Way back in the grungy dark days of 1992, when A Few Good Men was playing in theaters and Rage Against the Machine was busy blasting out of the boomboxes of flannel shirt-wearing youths, the original Super Mario Kart landed on SNES.
Jump forward to the present day and Mario Kart Tour, the iOS version of the popular Nintendo kart-racer, is paying nostalgic tribute to its glorious past with a new tour and characters. Check out the details below.
The new tour to celebrate the very first #MarioKart game,
the Super Mario Kart Tour begins today!Follow the link for more #MarioKartTour videos!https://t.co/PGiURBnlwY pic.twitter.com/MBILCz4NRK
— Mario Kart Tour (@mariokarttourEN) September 9, 2020
The tribute to O.G. Mario Kart means that players can access special 16-bit versions of some of the game’s characters. These include Mario and Donkey Kong Jr., both of whom appear in all their pixel art glory. The sight of pixellated, 2D characters in the polished, 3D world of Mario Kart Tour does appear a little surreal. But, hey, we’re talking about a game property where an Italian plumber races against a tie-wearing ape, evil dinosaur, and assorted other characters on a plethora of locations past and present. Realism isn’t really a big selling point!
Nintendo also teases some original tracks that will be recreated as part of the tour. The event runs from now through September 22. As with previous tours — which have taken players everywhere from Paris to the Wild West — the races themselves will likely be available only for a few weeks. However, characters you earn during this time will be available to play long term.
You can download Mario Kart Tour for free from the App Store. Although the game includes in-app purchases, these aren’t necessary for you to enjoy the zany Nintendo racing action.
What do you think of Mario Kart Tour? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
