Stacking up the ratings for the Mario Kart games

1/13/2012 11:19:00 PM | Labels: , , , , , , | 1 comment

For several years, Game Rankings has compiled all of the reviews of games and given it an overall rating, much like Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic in other places. It's an unscientific analysis, but it's one of the best ways to know whether a game is good because a lot of sites or people chime in.

I did a search of all the Mario Kart games to see how they stacked up, and it's somewhat of a surprise. Super Mario Kart is the leader with a 94.0 percent rating. However, it has the least amount of reviews, nine. This is probably related to the game being out in 1992, when the Internet wasn't widespread as it is today.

The worst-rated game of the seven — and I should use this term lightly — is Mario Kart Wii with an 82.0 rating. It's still an above-average rating for a game. It also has 72 reviews, tied for the most of the seven games.

Two other games broke 90.0 in addition to Super Mario Kart: Mario Kart Super Circuit (36 reviews) and Mario Kart DS (72 reviews). I find SC surprising since I think it's the worst of the seven games.

Mario Kart Double Dash, my favorite, is fifth at 87.0.

Here's the full list as of Saturday:

Super Mario Kart - 94.0 (9 reviews)
Mario Kart Super Circuit - 92.03 (36 reviews)
Mario Kart DS - 91.34 (72 reviews)
Mario Kart 64 - 87.23 (18 reviews)
Mario Kart Double Dash - 87.02 (72 reviews)
Mario Kart 7 - 85.11 (44 reviews)
Mario Kart Wii - 82.02 (72 reviews)

Big Blue Bullfrog's review of Mario Kart 7

1/13/2012 11:03:00 PM | Labels: | No comment yet


Big Blue Bullfrog posted a review of Mario Kart 7, and it's a fairly favorable review. They made note of the hits and misses, as many of the reviewers have done since the game was released.

Here's a sampling:

Moving on, the game introduces new mechanics in the underwater racing and gliding abilities. I was extremely pleased with the latter more so then I was with the former. Driving underwater plays as much as one could expect; the karts slide farther in tight turns, bounce higher off jumps, and feel slower in general. That being said the real challenge came from recovering underwater after being hit by an opponent. The recovery time also seems to take longer and acceleration time seemed to be slower as well. Gliding has to be the most impressive addition to the game, allowing a racer to soar over parts of the track and other players who were unlucky enough to miss the jump. To activate gliding, one must drive over special blue ramps that send you flying over the course. Skilled players can find extra airlifts and speed boosts that allow them to skip even further ahead, over challenging obstacles, giving them the easy lead. For the crafty player, if you have a Blue Shell, you can send the first player crashing down into a bottomless pit if timed right. The first Cup, The Mushroom Cup, does an extremely good job at casually introducing the player to both new styles of racing early on preparing them for the chaos to come. I’ll admit that when I heard about gliding I was extremely against it, believing that kart racing should be kept on the ground, but I have been proven wrong, I welcome it and hope to see it in future games.

The control scheme is pretty simple for the most part, A/Y to go, B for brake/reverse, X/L to use items, R for drifting/hoping/stunts off ramps, and analog stick to control the kart. If you should be more daring then I am and race in first person view (up on the d-pad) then you tilt the 3DS like it was a steering wheel to drive the kart. As an avid player of Mario Kart Wii, my hardest transition was to stop flicking the 3DS to perform stunts or a wheelie; which by the way has to be my biggest complaint of the whole game. I miss the motorcycles, the mach bike in particular, I would love to have them back one day, it was a sad day to find out they really were not there anymore. While on the topic on things I would have liked to see in the game, I am a fan of majority of the classic courses chosen for the game but I was saddened that Baby Park did not return. There were 7 laps (see 7 laps…Mario Kart 7…perfect match) of pure chaos, with long straight-aways and two power slides (14 in all!). This is just me being overly picky though.

Mario Kart Wii the top seller in Japan in 2011

1/13/2012 06:03:00 PM | Labels: , , | No comment yet


NeoGaf, by way of Famitsu, has released the top 100 best-selling video games in Japan last year. The top seller was Mario Kart 7, which is amazing considering that the game was out in December. The tracking went from Dec. 27, 2010, to Dec. 25, 2011.

Mario Kart 7 beat out Super Mario 3D Land for the top spot by about 40,000 units sold. Those two games, as well as Monster Hunter Freedom 3, were the only games to sell more than 1 million copies.

It's great news and sad news at the same time.

Here's the good: With the amount of sales as well as the rise of community-based events all over the world, the 1 million mark within a month is a great sign (yes, I know people here who got the Japanese version). Keep in mind that many stores did not sell the game as part of a bundle package, and that probably was the case in Japan.

Here's the bad: Mario Kart 7's amount is the lowest for the top-selling game in Japan since 1996 and it's not even close. It joins Pokemon Red/Green/Blue in 1996, Final Fantasy X-2 in 2003, Animal Crossing Wild World in 2005 and Wii Sports in 2007 as the only games to be No. 1 and not break 2 million units sold in Japan.

Mario Kart Wii came in 23rd with more than 400,000 copies sold. It's now up to 3.3 million total.

Mario Kart DS was 60th, having sold 185,000 units. It's total is now at 3.8 million sold in the country.

Suggestions for changes to Mario Kart 7

1/13/2012 11:16:00 AM | Labels: | No comment yet
The Nintendo 3DS Channel on YouTube posted a video listing seven things they'd like to see different in Mario Kart 7. Maybe you have some of these requests too.

Gamester81 suggests adding characters in next Mario Kart

1/13/2012 12:14:00 AM | Labels: | No comment yet

Gamester81 brings up an interesting debate about the Mario Kart series. Perhaps it's time, the writer said, to add more or different characters to the series. This series has Lakitu and full-time Shy Guy among the new additions, but the writer suggests to think outside of the Nintendo realm. Or, how about tracks based off of other games, the writer mentions.

Here's more from the commentary:

I am not saying for them to ditch the whole Mario Kart concept at all, but think about this what if in the next game they gave us a Nintendo All Stars Cup where instead of 4 classic tracks they gave us 4 tracks based on other franchises each with a character to unlock. For example how about a race around Hyrule Castle where if you win you can then race as Link, or perhaps you could race around Planet Zebes with Samus. This is way out there but how about a cross over with Sonic the Hedgehog? When I was 11 years old if you had told me that Sonic and Mario would be in a game together I would have called you crazy, now though with the success of the Mario & Sonic Olympic Games series would it be that hard to imagine a cross over between Mario Kart and Sonic All Star Racing?

Mario Kart 7 kart tips from Nintendo Week

1/12/2012 11:56:00 PM | Labels: | No comment yet
The duo at Nintendo Week talk about different combinations on its latest episode. If you're wondering what type of kart/character combination you should use, check out the first couple of minutes in the video.

Mario Kart 7 among the top 10 in sales in December

1/12/2012 11:49:00 PM | Labels: | No comment yet

From NPD and MyNintendoNews, Mario Kart 7 was doing well in Japan, and apparently it's doing well here too. The game was the fourth-best seller in December and the top 3DS game of that month.

Obviously, it could be attributed to the game being released that month, so we'll see what happens in January. Although, with more communities being formed and a remake of the 3DS on its way, it should prompt more people to buy the game.

It's just like Mario Kart Wii but not named Mario Kart

1/12/2012 05:40:00 PM | Labels: , | No comment yet


From Touchgen, here's a new racer that has hit the iTunes store: Mole Kart.

The game is reportedly just like Mario Kart Wii, with all kinds of items and tracks that are similar to what is offered in the series. Some of the ripped-off courses include Moo Moo Meadows, Mushroom Gorge and SNES Bowsers Castle 3.

Touchgen is guessing that Nintendo will have it taken down, but who knows? It probably will based on how it looks (the characters that get hit even have the same drop stun animation), so drop the $2.99 and get a good laugh.

Here's a video of the game in action. You can see how bad the game looks.

Mario Kart 7 on Amazon.com

1/12/2012 05:32:00 PM | Labels: | No comment yet
If you still haven't gotten Mario Kart 7 yet, you can pick it up on Amazon.com for $34.96. Check the link here for more on how to get it.

It's about a $5 savings compared to GameStop.

Mario Kart 7 tops in sales in Japan last week

1/12/2012 05:17:00 PM | Labels: , | No comment yet


From Gamasutra, Mario Kart 7 was the top seller last week in Japan, according to NeoGAF. The game sold about 9,000 more units than Monster Hunter 3G.

Three of the top four games in sales were 3DS games. Mario Kart Wii was 12th, jumping up eight spots.

Looking for a Mario Kart 7 community?

1/12/2012 04:54:00 PM | Labels: , | No comment yet

Hey everyone, I'm putting together a page that has different Mario Kart 7 communities. My hope is that you can find different communities to be a part of.

You can view the list here.

It'll also be available on the sidebar.

I'm going to try to update this as frequently as possible. If you have a community that you want to be part of this list, make a comment here, or email me at getyourtournament@yahoo.com with all the info, including a website or social-media account where people can ask questions or get more information.

Thanks, and have fun racing!

List of Mario Kart 7 communities

1/12/2012 04:49:00 PM | Labels: , | No comment yet

Looking for a Mario Kart 7 community? Here's a list of what I've been able to put together, as well as who or what is running the community (or publicized it).

Have a community you want added to the list? Email me at getyourtournament@yahoo.com with the subject "MK7 Community."

SFX GameGoddesses (Website) 56-0063-7645-5061
Akuma Hokoru (Twitter) 31-6496-1649-9431
Video Game Hangover Community (Google Plus) 20-7403-9734-6418
I Fight Dragons Advance Guard (Website) 55-8603-4578-7201
VGZero (Website) 08-7875-0381-9342
Fighting Game Community (Website) 55-5811-7338-6237
Georges Scott (Google Plus) 09-9943-9118-2399
Street Pass New York (Google Plus) 07-8039-5578-5488
Nintendo Nerds (Website) 44-2123-9550-4199
Siliconera (Website) 08-1217-8315-8115
Pwnerz Community (YouTube) 06-9106-0288-6693
Nintendo Scene (Twitter) 50-6849-0906-6142
WiiPlayers100 (YouTube) 13-9844-1372-8671
Luke Franse (Google Plus) 60-3528-8210-7827
1Up's No. 1 community - 100cc, mushrooms only (Website) 04-5741-4023-5713
1Up's No. 2 community - 150cc, all items (Website) 25-7096-7429-9377
3DS Nintendo Life's No. 1 community - 150cc, all items (Website) 00-2104-5343-9763
3DS Nintendo Life's No. 2 community - 150cc, bob-ombs only (Website) 52-6562-9908-9924
3DS Nintendo Life's No. 3 community - 150cc, no items (Website) 04-0673-3404-8527
IGN - 150cc, all items (Website) 60-2240-3145-6926
Monster Hunters - 150cc, shells only (Website) 28-5658-2911-8672

A 10,000 VR

1/12/2012 10:36:00 AM | Labels: | No comment yet
Ash Paulsen, a Street Pass Los Angeles member (and former DDR guy), posted this picture of him surpassing 10,000 VR.

What's your highest VR so far?

Latino Gamer's Street Pass LA recap

1/12/2012 01:22:00 AM | Labels: | No comment yet
Latino Gamer was at the Street Pass Los Angeles event last month and has this recap of what happened.

TroyD98's 5-hour marathon

1/12/2012 12:59:00 AM | Labels: | No comment yet
Mario Kart player TroyD98 held a 5-hour marathon playing Mario Kart Wii. Check out the first couple of hours below.



You can see the rest of the marathon on his TwitchTV channel.

The scene from the Street Pass LA tournament finale

1/08/2012 11:11:00 PM | Labels: , | No comment yet
Here's footage from the final race in the Street Pass Los Angeles tournament this past weekend. Unfortunately, it's just the scene and not the match itself. Anyway, congrats to Morvin Agular, who won the tournament.

I'm going to try to be around for the next tournament, which I heard is next month in Los Angeles.

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