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Mario Kart Tower could not have come out at the worst time. A week ago, the amazingly excellent launch of Apple Arcade reiterated how good mobile gaming could be when developers did not have to worry about compression anymore. ads or in-app purchases. In a mobile phone market almost entirely dominated by free games that constantly demand time and money, Apple Arcade was a breath of fresh air. Mario Kart Tower, meanwhile, is a brutal reminder of those dark days.
At the base, Mario Kart Tower does this look like: a simplified Mario Kart you can play on your phone. It looks like Mario Kartwith slightly sterile graphics, and you'll hear familiar tunes during the race. Power-ups such as red seashells and banana peels are always present, and if you are in first position, you should always be wary of blue shells.
The biggest change in gameplay is that all experience is controlled via touch. Your kart will roll automatically, but you can control it by swiping left or right to turn. There are some deeper mechanisms – you can drift for speed acceleration, for example – but most of the time are very simple and the controls are frustrating and imprecise. A good thing: using elements is quite intuitive, requiring a simple tap on the screen.
You progress in the game as you would in a Mario Kart Game. There is a series of cup events, each with a handful of races, and once you have gained enough stars, you will unlock the next cup. The tracks take place in familiar places such as Cheep Cheep Lagoon and Rock Rock Mountain, but they have been extremely simplified, just like the controls. Whether you're going through a city or an underwater course, everything is simple. There is no creative and inventive creativity of Mario Kart 8 on the display here.
This core is bland and harmless, just enough to feel like Mario Kart. The problem lies in the fact that the game is designed for monetization rather than just a fun game. This is especially evident when it comes to unlocking new characters and go-karts. Like so much of Nintendo's recent efforts on mobile, Mario Kart Tower uses loot boxes. Spend some rubies – the game's main motto – and get a random character or vehicle. Even worse, they turned the distortion pipe, emblematic symbol of Super Mario, in a giant cannon that fires your mystery prize. There is also a store that reviews different characters each day, which you can buy with coins collected during the races or in a special mode that is expensive in rubies.
Of course, this is usually what happens today in mobile games. But that seems particularly boring in a series of games so full of joy without fault like Mario Kart. The mobile iteration goes even further by offering a monthly subscription of $ 4.99 – the same price as Apple Arcade! – this gives you access to gold level objects and a high speed racing mode. It's a bit like FortniteThe battle passes, only a much worse affair. All of this becomes one of the best parts of Mario Kart – win races to unlock new things – in an expensive business.
The sad state of Mario Kart Tower is part of the steady decline of Nintendo's mobile efforts. Things started promising, with an iPhone version of Super Mario designed by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto, the one that was sold in its entirety for $ 10. After this proved to be a failure, Nintendo swung around to play free with Hero of the fire emblem and Crossing animals: pocket camp. They were fun, Nintendo quality games with mechanics like surprise boxes – and they made a lot of money. Since then, things have taken a turn. In addition to Mario Kart Tower, earlier this year, Nintendo launched a puzzle game that was basically Dr. Mariotheme candy Crush, and both games are aggressively monetized to the point that the current game seems secondary.
This does not mean Mario Kart Tower will not be successful. In fact, the first signs indicate that the game will have a record launch. But this success is not due to the fact that the game is good and that it is particularly disappointing on the part of a company proud of its quality. Mobile side, Nintendo is at a peak of creativity by regularly launching the great Switch games with near universal success. These are games that sell equipment and help players think differently about what they can be. On console, Nintendo sets its own pace. on mobile, it follows.
Mario Kart Tower is available as a free download now on iOS and Android.
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