GAME REVIEWS MARIO KART LIVE: HOME CIRCUIT
Available now on: Nintendo Switch Price: $149.95
Out now.
A real-life version of Mario Kart has been the dream for so long. Of course, that dream is mostly like those full-sized Mario Kart Live experiences in Japan. But having what is effectively surprisingly small remote control karts you can drive around your room is the next best thing.
In the box of Mario Kart live is either a Mario or Luigi kart, and four cardboard gates that are very reminiscent of Labo. There’s no game cartridge; instead, you just grab the free download from the estore.
To set up a course, you place the four gates in sequence, along with any other decorations or obstacles you want, and then drive the Kart through the course to “teach” the console where it is.
Then it’s time for the race, and Bowser and his minion friends show up to compete with you in AR.
Setting up the course is half the fun — working out which objects you can go under and which soft toys will be watching over the racers. But it all depends on what your house looks like, and how creative you feel.
The kart itself is an impressive piece of technology. The camera at the top gives you a view of what it sees and the speed of the kart changes depending on which cc race you’re doing (50, 100, or 150), but it never goes too fast. The kart’s Wi-fi signal isn’t all that strong, so you need to stay within 5m, which takes some of the magic out of it.
Only one person can be playing at a time per Switch. Multiplayer is possible, but you need multiple karts and Switches, and a pretty big living room. There are time trials for pass and play, but it’s nowhere near as much fun as a multiplayer grand prix on console.
Unfortunately, no matter how enjoyable the races are, the similarities with Labo don’t just end at the gates. Like Labo, most people are probably only going to play with it once, and then go back to playing less labour-intensive video games, especially if they want to play with friends or siblings. It’s a nice idea, well executed, but it’s quite expensive and aimed firmly at children who lack the nostalgia tied to the franchise.
Bottom line: This is the most fun remotecontrol car on the market, but perhaps not the most entertaining version of Mario Kart. -ALICE CLARKE