Mario Kart 7

Mario Kart 7
The North American boxart for Mario Kart 7.
Information
Publisher(s)	Nintendo Retro Studios
Distributor(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Nintendo 3DS
Released	December 1, 2011 December 2, 2011 December 3, 2011 December 4, 2011 May 31, 2012
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Ratings	ESRB: Everyone

Mario Kart 7 (styled as MARIOKART7 and commonly abbreviated as MK7) is a Mario based racing game exclusively made for the Nintendo 3DS (can be played on 2DS though). It is the seventh Mario Kart game in the series, (ninth including the arcade games) and the third for a handheld console. Returning from Mario Kart Wii, players are able to exchange Ghost Data and play online or wirelessly on multiplayer mode. Mario Kart 7 introduces a few new features to the tracks, including Blue Boosters (which trigger Gliding sections) and underwater turbines specifically made for underwater racing. This game introduces kart customization as well, allowing players to toggle parts on their karts to fit their preferences.

Gameplay

New Features

• There are three new items: The Fire Flower, the Lucky 7, and the Super Leaf.
• You can now unlock wheels, gliders, and frames to build your own kart.
• After going over a Blue Booster (or a Blue Mushroom in Wii Mushroom Gorge), you will activate a Glider. The glider makes you glide through the air for a certain amount of time.
• You can drive underwater in most tracks (for example, you will drown in Daisy Hills, but not in Cheep Cheep Lagoon).
• Last place (8th) now receives a point.
• You can race in a first-person perspective. *
• The race timer is now exclusive to Time Trials.
• Metal Mario, Wiggler, Shy Guy, Honey Queen, and Lakitu are now playable. (Shy Guy was actually playable in Mario Kart DS, only in Download Play.)

* Exclusive to this game.

Returning Features

• Coins return in Racing mode after an absence since Mario Kart: Super Circuit. However, players can only collect a maximum of 10 at a time.
• The Super Mini-Turbo returns from Mario Kart Wii, which is done by drifting until the sparks turn orange and gets a more powerful boost.
• The Spiny Shell returns to its wingless form, just like its first two appearances.
• Tricks return from Mario Kart Wii, as well as the character icons and results music. 

Removed Features

• Bikes are not usable in this game due to system limitations and complaints that they were overpowered compared to Karts due to wheelies.
• The race is back to eight racers due to space limitations.
• The single-player VS Race is removed for unknown reasons, an omission that many fans feel reduce the game's replayability.
• Waluigi was not included as a playable character, but his course from Mario Kart DS is featured as a Retro Track. However, he was planned to appear beforehand.
  • Speaking of not being included, Toadette was another character who was originally planned to appear wasn't included as a playable character too.
  • In fact, only 11 out of 24 characters (not counting Miis) from the previous instalment, Mario Kart Wii, returned in this game.
• The Fake Item Box from the previous games is absent but was initially planned.
  • Speaking of another item that didn't appear in this game, the Mega Mushroom from Mario Kart Wii was also going to appear in this game.
• The POW Block, Thunder Cloud, and Mega Mushroom from Mario Kart Wii are all absent.

Controls

Button	Action
Circle Pad	Steer (left and right), Shoot item forward/backward (up and down)
A/Y	Gas (Press and hold during the countdown = Rocket Start)
B	Brakes
X/L	Use item
R	Jump (R + 'Circle Pad = Mini-Turbo)
Touch screen	Switch between outlined and detailed map (visible on the Touch Screen)
D-Pad	Switch to first-person view (up when in normal view); switch back to normal view (left, right and down when in first-person view)

Characters

With unlocked characters.

Default characters
Name	Weight
Mario	Medium
Luigi	Medium
Princess Peach	Light
Yoshi	Light
Bowser	Heavy
Donkey Kong	Cruiser
Toad	Feather
Koopa Troopa	Feather

Unlockable Characters
Name	Weight	How to unlock
Daisy	Light	Win the 150cc Mushroom Cup
Wario	Heavy	Win the 150cc Flower Cup
Rosalina	Cruiser	Win the 150cc Star Cup
Metal Mario	Heavy	Win the 150cc Special Cup
Shy Guy	Feather	Win the 150cc Shell Cup
Honey Queen	Heavy	Win the 150cc Banana Cup
Toadette	Light	Win the 150cc Leaf Cup
Lakitu	Feather	Win the 150cc Lightning Cup
Mii	Medium	Win all cups of any class

Items

Present Items

Image	Item Name	Description
	Item Box	Gives you an item when you pass through it.
	Coin	Collecting coins increase the top speed of your car (you can collect a maximum of 10, also in Coin Runners).
	Weapons
	Banana	Karts that run over a banana will spin out. They can be thrown forward or dropped behind your kart.
	Triple Bananas	Gives you three bananas that trail behind your kart. You don't need to hold the X- or L-button to hold them.
	Green Shell	Travels in a straight line and knocks over the first kart it hits. Breaks after hitting obstacles too many times.
	Triple Green Shells	Three Green Shells that spin around your kart. You will shoot one at a time, and they are able to be shot forward or behind. They can also guard your kart against shells if you have them on your back.
	Red Shell	Fires at the kart in front of you, according to the track. When shot backward, it will follow a straight line. Breaks after contact.
	Triple Red Shells	Three Red Shells, the stats are the same for Triple Green Shells.
	Spiny Shell	Hovers over to the first place and explodes. It will topple any kart in its path, but not explode. They can be diffused by a well-timed Bob-omb, or be escaped with a mushroom.
	Bob-omb	Will explode when thrown or dropped, knocking over any kart in its blast radius. The only item that can stop a Spiny Shell. When released, it will throw itself forward, unlike the Banana Peels.
	Mushroom	Provides your kart with a small speed boost.
	Triple Mushrooms	Provides your kart with three separate speed boosts.
	Golden Mushroom	Gives you a speed boost whenever you press L or X, but only for 7.5 seconds.
	Bullet Bill	Transforms you into a Bullet Bill and knocks over the karts in the front.
	Blooper	Sprays ink on all the karts ahead of you and reduces their visibility.
	Lightning	Causes all opponents to shrink in size. They drop their items and slow down, and the time it takes to grow back to normal size depends on your position. A fully-grown racer can squish a small racer.
	Star	Increases your speed for a short time. It will keep you safe from everything, including Spiny Shells, Lightning
	Fire Flower New Item	Allows you to throw fireballs that cause other karts to spin out of control for a short time (1/3 of a Banana Peel)
	Super Leaf New Item	Gives your kart a tail that can be used to deflect items and knock over opponents. It is helpful to grab out of reach Coins.
	Lucky Seven New Item	Surrounds your cart with 7 usable items. These include a Red Shell, a Green Shell, a Banana Peel, a Bob-omb, a Star, a Blooper and a Mushroom. All of which will be used when you press X or L when the item is in front of your car and CPU-racers can also hit them, with the effects working for them.

Absent Items

Fake Item Box (Mario Kart 64 to Mario Kart Wii)

POW Block (Mario Kart Wii)

Thunder Cloud (Mario Kart Wii)

Mega Mushroom (Mario Kart Wii)

Boo (Super Mario Kart to Mario Kart DS; returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe)

Tracks and courses

Just like its predecessors, Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 has 8 Cups and 32 courses: 16 new tracks and 16 remakes from previous games' tracks. Italics denote course name in PAL version.

Nitro tracks

Mushroom Cup	Flower Cup	Star Cup	Special Cup
Toad Circuit also in Mario Kart Tour	Wuhu Loop Wuhu Island Loop	Piranha Plant Slide Piranha Plant Pipeway also in Mario Kart 8	DK Jungle also in Mario Kart 8
Daisy Hills also in Mario Kart Tour	Mario Circuit also in Mario Kart Tour	Wario Shipyard Wario Galleon	Rosalina's Ice World
Cheep Cheep Lagoon Cheep Cheep Cape	Music Park Melody Motorway also in Mario Kart 8	Neo Bowser City Koopa City also in Mario Kart 8	Bowser's Castle
Shy Guy Bazaar also in Mario Kart Tour	Rock Rock Mountain Alpine Pass also in Mario Kart Tour	Maka Wuhu Wuhu Mountain Loop	Rainbow Road

Mario Kart 8, Animal Crossing DLC or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is required.

Retro tracks

Shell Cup	Banana Cup	Leaf Cup	Lightning Cup
N64 Luigi Raceway	N64 Koopa Beach N64 Koopa Troopa Beach also in Mario Kart Tour	N64 Kalimari Desert also in Mario Kart Tour	Wii Koopa Cape
GBA Bowser Castle 1	SNES Mario Circuit 2	DS DK Pass	GCN Dino Dino Jungle also in Mario Kart Tour
Wii Mushroom Gorge	Wii Coconut Mall	GCN Daisy Cruiser	DS Airship Fortress
DS Luigi's Mansion also in Mario Kart Tour	DS Waluigi Pinball	Wii Maple Treeway	SNES Rainbow Road also in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart Tour

Battle courses

Nitro	Retro
Honeybee Hive	GBA Battle Course 1
Sherbet Rink	N64 Big Donut
Wuhu Town also in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	DS Palm Shore

Grand Prix Points System

In Grand Prix, the player selects an Engine Class and a cup to race. Each cup, as shown above, contains four courses that are played in order. After each individual race, the place in which the racer comes is translated into a number of points to go to the racer's total. At the end of the cup, the points are cumulatively tallied, and whichever racer has the most, second most, and third most points wins a gold, silver, or bronze trophy, respectively. Below is a table showing the amount of points garnered for coming in a certain place in a race.

Finishing Place	Points Received
1st	10
2nd	8
3rd	6
4th	5
5th	4
6th	3
7th	2
8th	1

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Kart 7.

Trivia!

• When you get a Lucky Seven with the items set to either Shells only, Bananas only, or Mushrooms only, you will get seven Red/Green Shells, Bananas, or Mushrooms surrounding your kart respectively. This also works with the items set to Bob-ombs only.
• This is the only Mario Kart game in the series so far where Wario is an unlockable character.
• This is the only post-Mario Kart: Double Dash!! game where Waluigi is not a playable character (though he was supposed to appear in the game as a playable character, but was scrapped, due to time constraints). However, Waluigi Pinball appears as one of the retro courses.
• This is the only Mario Kart game after Mario Kart 64 that has no VS mode in Single Player. However, you can get it while in Local Multiplayer.
• All items introduced in Mario Kart 7 were removed in Mario Kart 8, except for the Fire Flower.
  • Additionally, the Lucky 7 is replaced with the Crazy 8 in said game which fills the role for the Lucky 7.
• Waluigi was going to be a playable racer but was replaced by Honey Queen in the final version.
  • Additionally, Toadette was going to be a playable racer but was replaced by Wiggler in the final version.
• None of the “partners” from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! return in this game (despite the fact that Waluigi and Toadette were initially planned to return). The only two that returned are Luigi and Daisy (the former of which is a starter and the latter of which is unlockable). Only the main team members from that game make a return in this game. The two pairs that are completely absent from this game are Baby Mario and Baby Luigi and Petey Piranha and King Boo.
• Some of the playable characters voice clips were recycled from Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii.

External links

• Official Nintendo 3DS page