Mario Kart Tour‘s Halloween update brings Luigi to the party

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Mario Kart Tour's Halloween update brings Luigi to the party
Luigi wants to get a piece of that sweet in-app purchase money.
Photo: Nintendo

Mario Kart Tour is finally bringing Luigi to the game with its Halloween update.

The seasonal upgrade will also introduce the characters of Rosalina, Waluigi and King Boo to the racing game. Finally, there’s a newly launched Halloween Tour, which is available from now through November 5.

Nintendo announced the updates in a new video on its YouTube channel. You can check it out below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGvIDk4VBGY

Luigi joins Mario Kart Tour‘s Halloween update

Mario Kart Tour landed in the App Store in late September. The game has so far received mixed reviews from critics. My colleague Charlie Sorrel enjoys the game. Personally, I was a bit disappointedMario Kart Tour looks and sounds the business, with the colorful graphics and catchy music and sound effects you’d expect from Nintendo.

But the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. The controls (no MFi controllers allowed) never make you feel in control of your kart. It’s also way too easy. Even when I try to actively sabotage my progress, I still can’t finish below the top four in every race. Put even the slightest bit of effort in and you’re virtually guaranteed to come first.

On top of this, the game is loaded with in-app purchases. Nintendo’s first Mario game for iOS, Super Mario Run, eschewed in-app purchases for a premium game model. That gave you a free demo, and then allowed players to unlock the whole game experience for $9.99. Unfortunately, Nintendo was reportedly disappointed with the returns, and switched to the freemium model they currently employ.

This makes it a whole lot pricier to pay. Consider that the Gold Pass (which doesn’t unlock everything) costs the same per month as Apple Arcade’s 100+ games, and you have a title which will quickly drain your wallet.

Nintendo is big into updates

Nonetheless, Mario Kart Tour is proving to be popular. According to data from Sensor Tower, it racked up 90 million downloads in its first week. That makes it Nintendo’s fastest mobile game launch in history.

To keep that momentum, Nintendo will have to keep rolling out new unlockables. So far, it has debuted the New York and Tokyo courses. This Halloween update is the third upgrade the game has received in under one month. That’s an impressive schedule. Hopefully Nintendo can keep it up.

Have you played Mario Kart Tour yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

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