I picked up a 2DS for the express purpose of modding it for use on Designing For stuff. It came bundled with Mario Kart 7, which I'd actually missed when it was new; I didn't get a 3DS until... I think Christmas of 2013, so I missed out on a lot of early 3DS stuff like the Ambassador Program, or playing Ocarina of Time 3D/Kid Icarus: Uprising when they were first came out (heck, I still haven't played Super Mario 3D Land). So, I gladly took the opportunity to run through MK7 when I had the chance.

Mario Kart 7 is a largely back-to-basics title, down to its starting roster approximating that of Super Mario Kart's (just with Donkey Kong in place of his... father? younger self?). It's a little weird having Wario as an unlockable after spending so much time as part of the regular crew, but not a huge deal. Of course, much was made about Waluigi's absence at the time of release, so much so that I know people who refused to buy the game because he wasn't there (and Nintendo had the AUDACITY to include Waluigi Pinball without him!!!!!), but I can accept a Waluigi mulligan here or there. Most of the other roster picks feel pretty safe (Wiggler's here because that Power Tennis redesign's stuck and was easy to tweak, I assume), with the obvious exception of the unfairly-maligned Honey Queen. I guess Metal Mario hadn't been seen in a while, either, so him coming back was a cute enough pull.

Part of why it took me so long to loop around to Mario Kart 7 was because I'd heard it was bad, but I don't really see that. Super Mario Kart and Super Circuit feel waaaaaay worse for me to play. Mario Kart 7 feels consistent enough with its follow-up act. This is sort-of the issue the game has, since outside its unique tracks and Honey Queen, there isn't really any reason to revisit this one; Mario Kart 8 does that much more with 7's core gimmicks of "gliding" and "an underWATER adventure". It ends up feeling like a less extreme example of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, since unique tracks are at least a pretty decent incentive to double back.

Oh, right, this was also the game to introduce racetracks with Checkpoints instead of Laps. These are pretty much always suuuuuper cool to see. Understandable why we haven't seen more of these - this basically requires developing thrice as much track as normal. Having a pre-existing location in Wuhu Island probably did a ton of the heavy lifting, and it's not hard to see why we got two Wuhu tracks (speaking as someone who's only ever encountered that location in this, Smash, and Wii Fit). But however they had to do it, I'm glad we got to see this done, since it's resulted in some of the best tracks in the series.

Particularly Rainbow Road. Honestly, maybe my favorite course in the series. Shifting Rainbow Road from a reinterpretation of Super Mario World's Star Road to a loose Super Mario Galaxy theme is an inspired choice, and I love how it keeps GOING. Like, if you're not paying attention, it's easy to miss that it's a course with checkpoints rather than laps, up until you start Section 2 and realize that you're not recognizing anything going on around you. And it plays so much with different celestial bodies! Like even in other space-themed Rainbow Roads, you're used to seeing the other celestial bodies in the background, not driving through the Moon's craters or over Saturn's rings. Such a cool design.

Yeah, so, like, I didn't get a lot out of my time with Mario Kart 7, but it's a perfectly decent game. I imagine I would've liked it a lot more if I'd played it at any point before Mario Kart 8 Deluxe superseded it as the newest handheld Mario Kart. I probably won't revisit it again, but it was worthwhile while it lasted. Even without Waluigi.