After months without information, Mario Kart Tour finally launched in a closed beta for Android devices, giving some users in Japan and the United States an opportunity to test the game. Some of those users recorded it, as in the video below:
Through this and other videos, several details can be confirmed.
Starting with the obvious, the game will be played in smartphone portrait mode—that is, vertically. This indicates that Nintendo intends the title to be playable in short sessions and with one hand free, thus emphasizing the app's portable nature.
The game will be played vertically.
As for gameplay, the kart accelerates automatically and turns according to the movement of the player's finger across the screen. Beyond that, classic elements of the franchise, such as its chaotic items, remain present.
Tutorial for controlling the karts
All of the game's courses will come from previous entries in the franchise, similarly to the Retro Tracks in more recent games. Examples seen in the recordings include Toad Circuit, the first course in the Mushroom Cup from Mario Kart 7, and Koopa Troopa Beach from Mario Kart 64.
Gliders will also be available in the game.
A feared but expected element is present: microtransactions. The game's "currency," apart from the literal coins collected during races, will be green gems that can be earned through normal play or purchased in the in-game store. Their price in real money was not yet known.
Gems can buy stamina for longer play sessions and pipes that randomly release characters and kart parts, functioning as loot boxes and giving the title a "gacha" element.
Different characters apparently have different advantages on the game's courses, including more slots for using items. Characters that are rarer to obtain through the "loot boxes," such as Dry Bowser and Metal Mario, will have greater advantages.
There is still no specific release date for Mario Kart Tour, but it will launch during this fiscal year, meaning by March 2019. Since there has only been a closed beta, everything seen in it is subject to change.
