Mario Kart 7

Mario Kart 7 (Japanese:マリオカート7 Mariokāto 7) (マリオカート7 Mario Kāto Sebun) (often abbreviated as MK7) is a game in the Mario Kart series. The game was the predecessor to Mario Kart 8. It was released for the Nintendo 3DS, and is the seventh mainline installment of the Mario Kart series and the third to be released for a handheld (following Mario Kart: Super Circuit & Mario Kart DS). Ghost data is able to be exchanged and online gameplay is available in multiplayer mode in this game.http://www.gamexplain.com/article-206-1277505938-mario-kart-3ds-uncovered-heres-what-we-know.html This game's release date in the U.S was on December 4th, 2011.
This installment allows players to customize their own vehicle instead of driving default vehicles in the previous games, including custom parts such as hang gliders and propellers. It is the first game to include gliders. Thanks to this, players can drive underwater and glide in midair. The bikes from Mario Kart Wii would not be included in this game. They would eventually come back in Mario Kart 8. 
==Gameplay==
This game had many several radical changes to make it different from the previous Mario Kart games.
Players now have the option of collecting Coins while racing, making a return after Mario Kart: Super Circuit. At specific points in the game, the karts will sprout either hang gliders and propellers, allowing for racing in the air and underwater. This is the first time a character can go underwater.
The game also has kart customization options, allowing players to make custom Karts out of a set of pieces, but some of the pieces need to be unlocked first. The game also introduces Retro Karts (Karts returning from the other Mario Kart games).
Several courses from the past Mario Kart games return in the Retro Cups, including NES Rainbow Road, Wii Mushroom Gorge, GCN Daisy Cruiser, N64 Kalimari Desert, and GBA Bowser Castle 1. There are only three retro battle arenas, unlike in Mario Kart Wii, where there are six battle arenas.
The game has the option to race in first-person view, meaning that the players can see the track up close for the first time through the character's own eyes, tilting the 3DS side to side to steer.
Unlike Mario Kart Wii, which allowed twelve players each race, the game returns to eight characters per race, due to storage size limitations. To add on to this, bikes, which were introduced in Mario Kart Wii, do not return in this game, but the player is still able to perform tricks. However, Mario Kart 8 allows bikes and twelve players again.
It is also compatible with StreetPass and SpotPass.
== Game Modes ==
=== Grand Prix ===
As usual in the Mario Kart series, the player competes against computer-controlled opponents in a series of races on four courses to obtain the trophies of the eight cups in the game. The Grand Prix has three engine classes: 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. The higher the engine class, the harder the races will be against the opponents. In this mode, by beating the first cups available, the user unlocks the other cups as well as new elements such as the kart's parts (by collecting coins in each race) or a new playable character. By completing all the engine classes available at the start, the player unlocks the Mirror class.
A notable change featured in the game is the point system given to the racers after a race in Grand Prix mode. It is similar to Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart DS, but racers who finish a race in fourth place or lower get an extra point. Also, 4th place is not a losing place, similar to Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and Mario Kart Wii.
=== Time Trial ===
In this mode, the player competes for the fastest time possible. Mario Kart 7 saves the player's records, and a Ghost for the combo that they used. Through a Nintendo Network connection, the player can exchange his or her Ghosts with other players, compare their records, and even compete with their Ghosts. Up to seven Ghosts can be raced against at the same time, making it an 8-player race.
=== Versus ===
In this mode, players can customize the races by selecting personally the order of the racecourses and changing other settings, such as setting the computer difficulty, the requirements to win the races, and the engine class of the player's and computer players' karts. Unlike in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, this mode is not featured in single-player mode. In Download Play, players that do not have the Mario Kart 7 game card in their handhelds play as Shy Guy, like in Mario Kart DS, and are unable to customize their kart.
=== Battle ===
In this mode, players can choose from one of the two types of battles and one of the six battle courses to play on. There are three new courses, and the remaining three are from the previous installments in the series. This version of Battle can be played with any vehicle like in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, as opposed to Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii.
==== Balloon Battle ====
In this battle, drivers compete against each other by popping their opponents' balloons to gain points in a time limit of two minutes. All drivers begin with three balloons and must use the items from the Item Boxes to take away a balloon from their opponents. Hitting a rival is worth a point. Players who lose all of their balloons will have half of their points deducted. Up to three points can be taken away, and the player re-spawns with three balloons.
==== Coin Runners ====
In this battle, the drivers collect the Coins scattered in the battle course within the time limit of two minutes. Once time is up, whoever has the most Coins is declared the winner. During the match, drivers can use the items to hit their opponents and make them drop a maximum of three coins that they have collected. Unlike in Mario Kart Wii, only up to ten coins can be held at once. Coins collected in this mode do not count toward the coin total to unlock kart parts.
=== Online ===
With the Nintendo 3DS's online capabilities, players could look for other users for online play, local, or global range. Players could choose a worldwide competition to race against other users who are connected, race with friends that were met via StreetPass, or play in communities formed by users with customized rules for the races. Just like in Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 had the Mario Kart Channel that showed updates of online activity automatically through the SpotPass and StreetPass modes. With StreetPass, the users can exchange their Miis, Ghost Data from Time Trials, players' names, and information about communities, while the user would only receive Ghost Data from other users and community recommendations via SpotPass.
=== VR ===
When players take part in online races or battles, points are added to or removed from their VR (short for VS Rating) based on their finishing position. The main purpose of VR is to determine the skill of players, to match them with players of a similar skill level. Players start with 1000 VR (rather than 5000 VR, as in Mario Kart Wii). Online play in Communities does not use the VR system. Also, a player's VR counts for both races and battles, as opposed to Mario Kart Wii with races affecting VR, and battles affecting BR (Battle Rating).
== Characters ==
This game 7 includes seventeen total drivers (eight starting drivers and nine unlockable drivers). New playable characters to the Mario Kart series in this game include Metal Mario, Wiggler, Honey Queen, and Lakitu (with a red shell as opposed to the Lakitu referee which wears a green shell), with Lakitu and Honey Queen also making their overall playable debuts. Additionally, this marks the first Mario Kart game where Shy Guy is a normal selectable driver, after only being available in Mario Kart DS to players who were playing in Download Play without a game card. Also, this is the first installment in the series for a handheld console where Koopa Troopa, Rosalina, and Mii are playable, after previously being playable in at least one home console installment. Each driver is categorized into any of five weight classes: Feather being the lightest, followed by Light, Medium, Cruiser, and finally Heavy. The player's Mii never appears as a CPU driver, but Miis the player has obtained via StreetPass for this game's Mario Kart Channel can occasionally appear as a CPU driver during the standard Grand Prix mode.
The starting roster features the playable cast from Super Mario Kart, but with Donkey Kong in place of Donkey Kong Jr.
=== Playable ===
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
====Unlockables====
* 
* : Win the 150cc 
* 
* : Win the 150cc 
* : Win the 150cc 
=====Newcomers=====
* : Win the 150cc 
* : Win the 150cc 
* : Win the 150cc 
* : Win the 150cc 
===Non-playable===
*Grand Goombas
*Tiki Goons
*Screaming Pillars
*Clampies
*Cheep-Cheeps
*Swoopers
*Banzai Bills
*Stingbies
*Frogoons
*Chomps
*Penguins
*Boos
*Birdos
*Sidesteppers
*Snowmen
*Fishbones
*Rocky Wrenches
*Piranha Plants
*Dinosaurs
*Mega Wigglers
*Bouncing Notes
*Miis
*Piantas
*Walking Trees
*Shy Guys
*Toads
* (cameo on signs)
==Items==
As with previous entries in the franchise, racers can gather items by driving through Item Boxes found on the courses. When players drive through an Item Box, the Item Roulette will select an item for a racer to use against their opponents or themselves for assistance. Along the returning ones, Mario Kart 7 features three new items. Coins can be found on the track. Players can collect the coins by driving through them. Picking up a coin increases a racer's top speed. If players collect ten coins, their kart is at maximum speed and cannot gain additional coins. Players lose coins if they get hit by an item or fall in a pit. Collecting a certain amount of coins unlocks vehicle parts to select them in the vehicle's customization menu. Also, unlike in its predecessor, the item warning sound will only play if a Spiny Shell or a Bullet Bill is approaching.
One prominent change to the classic items is that the Spiny Shell now has been redesigned into a wingless form, similar to the one found in Mario Kart 64 and having a new sound effect. Its overall behavior is also changed as well; the shell now flies lower to the ground and is able to hit other racers on its path. In addition, the explosion is noticeably less powerful compared to previous installments.
*Banana: Racers that run over Bananas will spin out.
*Green Shell: Travels in a straight line, bouncing off walls. If it hits a racer, they will be knocked over.
*Blooper: Sprays ink on all racers ahead of the user, limiting their visibility. The ink will go away after a moment or when a racer receives a boost from a Mushroom or a Boost Pad.
*Red Shell: Targets the nearest racer in front of the user, knocking them over. If fired backwards, it travels in a straight line, like a Green Shell.
*Spiny Shell: Chases after the first-place racer and blows them up on impact. It will also hit anything in its path.
*Mushroom: Provides a speed boost. 
*Star: Grants the user temporarily invincibility and increased speed, allowing them to knock over obstacles, items and other racers.
*Golden Mushroom: Provides the user unlimited speed boosts for a short time.
*Thunderbolt: Causes all racers except the user to shrink, drop their items and have their speed reduced for a moment. Racers that are shrunk can be squashed.
*Bullet Bill: Turns the user into a Bullet Bill, which rockets down the entire track at high speeds on auto-pilot for a time that is determined by the user's current position. The Bullet Bill is invincible and can knock over items, course hazards and other racers, which makes them lose any item in their possession.
*Bob-omb: After being thrown or dropped, it explodes after a moment or when a racer comes too close, knocking over anything in its blast radius. It will also chase after racers that comes by.
*Coins: Increases a racer's top speed. Up to ten can be collected.
*Fire Flower: Lets the user throw fireballs that bounce off walls and hit other racers to make them spin out. Up to three fireballs are allowed at a time per user, throwing a fourth one will make the oldest one disappear. If ten fireballs are used, this item wears off immediately.
*Super Leaf: A tail appears behind the user's kart, allowing them to deflect items, hit opponents and gather coins. The tail disappears after a moment or if the user is attacked. 
*Lucky 7: Surrounds the user with seven items that rotate around their kart. They will receive a Mushroom, Banana, Green Shell, Red Shell, Blooper, Bob-omb and a Star. CPU players cannot obtain this item, unless only one type of item is chosen in Battle Mode.
*Triple Bananas: Gives the user three bananas. They can be either dropped or thrown one by one.
*Triple Green Shells: Three Green Shells that surround the user, protecting them from attacks. They can also be thrown one by one.
*Triple Red Shells: Three Red Shells that surround the user, protecting them from attacks. They can also be thrown one by one.
*Triple Mushrooms: Provides three speed boosts.
===Absent Items===
*Fake Item Box (from the previous Mario Kart installments)
*Mega Mushroom (from Mario Kart Wii)
*Thunder Cloud (from Mario Kart Wii)
*POW Block (from Mario Kart Wii)
*Boo (from the previous Mario Kart installments)
==Cups==
=== New Courses ===
 	 	 	
Mushroom 	Flower 	Star 	Special
Toad Circuit 	Wuhu Loop 	Piranha Plant Slide	DK Jungle
Daisy Hills 	Mario Circuit 	Wario Shipyard 	Rosalina's Ice World
Cheep-Cheep Lagoon	Music Park 	Neo Bowser City 	Bowser's Castle
Shy Guy Bazaar 	Rock Rock Mountain	Maka Wuhu 	Rainbow Road
===Retro Courses===
 	 	 	
Shell 	Banana 	Leaf 	Lightning
N64 Luigi Raceway 	N64 Koopa Troopa Beach	N64 Kalimari Desert	Wii Koopa Cape
GBA Bowser Castle 1	SNES Mario Circuit 2 	DS DK Pass 	GCN Dino Dino Jungle
Wii Mushroom Gorge 	Wii Coconut Mall 	GCN Daisy Cruiser 	DS Airship Fortress
DS Luigi's Mansion 	DS Waluigi Pinball 	Wii Maple Treeway 	SNES Rainbow Road
==Battle Arenas==
Retro 	New
GBA Battle Course 1	Honeybee Hive
N64 Big Donut 	Sherbet Rink
DS Palm Shore 	Wuhu Town
==Vehicle customization==
Mario Kart 7 introduces the feature that allows players to customize their kart. Before racing, players are able to choose their body, tire, and glider to have their kart built. The other parts require Coins to be unlocked. The build of the kart determines how the vehicle handles in situations.
===Vehicle Parts and Stats===
Each part can affect the statistics of the vehicle. The units of the stats are out of 6. The stats of Speed, Acceleration, Weight, Handling, and Off-Road are only visible in-game. The list displays the names in North America, the European names will be displayed in parentheses under the North American names.
====Unlocking Criteria====
The parts that are not required to be unlocked are the Standard body, Bolt Buggy, Birthday Girl, Standard tires, Monster, Roller, and Super Glider. To unlock the other parts players must collect a certain number of Coins to be collected from Grand Prix mode. Once the Coin amount is reached, a random part will be unlocked. Only the gold parts and Beast Glider have certain criteria. 
====Coin Requirements====
Players are able to unlock other vehicle parts through the following Coin amounts.
*50 Coins
*100 Coins
*150 Coins
*200 Coins
*250 Coins
*300 Coins	
*400 Coins
*500 Coins
*600 Coins
*700 Coins
*800 Coins
*900 Coins	
*1000 Coins
*1200 Coins
*1400 Coins
*1600 Coins
*1800 Coins
*2000 Coins	
*2500 Coins
*3000 Coins
*3500 Coins
*4000 Coins
*4500 Coins
====Special Parts==== 
Part 	Standard Criteria 	Coin Criteria
Gold Standard 	Obtain at least 10000 VR. 	Collect 20000 coins.
Gold Tires 	Obtain a minimum of one star ranking in all cups of every engine class. 	Collect 15000 coins.
Gold Glider 	Have a minimum of 100 StreetPass hits. 	Collect 10000 coins.
Gold Steering Wheel	Race in 100 races using gyro-controls for 80% of the time 	-
Beast Glider 	Collect 5000 coins. It's amount will decrease if players unlock kart parts via the StreetPass feature.	-
==Staff Ghosts==
Each course in Mario Kart 7 has two staff ghosts. One is normal time and the other is an expert time, which is unlocked depending on the player's personal record in each course. Staff ghosts may be from Nintendo or Retro Studios.
===Expert Staff Ghosts===
Course 	Staff Name	Time 	Character 	Kart Body 	Tires 	Glider
Toad Circuit 	Nin★ishi 	01:26.632	Toad 	Standard 	Monster 	Super Glider
Daisy Hills 	Nin★SASAKI	01:51.111	Daisy 	Birthday Girl	Sponge 	Super Glider
Cheep Cheep Lagoon 	Nin★Tkdr 	01:42.011	Peach 	Tiny Tug 	Roller 	Peach Parasol
Shy Guy Bazaar 	Ret★RWO 	02:14.714	Shy Guy 	Pipe Frame 	Monster 	Paraglider
Wuhu Loop 	Nin★nkm 	01:32.854	Peach 	Pipe Frame 	Slick 	Peach Parasol
Mario Circuit 	Nin★raba 	02:10.018	Mario 	B Dasher 	Slick 	Super Glider
Music Park 	Nin★Masa 	0207.511 	Rosalina 	Soda Jet 	Roller 	Paraglider
Rock Rock Mountain 	Nin★Hiroma	02:19.149	Wiggler 	Standard 	Mushroom 	Flower Glider
Piranha Plant Slide 	Nin★JIKU 	02:06.540	Lakitu 	Cloud 9 	Sponge 	Paraglider
Wario Shipyard 	Nin★syun1 	02:12.313	Wario 	Bruiser 	Slim 	Beast Glider
Neo Bowser City 	Ret★Matt M	01:58.996	Metal Mario 	Blue Seven 	Monster 	Paraglider
Maka Wuhu 	Nin★Chucky	01:39.361	Yoshi 	Standard 	Monster 	Super Glider
DK Jungle 	Ret★Dupree	02:10.777	Donkey Kong 	Standard 	Wood 	Swooper
Rosalina's Ice World 	Ret★Dax 	02:13.091	Rosalina 	Zucchini 	Red Monster	Super Glider
Bowser's Castle 	Ret★Tom 	02:15.244	Bowser 	Bruiser 	Red Monster	Beast Glider
Rainbow Road 	Nin★Asakur	01:52.077	Queen Bee 	Bumble V 	Standard 	Flower Glider
N64 Luigi Raceway 	Nin★miyakw	01:52.206	Luigi 	Pipe Frame 	Slick 	Paraglider
GBA Bowser Castle 1 	Nin★hokwai	01:22.221	Bowser 	Koopa Clown 	Roller 	Super Glider
Wii Mushroom Gorge 	Ret★Jay 	01:50.526	Toad 	Pipe Frame 	Monster 	Super Glider
DS Luigi's Mansion 	Ret★Vince 	01:58.539	Luigi 	Egg 1 	Monster 	Paraglider
N64 Koopa Troopa Beach	Nin★ueda 	01:42.909	Koopa Troopa	Soda Jet 	Sponge 	Paraglider
SNES Mario Circuit 2 	Nin★==Kony	01:17.777	Mario 	B Dasher 	Slick 	Super Glider
Wii Coconut Mall 	Ret★RyanP 	02:14.167	Queen Bee 	Koopa Clown 	Sponge 	Paraglider
DS Waluigi Pinball 	Nin★Nahhr 	02:27.574	Wario 	Bruiser 	Slim 	Beast Glider
N64 Kalimari Desert 	Nin★KOZ★ 	01:48.707	Shy Guy 	Bolt Buggy 	Red Monster	Beast Glider
DS DK Pass 	Nin★MaTU 	02:16.534	Donkey Kong 	Bolt Buggy 	Red Monster	Paraglider
GCN Daisy Cruiser 	Ret★Carlos	01:43.341	Daisy 	Tiny Tug 	Sponge 	Peach Parasol
Wii Maple Treeway 	Ret★Bill 	02:34.877	Wiggler 	Egg 1 	Sponge 	Flower Glider
Wii Koopa Cape 	Ret★Shane 	02:28.585	Koopa Troopa	Cact-X 	Standard 	Flower Glider
DS Airship Fortress 	Ret★Shane 	02:07.704	Metal Mario 	Standard 	Monster 	Super Glider
GCN Dino Dino Jungle 	Ret★Will 	02:14.430	Yoshi 	Egg 1 	Monster 	Paraglider
SNES Rainbow Road 	Nin★SRIWtm	01:21.994	Lakitu 	Cloud 9 	Roller 	Paraglider
==Technical features==
The 3D in this game has been praised by most players and critics. Things such as flower petals and bats will fly at the player in this game. Another thing noticed that had never been done before was the competition the player's character's face had. For example, when Mario and Luigi get close to each other, they would stare at each other competitively and keep an eye on each other. The game's frame rate is at about sixty frames per second, even in online matches, which is good (considering the fact that online gameplay in Mario Kart Wii was slower by around 30 to 40 frames per second.)
==Reception==
The game was an outstanding success according to its reviews. Mario Kart 7 has received worldwide critical acclaim. The first review, from Famitsu, gave the game a 37/40. They praised the Community feature, making the game more accessible and finding the opponents using StreetPass was also a positive feature. The reviewer states that it's accessible enough that even new players can enjoy it, and when you get into it, you really get into it. Computer and Video Games gave the game a 9.4/10 and Eurogamer gave it an 8/10. Nintendo World Report gave the game a 8.5, stating that it is more of the same and the gliding mechanics feel underutilized.
It currently holds an 85/100 rating on Metacritic based on 60 critic reviews. The game is currently the top on Global Charts according to VGChartz as it has currently sold 2,115,873 copies worldwide under 15 days. It went on to sell 18.92 million copies worldwide as of 11 Aug 2021.
==Trivia==
*This is the only main Mario Kart game where Wario is an unlockable character, excluding the Japanese version of Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, since arcade games are considered separate games from console games.
*This is the first Mario Kart game where Metal Mario, Honey Queen and Wiggler appear, as well as being the first game where Lakitu is a playable character.
*Waluigi is absent as a playable character in this game making this the first and only Mario Kart game since his first appearance in a Mario Kart game in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! where Waluigi is not playable (though he was supposed to be in the game as a playable character, but was scrapped, due to time constraints). However, his course Waluigi Pinball does, and signs depicting Waluigi can be found all around the course.
*This game was originally going to be called Mario Kart 3DS, but was changed to Mario Kart 7.
*This game is the first handheld game that Rosalina appears in.
*When unlocking a new kart part, if the player goes to the Mario Kart Channel to change parts, no jingle sound will play and the gift icon will not be there. However, if you go into the Grand Prix or Time Trials, the gift icon will be there.
*This is the second Mario Kart game that has a number for a title, the first one being Mario Kart 64 and the third being Mario Kart 8.
*Some of the voice clips in this game are reused from Mario Kart Wii.
*Some of the voice clips in this game are reused from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
*Some of Wiggler's voice clips are reused from Mario Super Sluggers.
*Mario Kart 8 can be considered a sequel to Mario Kart 7 as 8 comes after 7. However, it does not make much sense as Mario Kart 7 is a handheld game compared to Mario Kart 8 being a home console game.
==Gallery==
==References to other Mario games==
*Super Mario Bros. - Piranha Plant Pipeway is made in a Super Mario Bros. tile set-like way, but with it looking a bit more modern.
*Super Mario Bros. 2 - Shy Guy Bazaar's appearance looks a lot like many locations in Super Mario Bros. 2 do and has Magic Carpets ridden by Shy Guys and vases looking the same as the ones Cobrats would come out of.
*Donkey Kong Country Returns - DK Jungle is in appearance very similar to the Jungle world in Donkey Kong Country Returns. The music comes from Donkey Kong Country Returns, too.
==Trailers==
Mario Kart 7 Trailer at Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011|3DS Conference Trailer.
Minna no NC Mario Kart 7 - Overview Trailer|Overview Trailer.
==References==
==External links==
*Brief footage.
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Category:Nintendo 3DS games
Category:Mario Kart series
Category:2011 games
Category:2010s games