57| Mario Kart 7

Released: December 4th, 2011

Available on: Nintendo 3DS

Quick question, what is Nintendo's consistently best selling game series? You answered Super Mario correct? This would be the obvious choice for how much of an anchor the series has been for the company and gaming as whole, however, that would be incorrect. Over the past thirteen years (and possibly before) the Mario Kart entries have consistently sold more than their Super Mario counterparts, and often chart as the best selling or second selling titles on their respected systems.  Thus the "spin-off" series has surpassed the father series.

This isn't too surprising as Mario Kart has a lot of a appeal. In many ways it is the perfect party game. It takes the "dull" racing genre and spices it up with attacks, charge strips, and wacky level design. The fundamentals are tight enough so that the game still feels competitive, but is also random and zany enough to be welcoming to new players. Anyone who has ever picked up a Nintendo controller knows the deal with Mario Kart. You can select a wide range of a cast of characters from the Super Mario universe. Each of them has their own different kart with its own strengths and weaknesses, though newer entries are starting to get away from this as they offer completely customizable cars. The player rides across a race track complete with speed strips, bottomless pits, lava, ramps, and even wild creatures ready to munch racers up. A few points throughout the course there are boxes with question marks in them. These boxes give the player special abilities such as shells to shoot at other players, banana peels to drop, and even bullet bills that give the player a huge speed boost for a matter of seconds.

This all seems very random and varied, but Mario Kart 7 specifically adds even more things to the formula. The most obvious is that cars now have the ability to fly and go underwater. Throughout the stages there will be segments where cars dive into lakes or have ramps that go off of cliffs. The cars will then spout propellers or gliders depending on the situation. Personally I feel that these parts of the stages add a lot of variety to the tracks and keep the game fresh. There is also the option to drive in a first person viewpoint. It isn't preferable but it is interesting to try out, specifically due to the Nintendo 3DS's 3D capabilities.

On top of the expected Grand Prix mode and head to head racing modes, the game also has the return of Battle mode. In this mode players are put into some sort of kart arena where they drive around picking up random items from question blocks as they collect coins. The objective is simple, collect as many coins as possible. As players collect coins they have to avoid being hit, as one hit will result in them losing their coins. While collecting coins, they should also be at least somewhat focus on taking out other players to have them drop their coins. The person with the most coins at the end of the match wins. It's a bit different than the "balloon" affair of "three strikes you're out", but it is much more preferable as it keeps players in the game and thus the challenge factor up.

Mario Kart DS was a huge step for Nintendo. This wasn't just because it had online gameplay, but that it managed to have good online gameplay in terms of netcode(a memo that the Super Smash Bros. Brawl team didn't get). Mario Kart 7 continues on this tradition as the netcode is very smooth. Say what you want about Nintendo, but when they want to they can make games with damn good netcode, embarrassing Capcom, From Software, and Activision. I can be playing with someone across the world and still have a reliable connection with them. This goes both for head to head races and face to face battles.

There isn't much else to say about Mario Kart 7, it is by far the best Mario Kart, at least portable Mario Kart, you can get. Not only does it feature everyones favorite characters from the Super Mario universe, but it has a collection of tracks and customization options that appeal to everyone. On top of that it has a strong netcode and active community that makes online battles available whenever desired. It is likely the best selling SKU for the its respected system and it's easy to see why.