![]() Of course, the inherent Mario Kart problem of item balance persists. These new items fit in nicely, and make for some amusing situations on the road. One slip on a banana or bump from a daring opponent and they're all gone though, making it more balanced than you would think. The Lucky 7 gives you a set of seven items to use as you see fit - a Blooper, a Green Shell, a Red Shell, etc. The Tanooki Tail lets you whack items and nearby players - you have to get pretty close, but it's insanely rewarding when you actually pull it off and put the smackdown on a racer trying to catch up to you. The Fire Flower lets you throw fire balls at your opponents, causing them to briefly spin out. A few new items have also been added to the mix. This feature never much appealed to me in theory, but in practice I find it one of the most impressive additions Mario Kart 7 offers. You can even elect to use the circle pad instead of the gyro controls, so you can enjoy the shifted perspective without sacrificing traditional controls. Though I doubt I'd ever exclusively use this method, it's an absolute blast to switch into on occasion - upping the excitement and forcing you to view and consider each track in a brand new way. Doing so throws you into your racer's perspective and allows you to control your kart by tilting the system side-to-side. You can switch to this mode at any time by pressing up on the D-Pad, pressing down to return to traditional controls. The most surprisingly well-executed innovation comes from pairing the system's gyroscope controls with a first person perspective. The return of the unlockable Mirror Mode - which lets you race on a flipped version of any track - further helps shake things up and extends the life of Grand Prix mode. It's cool seeing these familiar places given a fresh coat of paint and some new tricks. ![]() You can now go underwater in Koopa Beach from Mario Kart 64 or glide through certain segments of Maple Treeway from Mario Kart Wii. The retro courses have a new spin as well, which should come as a welcome surprise for longtime fans of the series. But these additions aren't limited to the new tracks alone. ![]() Soda Jet with Standard wheels and a Flower Glider? Earn enough coins and this cool creation can be yours to slide across the finish line with. Collecting coins also unlocks new kart parts. You can grab up to 10 of them during a race, increasing your max speed and giving your racer a brief boost. Speaking of coins, these bad boys are finally back, a great throwback to the original Super Mario Kart for SNES that adds an extra layer of strategy. The glider, if handled just right, can float you ahead of other players to gain a lead, and some hidden underwater sections provide key places to stock up on coins and items. Play The inclusion of gliders and underwater segments - a first for the series - vary the standard racing fare and add new twists to the retro tracks. And the new Rainbow Road certainly lives up to its namesake - providing a long, turbulent trip full of giant moons and gyrating tracks to work around. DK Jungle, designed by Retro Studios, harkens back to Donkey Kong Country Returns. Music Park, presumably a nod to Wii Music, has you zooming across keyboards and dodging giant music notes on your way to the finish line. The new courses are well-designed and quite memorable. Grand Prix tasks you with racing through the eight different cups, four new ones and four made up of retro courses from past games. Most of the play options should look familiar to Mario Kart fans. Though the game does add a few new faces (check out the video review for a peek at the full roster), it's too bad these came at the expense of losing past racers. Gone are Waluigi, Funky Kong and the babies, as well as many others. I expected the same-to-more from MK7, but had to settle for only 17 this time around. The last entry, Mario Kart Wii, boasted 25 playable characters. Still, I was disappointed at the size of the final roster. Getting first in 150cc can prove a daunting task at times, and I liked that the game actually made me work to unlock the secret characters. You start with eight choices (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and so on), and you unlock eight more by earning first place in all of the cups in 150cc, the most difficult mode. Play For those new to the series, you choose a character from a roster of Mushroom Kingdom personalities, then race across a variety of tracks to claim victory.
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