced around (like in N64 Kalimari Desert 2T), or even changing the starting location (like in 3DS Rock Rock Mountain T).
Courses marked with “R/T” (Reverse/Trick), labeled “SI/A” (Sens inverse/Acrobatique) in French and “RX” (Reverse Extreme) in all other languages, feature the elements of both reverse and trick courses, going through the course backwards while adding more ramps, Kanaami Roads and obstacles to perform tricks and combos. Originally, R/T variants only appeared for city courses, with them introduced in the same tour as that particular city course, though classic courses would start having them as well beginning with the 2019 Winter Tour, after which every tour has had three to five R/T variants (of any course type). From then to the 2020 Trick Tour, each tour saw one to three new ones added.

When counting R, T, and R/T variants separately from their normal counterparts, the number of courses in the game is increased to 462.

Prior to the Battle Tour, with some exceptions, city courses were added with all four variants in the same tour, while all other courses were first added without the R/T variant, which would then release in a subsequent tour whose exclusive additions were R/T variants. From the Battle Tour onwards, all courses added to the game would debut all four variants at once upon introduction, much like the city courses (with the exception of GBA Bowser’s Castle 4, which debuted with only its normal and R variants).

Almost every tour features classic courses and remix courses, while every new course so far appears exclusively in specific tours.

New

There are currently seventeen original courses in Mario Kart Tour, referred to as “new courses”. If each individual route is counted separately, the total increases to forty-three.

City courses

Thirty-seven of the fourty-three new courses are based on real cities. Currently, there are twelve cities represented in the game, namely New York City, Tokyo, Paris, London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Berlin, Sydney, Singapore, Amsterdam, Bangkok, and Athens. These courses each have up to three unique routes that have the racers going through different areas of the city. Additionally, New York Minute and Tokyo Blur each have an additional fourth route that brings together all of the paths from the other three routes into one long lap.

Others

Alongside the city courses are five original courses that are not based on a real location, one of which also has two re-routes akin to the game’s city courses. Despite the fact that Sky-High Sundae and Yoshi’s Island officially debuted in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass, they are labeled and marketed as new courses for Mario Kart Tour as well, including in internal data.[18]

Remix

Mario Kart Tour introduces a new category of course called “remix courses”, which have the “RMX” term prepended to the name. These courses have their designs taken from the Super Mario Kart course environments (except for the RMX Bowser’s Castle courses, which are instead based on GBA Bowser’s Castle 1), but feature a completely new layout, with each one centering around a particular element (such as the blocks in RMX Mario Circuit 1, the ramps in the RMX Choco Island courses, the Star Rings in RMX Rainbow Road 1, the Mushroom Trampolines in RMX Rainbow Road 2, the Water Geysers in RMX Vanilla Lake 1, the stairs in RMX Ghost Valley 1, the conveyor belts in RMX Bowser’s Castle 1, and the lily pads in RMX Donut Plains 1). There are currently nine remix courses in the game.

Classic

Currently, there are 66 classic courses in Mario Kart Tour. There are no classic courses from Mario Kart 8, making this the first Mario Kart game since Mario Kart: Super Circuit to have classic courses but not at least one from every previous Mario Kart game. Despite this, several classic courses that appeared in Mario Kart 8 retain their overall design and layout from that game’s version of the course, though others do not. Mario Kart Tour currently features over half of all courses in the mainline series prior to Mario Kart 8.

Like in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Finish Line banners for certain classic courses use the classic Mario Kart logo. The courses from SNES to GCN, as well as remix courses, use an updated version of the classic logo, while the courses from DS to 3DS, as well as the second section of N64 Kalimari Desert 2 and the second banner in the R/T variant of GCN Baby Park, use the current logo. DK Mountain is an exception to this, as despite it being a GCN course, the banner uses the current logo instead of the updated classic logo.

Fifteen courses return from Super Mario Kart, with the only absent courses from this game being Bowser Castle 1, Koopa Beach 1, Bowser Castle 2, Mario Circuit 4, and Ghost Valley 3. Mario Circuit 1, Choco Island 2, Donut Plains 1, and Koopa Troopa Beach 2 all return as classic courses from Mario Kart DS, Ghost Valley 2 and Mario Circuit 3 both return from Mario Kart Wii, Mario Circuit 2 returns from Mario Kart 7, Donut Plains 3 returns from Mario Kart 8, Rainbow Road returns from both Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, and Ghost Valley 1, Choco Island 1, Donut Plains 2, Vanilla Lake 1, Bowser Castle 3, and Vanilla Lake 2 make their 3D debut as classic courses.

Seven courses return from Mario Kart 64, with Frappe Snowland and Choco Mountain returning as classic courses from Mario Kart DS, Luigi Raceway, Koopa Troopa Beach, and Kalimari Desert returning from Mario Kart 7, and Royal Raceway and Yoshi Valley returning from Mario Kart 8. This game also notably introduces a second variation of Kalimari Desert known as Kalimari Desert 2, which, despite being a reroute of the original Kalimari Desert new to Mario Kart Tour, is categorized as an N64 course in-game.

Eleven courses return from Mario Kart: Super Circuit, with Bowser’s Castle 2 and Sky Garden returning as classic courses from Mario Kart DS, Bowser’s Castle 3 returning from Mario Kart Wii, Bowser’s Castle 1 returning from Mario Kart 7, Snow Land returning from the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass, and Riverside Park, Boo Lake, Cheep-Cheep Island, Sunset Wilds, Yoshi Desert, and Bowser’s Castle 4 making their debut as classic courses.

Six courses return from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, with Mushroom Bridge returning as a classic course from Mario Kart DS, DK Mountain returning from Mario Kart Wii, Daisy Cruiser and Dino Dino Jungle returning from Mario Kart 7, and Baby Park and Yoshi Circuit returning from both Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 8.

Seven courses return from Mario Kart DS, with Peach Gardens returning as a classic course from Mario Kart Wii, Luigi’s Mansion, Waluigi Pinball, DK Pass, and Airship Fortress returning from Mario Kart 7, Shroom Ridge returning from the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass, and Mario Circuit making its debut as a classic course.

Seven courses return from Mario Kart Wii, with Mushroom Gorge, Coconut Mall, Koopa Cape, and Maple Treeway returning as classic courses from Mario Kart 7 (with Coconut Mall also returning from the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass) and DK Summit, Dry Dry Ruins, and Rainbow Road making their debut as classic courses.

Twelve courses return from Mario Kart 7, with the only absent courses from this game being Wuhu Loop, Music Park, Maka Wuhu, and DK Jungle. Piranha Plant Slide and Neo Bowser City return as classic courses from Mario Kart 8, while the rest make their debut as classic courses.

Battle courses

There are five battle courses in the game, consisting of two new courses and three returning from previous installments, including one each from Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and Mario Kart DS. Similar to the battle courses from Mario Kart 8, the new battle courses are repurposed from their corresponding city courses, albeit with more restricted pathways that can be taken. Among the returning courses, Cookie Land and Twilight House return as classic battle courses from Mario Kart Wii while Battle Course 1 returns from Mario Kart 7. Rather than each battle course having unique background music, they all use Mario Kart 8 Deluxe‘s arrangement of SNES Battle Course 1’s music.

Tours

Main article: List of tours in Mario Kart Tour

Each tour consists of a series of cups, with each cup containing three courses and a bonus challenge. The featured character of the cup has the preference for every course in it increased by one tier. There are also special Team Rally tours that happen once every six or seven tours, during which all drivers are divided into two teams. Each team has a team captain, which is the driver the team is named after. At the start of a Team Rally tour, the player must choose one of the two teams to join. During a Team Rally, players can collect team tokens on courses, with the winning team being whichever collects the most total team tokens by the end of the tour.

Drivers

There are currently 234 playable characters (235 if including Gold Mario, who appears exclusively in Coin Rush mode) in Mario Kart Tour, the largest number of playable characters in a Mario game. Notable new additions to the series include Peachette, Pauline, Hammer Bro, Boomerang Bro, Fire Bro, Ice Bro, Monty Mole, Dixie Kong, Captain Toad, Nabbit, King Bob-omb, Kamek, Chargin’ Chuck, and Poochy, with King Bob-omb also making his overall playable debut. Some characters return as playable to the series after being absent from multiple installments: Donkey Kong Jr. is playable for the first time since Super Mario Kart, Petey Piranha is playable for the first time since Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and Diddy Kong, Birdo, and Funky Kong are playable for the first time since Mario Kart Wii (though Birdo was later added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe).

Miis also return from previous Mario Kart games, debuting in the 2022 Mii Tour. Like in Mario Kart 8, they have a multitude of different racing suits they can wear; however, each suit now has its own special item. There are currently 45 suits, with at least one new suit being added in every tour since the 2022 Mii Tour.

Upon launching the game for the first time, the player will be given either Toad or Toadette. After the tutorial, they are granted a free pipe launch which grants either Peachette, Metal Mario, or Dry Bowser.[20][21] The Red Mii Racing Suit is also given as a free gift to players. Unlike in other Mario Kart games, characters are sorted by their rarity. There are three tiers of rarity: Normal, Super, and High-End. While the Normal drivers are generally easier to obtain from pipes, tour gifts, or the shop, rarer drivers have a greater number of base points, higher chances to activate Frenzy mode, and more favored and favorite courses. By using a driver on favored or favorite courses, they can obtain up to three items simultaneously from Item Boxes.

The driver selection screen as it appears in-game as of the 2023 Exploration Tour

Karts, gliders, and tires

There are currently 286 karts and 203 gliders in Mario Kart Tour, the most of any Mario Kart game. Several karts and gliders return from previous installments, though new ones also appear alongside variants of existing ones; these variants share their in-game model, differing by textures, and are grouped together within the internal files. Like drivers, karts and gliders are organized by three tiers of rarity: Normal, Super, and High-End. Each kart and glider has its own special skill that provides specific benefits during a race; karts give bonus points for performing a particular technique while gliders increase the chance of obtaining a particular item from Item Boxes as well as the points gained from using that item. Each kart and glider also has its own favored and favorite courses, and using a kart or glider on such courses increases their bonus points multiplier, or combo bonus and combo-time, respectively.

Unlike in Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, tires are not customizable, being set to a specific kart, and have no effect on stats.

In battle mode, a new feature allows the player to customize their balloons that appear during the match. However, unlike karts and gliders, these balloon designs are purely aesthetic. There are currently 34 balloon designs in Mario Kart Tour.

Items

Frenzy

Main article: Frenzy

Depending on the selected driver and course they are used on, players can get one to three items at once. In the case that a character gets three of the same item, they will activate the new Frenzy Mode, in which they immediately activate Super Star power, and can charge all the Mini-Turbo stages much more quickly and can use unlimited supplies of the respective item until the invincibility runs out. Any item can appear in Frenzy Mode, except for the Star, which is exclusive to certain bonus challenges.

The probability of obtaining a Frenzy depends on the current position and lap and on the driver chosen. In particular, the current position and lap define a base probability that is then summed to a bonus depending on the rarity and skill level of the driver chosen. The resulting probability is capped at 50%, even if the sum exceeds said value.

The following is the base probability of a Frenzy in single player races used in the 2020 Halloween Tour,[22].

Base probability of a Frenzy in single-player races

Position

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

First lap

Second lap or higher

Multiplayer races use different Frenzy probabilities.[23]

Base probability of a Frenzy in multiplayer races

Position

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

First lap

Second lap or higher

– On 3DS Rainbow Road and its variants, the second lap probabilities are applied from the second segment onward.

Item Box items

Items function mostly the same as in previous installments in the series. As in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, every character has their own special item that most other characters cannot obtain. By upgrading drivers to certain levels, they can obtain improved special items: Normal drivers to level 7, Super drivers to level 5 or higher, and High-End drivers to level 4 or higher.

The game introduces eleven new items to the series: the Double Bob-ombs, the Ice Flower, the Bubble, the Banana Barrels, the Mushroom Cannon, the Coin Box, the Dash Ring, the Bob-omb Cannon, the Giga Bob-omb, the Super Bell, and the Capsule, all of which are character-exclusive items. Several items also return in this game after a long absence from the series, including Bowser’s Shell, Yoshi’s Egg/Birdo’s Egg, the Giant Banana, the Heart, and the Mega Mushroom from Mario Kart Wii; the former four (from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!) are all special items, while the lattermost is a regular item. Additionally, the Hammer item from the Mario Kart Arcade GP series appears in this game for the first time in a non-arcade Mario Kart game as a special item, though its functions are different. The Lucky Seven and Super Leaf, which were both absent in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, also return in this game as special items.

The probabilities used in single player mode outside of Frenzies are reported. It is possible that the first item boxes of the races use different probabilities. The probability of common items can be increased by using gliders with the respective item skill. The actual probability is calculated as (item probability + glider bonus)/(sum of the probabilities of the eligible items); when no item can be obtained, a Coin is obtained instead. For the detailed probabilities of obtaining an item when an Item Box is opened, see Mario Kart Tour item probability distributions.

Inventory items

These items are collected throughout the course of the game through various means, such as challenges, log-in bonuses, and Tour Gifts.

Course elements

It has been requested that this section be rewritten and expanded to include more information. Reason: include more course, bonus challenges and Coin Rush appearances

Interactable course elements

The following table lists elements that slow racers down, crash them, offer them a Jump Boost and/or simply give them bonus points when interacted with in a certain way. For ways to interact with these elements for bonus points, see Mario Kart Tour race points system § Object interactions.

Other course elements

The following are only seen as background or intangible elements.

Bonus challenges

Bonus challenges are similar to the Missions mode from Mario Kart DS and the tournaments from Mario Kart Wii, and are found at the end of each cup. In contrast to races, these challenges offer 3 Grand Stars instead of 5 when completed with the highest score needed. The game will set the character for the challenge, even if the player has not obtained them yet, and give them the Pipe Frame and the Super Glider, though this rule does not apply for all Big Reverse Races and Vs. Mega (opponent) challenges. The numbers in the table indicate the number of times that bonus challenge appears in each tour.

Ready, Set, Rocket Start
Time Trial
Ring Race
Do Jump Boosts
Big Reverse Race
Goomba Takedown
Glider Challenge
Steer Clear of Obstacles
Break Item Boxes
Smash Small Dry Bones
Vs. Mega (opponent)
Combo Attack
Take them out quick!
Snap a Photo
Precision Gliding
Big Reverse Race vs. 100

Description

“Pull off a Rocket Start!”

“Go for your best time!”

“Pass through rings!”

“Do Jump Boosts!”

“Aim for 1st!”

“Take down Goombas!”

“Glide as far as you can!”

“Don’t crash!”

“Break item boxes!”

“Smash Dry Bones!”

“Aim for 1st!”

“Keep the combo going!”

“Take them out quick!”

“Clear the photo goals!”

“Glide through the targets!”

“Aim for 1st place!”

New York Tour

3
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
2

Tokyo Tour

2
3
1
2
1
1
2
1
2

Halloween Tour (2019)

3
2
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
2

Paris Tour (2019)

3
3
2
1
3
1
1
1
1
2

Winter Tour (2019)

3
2
2
1
2
1
2
2
1
2

London Tour

3
2
2
1
3
1
1
2
1
2

Holiday Tour (2019)

2
2
1
1
2
1
2
2
1
2
2

New Year’s Tour (2020)

1
1
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
2

Ice Tour

2
2
2
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
2

Valentine’s Tour

2
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
2

Vancouver Tour

2
3
2
1
2

1
2
1
2
2

Mario Bros. Tour

2
2
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
2
2

Baby Rosalina Tour

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2

Hammer Bro Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Yoshi Tour (2020)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Trick Tour (2020)

2
1
1
1
1

Flower Tour

1
1
1
1
2

2
1
1
1
1

Jungle Tour

1
1
1
1
1

2
2
1
1
1

Cooking Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Peach Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Marine Tour

2
2

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Exploration Tour (2020)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Wild West Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Pirate Tour

2
1
1
1
2

1
1
1
1
1

Summer Festival Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Super Mario Kart Tour

2
2
1
1
1

1
1
1
1
1

Los Angeles Tour (2020)

1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1

1st Anniversary Tour

1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1

Halloween Tour (2020)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Sunset Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Mario vs. Luigi Tour (2020)

2
2
2

1
1
1
1
1

Winter Tour (2020)

2
2
1

1
1
1
1
1
1

Rosalina Tour

2
1
2

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

New Year’s 2021 Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Berlin Tour

2
1
2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1

Cat Tour (2021)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Peach vs. Daisy Tour

3
1
1

1
1
1
1
1

Snow Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Mario Tour (2021)

3
1
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1

Yoshi Tour (2021)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

1
1

Ninja Tour (2021)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Sydney Tour (April–May 2021)

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Bowser vs. DK Tour

3
2
1

1
1
1
1
1

Trick Tour (2021)

3
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Wedding Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Paris Tour (2021)

3
1
1

1
1
1
1
1

Summer Tour

2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Los Angeles Tour (2021)

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Mario vs. Peach Tour

2
1
1

2
1
1
1
1

Frost Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Kamek Tour

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Sydney Tour (September 2021)

2
1
1
1
2

1
1
1

2nd Anniversary Tour

2
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Autumn Tour (2021)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Halloween Tour (2021)

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Toad vs. Toadette Tour

3
1
1

1
1
1
1
1

Space Tour (2021)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Holiday Tour (2021)

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Penguin Tour

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

New Year’s 2022 Tour

3
1
1
1
1

1
1
1

Singapore Tour

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Wario vs. Waluigi Tour

2
1
1

2
1
1
1
1

Los Angeles Tour (2022)

2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1

Sky Tour

1
1
1

1
2
1
1
1
1
1

Mii Tour (2022)

2
3
1

1
1
1
1
1

Samurai Tour

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Yoshi Tour (2022)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Amsterdam Tour

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Doctor Tour (2022)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1

Peach vs. Bowser Tour (May 2022)

2
1
1

2
1
2
1
1

Cat Tour (2022)

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Metropolitan Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Bangkok Tour

2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Piranha Plant Tour

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Ocean Tour

1
2
1

1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1

Sundae Tour

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Bowser Tour (2022)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Mario vs. Luigi Tour (2022)

3
1
1

1
1
1
1
1

1
1

Anniversary Tour

2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Battle Tour

2
1
1

1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1

Halloween Tour (2022)

1
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
1

Autumn Tour (2022)

2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2

Animal Tour

2
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1

1
1
1

Peach vs. Bowser Tour (November–December 2022)

3
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
1

Holiday Tour (2022)

2
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1

New Year’s Tour (2023)

2
2
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1

Space Tour (2023)

2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1

Winter Tour (2023)

3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Exploration Tour (2023)

2
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
1

Doctor Tour (2023)

2
1
1
1
2

2
1
1
1
1
1

Mario Tour (2023)

2
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Ninja Tour (2023)

2
2
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1

Yoshi Tour (2023)

2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1

1
1

Spring Tour

2
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1

Bowser Tour (2023)

2
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1

– Formerly “Clear (number) rings.“
– Formerly “Do (number) Jump Boosts.“
– Formerly “Hit (number) Goombas.“
– Formerly “Glide at least (distance).“
– Formerly “Hit (number) Item Boxes.“
– Formerly “Smash (number) opponents.“

Apple Store demo

The special demo of Mario Kart Tour is made playable at Apple Store outlets and kiosks.[25] Unlike the full consumer version, only three cups are available, the menu and Coin Rush mode are inaccessible, and points cannot be saved when the player quits the app. This demo has been the only way to play the normal variant of New York Minute since the New York Tour, as the normal variant did not return alongside the other variants in the 2022 Autumn Tour.

There are only 10 playable characters, 7 karts, and 6 gliders available in the demo.

Drivers

Karts

Gliders

Differences in power-saving mode

Like in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart 8, there are some minor and major differences on the menus and race courses when setting the game to “power-saving” mode, to maintain device performance (in older supported phone models) and decrease battery usage.

General differences

Opponents do not have any animations nor do they emit voices.
The minimap does not appear in races.
The models for the drivers have low quality textures.
Course textures are less detailed.
The sound effect of passing through Dash Rings is present only if they were activated by the player.
The Shy Guys, Yoshis, and Toads that are normally found along the sidelines of several courses are absent, though they can still be heard.
The screen has a lower resolution, resulting in slightly pixelated graphics.
Trees are swapped out for lower-detail models.
In some courses, models adding extra detail get removed. This is particularly noticeable in Tokyo Blur right after passing the National Diet Building, where every building in the background except for one is removed.

Course-specific differences

Main article: Mario Kart Tour update history

Version 1.0.2

Release date: October 3, 2019

In some cases, it may become impossible to play if no nickname is entered during the Nintendo Account linking process.

After linking the Nintendo Account, certain players may encounter error code 805-9314 and playing may be impossible.

In some cases, it may become impossible to play when the player enters the main screen on the startup of the game.

Other minor issues.

Version 1.1.0

Release date: October 17, 2019

You can now view a list of badges you have obtained.

You can now check the points required to get Grand Stars, the number of Grand Stars, and your current best score on the screen for courses and bonus challenges.

Addressed known issues.

Version 1.2.0

Release date: November 17, 2019

Adjusted race controls.

You can now earn bonus points for finishing a race in Frenzy mode.

Version 1.4.0

Release date: December 11, 2019

You can now see more information about other players in your ranking tier, including the driver they are using.

Adjusted how the ranking announcement and menu screens are displayed.

Version 2.0.0

Release date: March 4, 2020

Added support for racing against players from around the world via multiplayer. This service is scheduled to become available on March 8th, at 8:00 PM PT.

Added a camera feature. Using this feature during a race allows you to freely move the camera around your driver as they automatically steer. Use it to view the action from different angles!

Made other adjustments and addressed known issues to improve the overall gameplay experience.

Version 2.1.0

Release date: May 13, 2020

The Team Game rule has been added to multiplayer.

The Room Code feature has been added to multiplayer.

Support for Expert Challenges has been added. These challenges will become available in future tours.

Support for the Coins Aplenty event has been added. This event will become available in future tours.

The issue preventing players from receiving a level-up reward when they advance to the next player level has been addressed.

Version 2.4.0

Release date: July 21, 2020

Added support for landscape orientation during races.

Players may now invite their friends to a multiplayer room that they have created.

Added support for different events. Further details, including the schedule, will be made available via upcoming in-game notifications.

Adjust the appearance of the main screen.

Version 2.6.0

Release date: October 14, 2020

A driver’s special skill can now be improved when their level is increased.

When a driver, kart, or glider is leveled up, a number of their favored courses are upgraded to favorite courses.

Auto mode has been added, which lets users watch drivers automatically drive through courses as well as share screenshots via other applications.

Version 2.6.2

Release date: November 8, 2020

Adjusted the number of Greeting Coins received and the animation when receiving them.

Addressed known issues.

Version 2.8.0

Release date: February 17, 2021

Made preparations for the new Kart Pro event, which challenges players to achieve consecutive multiplayer wins.

Made preparations for a system that rewards players depending on the total of their highest scores across all cups in a tour.

In landscape mode, players can now play with steering controls on the right side of the screen and item controls on the left.

Added photo filters for auto mode.

Version 2.9.0

Release date: April 14, 2021

Adjusted the rules for Kart Pro so that a player’s win streak will be maintained if they get 2nd or 3rd place.

Adjusted the chance for opponents in a single-player race to use the Lightning or Spiny Shell items.

Version 2.9.1

Release date: May 23, 2021

Made preparations so that players will receive gifts for continuing their Gold Pass subscriptions. This will begin in a future tour.

Made preparations for Today’s Challenge, in which players race with a preselected course and driver for a chance at receiving gifts like rubies or firing a pipe. This will begin in a future tour.

Version 2.10.0

Release date: September 15, 2021

You can now join Standard Races/Gold Races that a friend is playing.

The following changes are planned to be implemented in future tours.

You will be able to see detailed play records for each past tour.

Additional rules for events to collect event tokens.

We’re preparing an event in which you can get lots of event tokens.

Version 2.12.0

Release date: March 2, 2022

Made preparations for Mii drivers to be usable in future tours.

Made preparations to increase the maximum level of drivers, karts, and gliders to level 8.

Made adjustments so usernames are displayed above drivers at the start of a multiplayer race.

Changed the app icon.

Fixed bugs.

Version 2.14.0

Release date: July 3, 2022

Made preparations for a new bonus challenge, Big Reverse Race vs. 100. It will be released in a future tour.

Players can now use a quick ticket to update the Daily Selects lineup once a day.

Completed challenge cards can now be hidden.

Made adjustments to the FAQ and Customer Support pages.

Addressed known issues.

Version 3.0.0

Release date: September 28, 2022

Made preparations for Battles, a new way to play.*

Made preparations for the Spotlight Shop, where you’ll be able to exchange rubies for drivers and more.*

The best score you’ve ever achieved on each course will now be recorded.

You can now play the next course directly from the race results screen.

*These are scheduled to be provided for future tours.

Version 3.0.1

Release date: October 19, 2022

Addressed known issues

Version 3.1.0

Release date: November 7, 2022

Made it so that the number of players remaining and the number of balloons popped will be displayed during battles.

Addressed known issues

Version 3.2.0

Release date: December 8, 2022

Made adjustments to how the Shop is displayed.

Addressed known issues

Differences from previous Mario Kart games

Mario Kart Tour is the first and currently only Mario Kart game where every character must technically be unlocked, and where there is no set starting roster.
It is also the only game to not have a Grand Prix mode, with every fortnightly Tour containing a reshuffled selection of Cups, and Cups containing three courses and one bonus challenge to be played in any order.
The number of players in each race has reverted back to eight, like in all mainline games up to Mario Kart DS and in Mario Kart 7.
Apart from GCN Baby Park and 3DS Rainbow Road, all races consist of two laps/sections, as opposed to the usual three.
Drivers, karts and gliders can be leveled up.
The music continues from where it leaves off after the final lap fanfare plays, instead of restarting like in past games.
- The only exception to this is 3DS Rainbow Road, which reuses its final lap music from Mario Kart 7 and always begins at the start of the song.
- On the final lap, for most courses the music’s pitch is increased by four semitones rather than one as in the other games since Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The exceptions are Merry Mountain and Bangkok Rush, which are pitched up by one.
Percussion is not heard in the music when the player is in 1st place like in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8.
The Lakitu referee does not appear at the beginning of or throughout races.
- Starting from the New Year’s 2021 Tour, the Lakitu referee in his festive attire appears as a playable driver known as “Lakitu (Party Time)”.[26]
Stars are not obtainable from regular item boxes in single player mode, with item Frenzies having similar effects instead. However, in multiplayer mode, stars appear from item boxes in rulesets with fewer than three item slots (as Frenzies are not obtainable).
For the first time since Super Mario Kart, Triple Red Shells are absent. This is likely due to how using multi-items (such as the Triple Mushrooms or the Lucky Seven) sends out all of their items at once, which would be useless for items that always lock onto the next racer.
This is the first Mario Kart game since Mario Kart: Super Circuit to have numbered new courses (e.g. Tokyo Blur 3) and the first Mario Kart game to feature numbered versions of unnumbered classic courses (e.g. N64 Kalimari Desert 2).
- Unlike in the previous games, these numbered courses take place in the same map, but use a different course layout: the starting line is in the same location (with the exceptions of Los Angeles Laps and Berlin Byways), but the courses split off from each other onto different routes. Some variants, such as Vancouver Velocity 2 and Sydney Sprint 2, have racers crossing the starting line in the opposite direction of the other variants.
  - The remix courses feature numbers in their names as well, though in that case when the number changes the map layout changes as well.
For the first time since Mario Kart: Super Circuit, the Golden Mushroom is absent, as it is functionally replaced by the Mushroom Frenzy.
Multiple items can be received from a single item box.
This is the first Mario Kart game to lack losing themes and animations after races; the same theme and animations play for any placement below 1st. However, losing voice lines for most of the characters can be found in the game’s files.
This is the first and only game in the series to use solely the American English localization for courses, karts, and gliders instead of differing names in British and American English versions.
- The only exception to this rule is the B Dasher Mk. 2, using its British English name as opposed to its American English name, which is the Sprinter.
Karts that originally had moving parts (not counting tires), such as the tentacles on the Super Blooper and the blower on the Flame Flyer, no longer have them move.
If an opponent hits the player with any item, the screen will display the word “Ouch!” with the icon of the opponent’s current driver displayed above it.
- Likewise if a player hits the opponent, the side of the screen will display the word “Hit!” with the icon of the opponent’s driver and the item they got hit by.
The item warning sound effects differs between certain items. The warning sound effect from Mario Kart 8 is used when targeted by a homing item (Red Shell, Yoshi’s Egg, or Birdo Egg) and when an opponent behind the player is under the effects of a Star, Mega Mushroom, or Bullet Bill. The homing item warning sound effect from Mario Kart Wii is used when targeted by a Spiny Shell.
Various sound effects, such as the item roulette, Jump Boosts and when the player’s current placement changes, are taken from Mario Kart DS (for the former), Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7 rather than from Mario Kart 8.

Glitches

Opponents’ drivers get stuck in multiplayer battles

Certain connection errors in multiplayer battles cause opponents to dissociate from their players and drive straight into the first wall they encounter, where they remain stuck until the time runs out or the player who experiences this bug strikes them out.[27]

Staff

Producer

Creative Director

Game Directors

Yugo Hayashi[1]
Shinya Fujiwara[1]

Characters Voices

*-Applies to all variants of that character.

Reception

Critical reception

Initial impressions of the beta were mixed. Journalists praised the gameplay and graphics, but criticized the free-to-play gacha elements of the game. Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica compared the game’s in-app purchases to Spiny Shells, blowing up the classic Mario Kart experience. He suggested that “the developers pick a side: attach an annoying economy to a deeper control scheme and more legitimate online options, or make it cheaper and less obnoxious to watch Mario drive himself.”[28] Ethan Gach of Kotaku also stated that the game is “a mostly faithful but stripped-down recreation of Mario Kart decked out with all the microtransactions and lottery mechanics mobile games are infamous for” and also lamented the lack of a multiplayer mode.[29] Steven Asarch of Newsweek complained about the game’s “freemium greed” and that it is “ruined by microtransactions”.[30]

The game’s reception on release was mixed to negative. Andrew Webster of The Verge praised how intuitive using items is, while criticizing the controls, calling them imprecise, and the game’s monetization, stating that “The problem is so much of the game feels designed around monetization, as opposed to just being a fun game.”[31] Chris Scullion of Nintendo Life gave a positive review, praising the lack of an energy system, the points system, and the large amount of cups, while criticizing the time required to get used to the controls, the gyro controls, and listing the game’s monetization as a con, stating that opinions on the game’s monetization will vary for each person, while arguing that “It’s rubbish to an extent, absolutely, but despite the outrage you may be seeing in some circles, it’s no different to any other game with a loot box system; it’s always nearly impossible to guarantee you’ll get the exact thing you want” when talking about the game’s gacha mechanics, and that “More than the gacha system, the Gold Pass is gaining a lot more controversy than it really should be, with some misunderstanding what it does and assuming this subscription service is necessary in some way. To be clear, it really isn’t, and absolutely won’t be of interest to 99% of the player base.” when talking about the game’s Gold Pass subscription.[32] Michael McWhertor of Polygon gave a negative review, stating that the game “lacks the joy of its fully-featured counterparts”, criticizing that the steering feels inconsequential, stating that “the game can feel as if it’s playing itself”, the lack of difficulty when playing against computers, the lack of motivation to continue playing, and the game’s microtransactions.[33] CJ Andriessen of Destructoid gave a negative review, criticizing the game’s microtransactions and how the game rarely gives the player Rubies, stating “Tour‘s fatal flaw is it’s continually pushing players into ham-fisted situations where they have to spend money rather than creating a game so exceptional they’ll want to spend money.”, the limitations on unlocking, collecting, or upgrading certain things, the game’s controls, stating “There are three control options, none of which are completely sufficient.”, while praising the variations to courses, though noting that “there is still a bit of disappointment when you wait a day to unlock a new cup only to find it’s Daisy Hills again.”, the New York Minute track and that Nintendo at the time of the article’s publication planned to add more new tracks to the game, though noting that “One of the great joys of any Mario Kart title is seeing what types of new courses the developers have designed and that joy just isn’t present in Tour.”[34] Kyle Hilliard of IGN, in a mixed review, praised the series’ transition from consoles to mobile phones, stating that “during those moments where I was speeding down the track expertly launching turtle shells at my opponents I felt like I was playing a real Mario Kart game” though stating that Mario Kart Tour is an “undeniable downgrade from Mario Kart 8“, praised how items are used, the game’s bonus challenges, and the brevity of the races, cups, and bonus challenges, while criticizing the game launching without multiplayer, the game’s microtransactions and their cost, having to wait for later cups to unlock, and the quantity of Grand Stars unlocked being affected by the kart or character the player unlocked.[35] Jon Cartwright of GameXplain, in a negative review, stated that “Mario Kart is better than this”, stating “Because it’s so similar to the core games, it becomes comparable to them, amplifying its faults even further.”, criticizing the controls, calling them “extremely unintuitive”, and “a huge, restrained, letdown” after stating that the controls felt “extremely simplistic”; the game’s monetization, stating that “This may be a free game compared to a full sixty dollar release, but money has never felt so intrusive in Mario Kart“; and the track New York Minute, stating that “this track is not good enough for Mario Kart“, while praising the game’s bonus challenges and the game’s Reverse tracks, calling them “really cool ideas”, while also praising the game’s roster of playable characters and its graphics.[36]

As of August 26, 2020, Mario Kart Tour received a mixed Metacritic Metascore of 58, and a negative User Score of 3.8.[37] Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, as of August 26, 2020, Mario Kart Tour received an average of 4.1 out of 5 stars on Google Play[38], and an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars on the App Store.[39]

Reviews

Release

Reviewer, Publication

Score

Comment

Unknown

Andrew Webster, The Verge

N/A

“This doesn’t mean Mario Kart Tour won’t be successful. In fact, early signs point to the game having a record-breaking launch. But that success isn’t because the game is good, and it’s especially disappointing from a company that prides itself on quality. Mobile aside, Nintendo is at a creative high point, regularly launching major Switch games to near-universal acclaim. They’re games that sell hardware and help players think differently about what games can be. On console, Nintendo sets its own pace; on mobile, it follows.”

Unknown

Chris Scullion, Nintendo Life

7/10

“Get used to Mario Kart Tour’s unconventional control system and ignore its overpriced and unnecessary subscription service and you’re left with a fun, free mobile take on the series. It was never going to replace Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but by not including an energy system and promising regular new content Nintendo is at least offering a decent alternative to pass the time when you’re out and about without your Switch.”

iOS

Michael McWhertor, Polygon

N/A

“Mario Kart Tour stalls right from the starting line. It lacks the competitive thrills of other Mario Kart games, focusing more on an endless series of unlockable virtual things to acquire.

But it appears that a full multiplayer mode is coming to Mario Kart Tour, which may provide more thrills than chasing AI-controlled kart racers and the daily drip feed of currency. For now, however, this is hardly a vital addition to Nintendo’s library of games, mobile or otherwise.”

Unknown

CJ Andriessen, Destructoid

4.5/10

“Mario Kart Tour is a blemish on the franchise it shares its name with. The genre-defining creativity found in past entries is completely absent here, replaced by a hollow experience that’s simply coasting on the name and goodwill of the games that came before it. I can only hope this is Nintendo’s mobile initiative hitting rock bottom, and that it’s all uphill from here. Because I can’t stand the thought of another one of my favorite series having its reputation dragged the mud[sic] in search of a quick buck.”

iOS

Kyle Hilliard, IGN

6.7/10

“The actual gameplay and racing of Mario Kart Tour is well done: controlling the karts feels good, the courses and characters look and sound great, and playing simplified one-handed Mario can be a lot of fun. But the road to a mobile version of Mario Kart is a bumpy one. On top of multiplayer not currently being available at all, Nintendo continues to struggle with how to comfortably monetize a mobile game without hamstringing its gameplay. Tour’s prices are prohibitively high and not getting top honors on a race despite winning first place just because you don’t have the right racer or kart feels unfair.”

Unknown

Jon Cartwright, GameXplain

Disliked

“If you’re someone who doesn’t own a Nintendo console and just want a quick Mario Kart fix, I guess this is it. It comes with a lot of roadblocks, and it isn’t anywhere near as fun to control as the console games. And for me it just made me want to play Mario Kart 8 again. I disliked Mario Kart Tour. It looks like a quality Mario Kart game, but it isn’t particularly fun to play, and the aggressive monetization is so prominent that it intrudes on the experience. The last new Mario Kart game may have been five years ago with Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, but this isn’t even worth a pit stop to me. Mario Kart is better than this.”

Aggregators

Compiler

Platform / Score

Metacritic

iOS: 58

Awards and acknowledgements

Mario Kart Tour was nominated for the “User’s Choice Game of 2019” from Google Play, losing to Call of Duty: Mobile.[40] The game won the “Racing Game of the Year” award at the 23rd annual D.I.C.E Awards.[41]

Mobile app store description

Race around the world!

■ Challenge players worldwide in multiplayer!
You can race against up to seven other players, whether they’re registered as in-game friends, nearby, or scattered around the world.
Multiplayer races can be customized with a variety of rules, such as individual or team races, kart speed, and number of item slots. You can play however you want!

■ Mario Kart takes a world tour!
Mario and friends go global in this new Mario Kart as they race around courses inspired by real-world cities in addition to classic Mario Kart courses! These destinations will be featured in tours that rotate every two weeks! In addition to courses based on iconic locales, some of your favorite Mario Kart characters will get variations that incorporate the local flavor of cities featured in the game!

■ Endless Mario Kart fun at your fingertips!
The Mario Kart series known and loved by many is ready to take the world by storm – one smart device at a time! With just one finger, you can steer and drift with ease and sling devastating items as you go for the gold in cups filled with new and classic Mario Kart courses.

■ Nab 1st place with items and Frenzy mode!
In Mario Kart Tour you have access to an arsenal of powerful items that can mix things up on the racetrack! Turn up the heat by activating the new Frenzy mode, which gives an unlimited supply of a certain item and makes you invincible! Make the most of the ensuing chaos, as Frenzy mode only lasts a short time!

■ Collect drivers, karts, badges, and more!
Earn Grand Stars by racing or fire off the featured pipe to receive more drivers, karts, and gliders! You can also proudly display badges, earned by completing certain challenges, next to your in-game name!

■ Bonus challenge courses put a twist on traditional races!
In certain races, 1st place isn’t always the goal. With names like “Vs. Mega Bowser” and “Goomba Takedown,” these bonus challenge courses demand a different approach to gameplay and strategy!

■ Race to increase your online rank!
Boost with the best of ’em! Your high scores will determine how you compare to other players all over the world. Keep practicing and trying out different combinations of drivers, karts, and gliders to increase your score and rise to the top!

Note: A Nintendo Account is required to play Mario Kart Tour.
* Free-to-start; optional in-game purchases available. Persistent Internet, compatible smartphone, and Nintendo Account required. Data charges may apply.
* For information about our ads, please see the “How we use your information” section of the Nintendo Privacy Policy.
* May include advertising.

Pre-release and unused content

The beta version of the game saw multiple changes in the final game. Among them, the stamina element was removed, and the timers restricting access to certain cups can be sped up using quick tickets. Additionally, rubies were originally emeralds.

Many data strings and other files relating to unreleased drivers, karts, gliders, and courses can be found in the game’s data, as well as unused versions of some of the game’s course icons that depict the course less accurately.

Gallery

For this subject’s image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Kart Tour.

Media

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Mario Kart Tour media.

References to other games

References in other games

Names in other languages

Language

Name

Meaning

Japanese
マリオカートツアー
Mario Kāto Tsuā
Mario Kart Tour

Chinese (Simplified)
马力欧卡丁车巡回赛[42]
Mǎlì’ōu Kǎdīngchē Xúnhuí Sài
Mario Kart Tour

Chinese (Traditional)
瑪利歐賽車巡迴賽[43]
Mǎlì’ōu Sàichē Xúnhuí Sài
Mario Racing Tour

Korean
마리오 카트 투어
Malio Kateu Tueo
Mario Kart Tour

References

Mario Kart Tour coverage on other

coverage on other NIWA wikis:

StrategyWiki