Since its inception on SNES, the Mario Kart series has been one of Nintendo always fun franchises. Mario Kart Live: The home circuit invites you to bring action into the real world, using your Switch and remote control car and camera to close the gap between reality and your screen.
The idea of setting up your room as a racing and accelerating race like Mario is a thrilling prospect, and while it is often novel and fun, a few notable speedbumps stop it from taking the gold trophy.
Mario Kart Live offers you one go-kart (including Mario or Luigi), four gates, and two arrow boards in the box. Using these pieces, you can create any course you can take into the space you have. You can customize each gate on the screen with non-removable items, including object blocks, stimulants, piranha plants that hold you in place, and cords that draw you to random directions. As soon as your gates are set and customized, you draw the road by directing your cat through the gates to paint the track. After that it goes to anti-AI racing races controlled by Bowser Jr. and Koopalings.
When you are in a race, the experience of mixed reality works very well most of the time, and it kept me happy. I dodged the goombas as I turned into a sharp corner with my coat, then hit the enemy with a red shell. However, the visible track sometimes does not cover the floor completely. This problem played tricks in my eyes and made me think that turning was faster than they were, and in rare cases, the gate did not see me pass through.
I used to run to the sides of the gates, which distorted the track; your option is to deal with changing situations or pause during the race to adjust. The game recommends placing a heavy object on each foot to keep it in place, but unless you happen to have a group of compact, heavy objects (I used 16 cans of soda, two on each foot of the gate), this should be set up or compensated when planning your stages. This frustration is further exacerbated by in-game content and locations designed to drive you away from the course; the storm environment is clean because it hits physical carts everywhere, but it also caused me to run into the gate a few times.
To get started, I had to make a big change in my living room, move the coffee table to the wall, and fold my mat because it was much heavier than the cat’s wheels. To get any kind of creative freedom, you need an open space, which can make this difficult for people in small houses or in entertainment houses. Even on my big open floor, I struggled to come up with ideas that would fit into the space. After moving to my more open basement, I was able to flex my creative muscles slightly, but the carpet lowered the cart down enough that I quickly returned to the hardwood surface of my living room.
I enjoyed wrapping my brain around to get the smart thinking of my space. From the straight oval track with the 8 sign to the long straight path and the strong curve that spun under my dining room table, I was thrilled to compose within the space I was already accustomed to. I loved taking it back and looking at my living room in new ways to find out what else I could do to extend the study. However, as the normal race took about a minute and a space I was playing in, even my favorite designs wore out soon.
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Driving around your room reveals a typical Mario Kart experience, even if the background is your real home. Blowing up your rivals while being starred is just as exciting as it is in the main series, and being released with a green shell on the thighs is like being angry. However, with a small power staircase and short, varied chase lessons, the experience grows rapidly.
Time trials and custom competitions are funny, but I spent most of my time in the Grand Prix for three races. You can rearrange your track during each event, but with a mode that uses different effects for each race, I never felt compelled to go through a long process of rebuilding a track each time. The Grand Prix is great for collecting coins that you will use for customizing Mario / Luigi and kart, but it is much better to open up faster speeds and new areas to use in traditional lessons; if i got a zippy 150cc and 200cc, i don’t mind going back to anything that goes slow.
Despite its flaws, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit still brings hours of fun. While shooting the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is very easy and fully customizable, the unique take on the Mario Kart Live series should be considered for those looking for an exciting transformation in a well-dressed concept.
