Mario Kart 7 (commonly abbreviated as MK7) is a racing game that is exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS. It is the seventh Mario Kart game in the series, (ninth including the arcade games) and the third for a handheld console. Returning from Mario Kart Wii, players are able to exchange Ghost Data and play online or wirelessly on multiplayer mode. Mario Kart 7 is the debut appearance of Blue Boosters (which trigger hang-gliding sections) and underwater racing. This game introduces kart customization as well, allowing players to toggle parts on their karts to fit their preferences.
Gameplay
New Features
- There are 3 new items: Fire Flower, Lucky 7 and the Super Leaf.
- You can now unlock wheels, gliders and frames to build your whole kart yourself.
- After going over a Blue Booster (or a Blue Mushroom in Wii Mushroom Gorge), you will activate a Glider. The glider makes you glide through the air for a certain amount of time.
- You can drive underwater in most tracks (for example: you will drown in Daisy Hills, but not in Cheep Cheep Cape).
- Last place (8th) now recieves a point.
Returning Features
- Coins return in Racing mode after an absence since Mario Kart: Super Circuit.
Removed Features
- Bikes are no longer useable (likely due to space limitations on the card, or because they were overpowered in their debut)
- The field is back to eight racers (again, likely due to space limitations)
Controls
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Circle Pad | Steer (left and right), Shoot item forward/backward (up and down) |
| A | Gas (Press and hold during the countdown = Rocket Start) |
| B | Brakes |
| X | Use item |
| Y | Gas (Press and hold during the countdown = Rocket Start) |
| L | Use item |
| R | Jump (R + 'Circle Pad = Mini-Turbo) |
| Touch screen | Switch between outlined and detailed map (visible on the Touch Screen) |
| D-Pad | Switch to first-person view (up when in normal view); switch back to normal view (left, right and down when in first-person view) |
Characters
With unlocked charcters.
| Default characters | |
|---|---|
| Name | Weight |
| Mario | Medium |
| Luigi | Medium |
| Princess Peach | Light |
| Yoshi | Light |
| Bowser | Heavy |
| Donkey Kong | Cruiser |
| Toad | Feather |
| Koopa Troopa | Feather |
| Unlockable Characters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Weight | How to unlock |
| Daisy | Light | Win the Mushroom Cup in 150cc. |
| Wario | Heavy | Win the Flower Cup in 150cc. |
| Rosalina | Cruiser | Win the Star Cup in 150cc. |
| Metal Mario | Heavy | Win the Special Cup in 150cc. |
| Shy Guy | Feather | Win the Shell Cup in 150cc. |
| Honey Queen | Heavy | Win the Banana Cup in 150cc. |
| Wiggler | Cruiser | Win the Leaf Cup in 150cc. |
| Lakitu | Feather | Win the Lightning Cup in 150cc. |
| Mii | Medium | Win all Grand Prix cups in any class |
Items
| Image | Item Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Item Box | Gives you an item when you pass through it. |
|
Coin | Collecting coins increase the top speed of your car (you can collect a maximum of 10, also in Coin Runners). |
| Weapons | ||
  |
Banana | Karts that run over a banana will spin out. They can be thrown forward or dropped behind your kart. |
|
Triple Bananas | Gives you three bananas that trail behind your kart. You don't need to hold the X- or L-button to hold them. |
|
Green Shell | Travels in a straight line and knocks over the first kart it hits. Breaks after hitting obstacles too many times. |
|
Triple Green Shells | Three Green Shells that spin around your kart. You will shoot one at a time, and they are able to be shot forward or behind. They can also guard your kart from shells if you have them on your back. |
|
Red Shell | Fires at the kart in front of you, according to the track. When shot backward, it will follow a straight line. Breaks after contact. |
|
Triple Red Shells | Three Red Shells, the stats are the same for Triple Green Shells. |
|
Spiny Shell | Hovers over to the first place and explodes. It will topple any kart in it's path, but not explode. They can be diffused by a well-timed Bob-omb, or be escaped with a mushroom. |
|
Bob-omb | Will explode when thrown or dropped, knocking over any kart in its blast radius. The only item that can stop a Spiny Shell. When released, it will throw itself forward, unlike the Banana Peels. |
|
Mushroom | Provides your kart with a small speed boost. |
|
Triple Mushrooms | Provides your kart with three separate speed boosts. |
|
Golden Mushroom | Gives you a speed boost whenever you press L or X, but only for 7,5 seconds. |
|
Bullet Bill | Transforms you into a bullet bill and knocks over the karts in the front. |
|
Blooper | Sprays ink on all the karts ahead of you and reduces their visibility. |
|
Lightning | Causes all opponents to shrink in size. They drop their items and slow down, and the time it takes to grow back to normal size depends on your position. A fully-grown racer can squish a small racer. |
|
Star | Increases your speed for a short time. It will keep you safe from everything, including Spiny Shells, Lightning |
|
Fire Flower New Item |
Allows you to throw fireballs that cause other karts to spin out of control for a short time (1/3 of a Banana Peel) |
|
Super Leaf New Item |
Gives your kart a tail that can be used to deflect items and knock over opponents. It is helpful to grab out of reach Coins. |
|
Lucky Seven New Item |
Surrounds your cart with 7 usable items. These include a Red Shell, a Green Shell, a Banana Peel, a Bob-omb, a Star, a Blooper and a Mushroom. All of which will be used when you press X or L when the item is in front of your car, and CPU-racers can also hit them, with the effects working for them. |
Courses
Just like it's predecessors, Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 has 8 Cups and 32 courses: 16 new tracks and 16 remakes from previous games' tracks.
| Mushroom Cup | Flower Cup | Star Cup | Special Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
|
 |
| Toad Circuit | Wuhu Loop Wuhu Island Loop |
Piranha Plant Slide |
DK Jungle |
| Daisy Hills | Mario Circuit | Wario Shipyard Wario Galleon |
Rosalina's Ice World |
| Cheep Cheep Lagoon Cheep Cheep Cape |
Music Park Melody Motorway |
Neo Bowser City Koopa City |
Bowser's Castle |
| Shy Guy Bazaar | Rock Rock Mountain Alpine Pass |
Maka Wuhu Wuhu Mountain Loop |
Rainbow Road |
| Shell Cup | Banana Cup | Leaf Cup | Lightning Cup |
 |
 |
|
 |
| N64 Luigi Raceway | N64 Koopa Troopa Beach | N64 Kalimari Desert | Wii Koopa Cape |
| GBA Bowser's Castle 1 | SNES Mario Circuit 2 | DS DK Pass | GCN Dino Dino Jungle |
| Wii Mushroom Gorge | Wii Coconut Mall | GCN Daisy Cruiser | DS Airship Fortress |
| DS Luigi's Mansion | DS Waluigi Pinball | Wii Maple Treeway |
Italics denote course name in PAL version.
Grand Prix Points System
In Grand Prix, the player selects an engine class and a cup to race. Each cup, as shown above, contains four courses that are played in order. After each individual race, the place in which the racer comes is translated into a number of points to go to the racer's total. At the end of the cup, the points are cumulatively tallied, and whichever racer has the most, second most, and third most points wins a gold, silver, or bronze trophy, respectively. Below is a table showing the amount of points garnered for coming in a certain place in a race.
| Finishing Place | Points Received |
| 1st | 10 |
|
2nd |
8 |
| 3rd | 6 |
| 4th | 5 |
| 5th | 4 |
| 6th | 3 |
| 7th | 2 |
| 8th | 1 |
Battle Courses
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Kart 7.
References
External links
| Mario Kart games | |
|---|---|
| Main Titles | Super Mario Kart (1992, SNES) • Mario Kart 64 (1996, N64) • Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001, GBA) • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003, GameCube) • Mario Kart DS (2005, DS) • Mario Kart Wii (2008, Wii) • Mario Kart 7 (2011, 3DS) • Mario Kart 8 (2014, Wii U) • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017, Switch) |
| Arcade Titles | Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005) • Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2007) • Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013) • Mario Kart Arcade GP VR (2017) |
| Spin-off Titles | Mario Kart Tour (2019, Mobile) • Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (2020, Switch) |