I got this game along with my 3DS and Super Mario 3D Land on Christmas of 2011. I only just got into Nintendo the year prior with the wii and as such, this was my first of the DS line of systems. I remember loving both 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 back then though jumping forward to 2024, both entries seem pretty safe in each of their respective series. While I still think 3D Land is pretty meh, coming back to Mario Kart 7, I will say yeah it's pretty good! Can it be seen as one of the most forgettable entries in the series though, yeah I can totally see it.

The first thing I'll get into are the courses. This time around, the new courses are honestly, mostly forgettable I think. The new rainbow road is one of the best in the series and it does have some memorable tracks like DK Jungle, Piranha Plant Slide and Music Park (tho perhaps those are the most memorable because they're also in 8 lol) but the majority of them, idk man I just don't care for all too much. I don't think any of them are bad but compared to Wii's excellent selection, it's a major downgrade. On the plus side though, the retro selection is probably the best it's been thus far. A big reason is the addition of Wii stages. Mushroom Gorge, Coconut Mall, Maple Treeway and Koopa Cape. Literally all the fan favorites from Wii are here and they're all solid versions for the most part. Koopa Cape's ending though is not nearly as fun as before. It was changed from a current of water under you making you go super fast while dodging these electric obstacles to a way slower underwater section where you dodge cheep cheeps. Biggest downgrade from any stage which is a shame but the course is still fun overall. The rest of selection of retro courses is really good too. Fan favorites from DS return like Waluigi Pinball and Airship Fortress which are way better picks than some of the DS courses that were in Wii. GCN courses are really good here too with them picking Dino Dino Jungle and Daisy Cruiser. Even the SNES course picks are decent just cuz one of them is Rainbow Road and with the modern driving mechanics is super fun.

Speaking of modern mechanics, this game brought back the trick system from Wii and also added a couple other new additions. The trick system was awesome from Wii and thank god it's been a mainstay ever since cuz future titles would have felt a bit lacking. The other two things this game added are underwater driving and gliding. Underwater driving is definitely the worse of the two. It's cool at first but it's just driving but you're slower in accelerating and drifting. Gliding tho is pretty fun. They changed the old stages to add these two mechanics and gliding usually has new shortcuts associated with it. Are either as fun as half pipe ramps from wii though? Definitely not cuz even though gliding is fun it still slows you down compared to driving unless you're taking a big shortcut. I think both are decent additions but not really anything substantial like tricks were in Wii.

Something else this game added was customizable kart parts and the return of coins. The kart parts idea is interesting but mostly unnecessary imo as I almost 100% of the time just use the same setup each time. You can mix and match stats how you like but idk I think I prefer how past games handled karts. Coins returning also doesn't really do anything for me. Yeah it's cool seeing them again as they haven't been in a game since Super Circuit but their only purpose like in that game is to increase your top speed. That and they unlock the various kart parts so you'll need to grind a decent amount if you want em all. Both additions don't hinder the game but they also just don't do much for me.

For being the 2nd Mario Kart on a DS system, you'd think it'd be much improved from DS. In terms of graphics, hell yeah it is. The character models are more similar to Wii in quality and honestly are better in certain characters (like Bowser). This is a massive improvement from DS which frankly had pretty ugly models. This is nice and all but when it comes to the battle mode and the lack of missions, this is a downgrade from DS. The battle mode is better than Wii since you aren't forced into teams anymore but there's still no elimination mode as you have to wait until the timer ends. That plus the track selection is worse than DS makes it a decent downgrade from that game. Still better than Wii and especially vanilla 8's but not the best I think. Also, no missions? Those were so fun in DS and this game has nothing. Like, I can excuse Wii and 8 since those are console titles so something like missions which works well on a portable title wouldn't be quite as fun. But 7 has no excuse so it's somewhat disappointing.

Last thing is the character selection is quite weak. Look I love Mario galaxy but honey bee?? Metal mario, Lakitu and Wiggler aren't terrible but those over Waluigi?? When Waluigi pinball is in this game???? Just baffling tbh and a pretty big downgrade from Wii's and even DS's selection.

Also, just something random, online play still works as of now though I think it's gonna end soon. Played a couple courses and it's fun but man almost everyone that joined are pros that play this game daily or something it's crazy. But the online is actually pretty good for the most part so I recommend giving it a go while you can

I'm giving this a 7 for now cuz I do think it's pretty good and it does some things really well (like the retro selection). But besides that, and even then that's just past content, I feel like there's really no reason to go back to this one when DS, Wii and 8 just does all the other aspects so much better. Didn't think I'd be so negative on this one (sorry about that) cuz I enjoyed it a ton back in the day and it's still a good game to this day! But when people say this one just feels like another Mario Kart, I can kind of understand that tbh. Ah well, anyways vanilla 8 is next because yeah I said I'm going to play them all and I'll stand by that so stay tuned for that one!

Edit: Bumped down to a 6.5

Este foi o primeiro jogo da Nintendo que tive o prazer de jogar no console oficial. Antes de jogar o Mario Kart 7, só havia experimentado o Mario Kart Wii e o clássico do SNES, então não tenho muita base para fazer comparações. No entanto, entre esses três, este é o que mais gostei, pois parece ser muito mais equilibrado e fácil de entender.

Senti um pouco a falta das motos do Mario Kart Wii, mas é compreensível que haja apenas karts, já que o jogo se concentra nas diferentes combinações de peças que podemos usar para montá-los. No entanto, seria bom se as peças pudessem ser obtidas em menos tempo.

Enfim, é um jogo tão satisfatório que mesmo depois de já tê-lo zerado, eu o pego para jogar sempre que tenho um tempinho livre e não sei o que jogar. Ele se tornou uma daquelas opções infalíveis para mim.

While the game is very fun, it is hard to rate it when you consider the success and impact of Mario Kart DS. This game did introduce customizable karts and the glider feature, which was very impactful for the later and highly successful Mario Kart 8. The roster is a bit larger with some very bizarre picks (The wiggler and Queen Bee from Mario Galaxy). Local play is still fun as ever. The course list is very OK and is somewhat forgettable. A fun game and a passable portable Mario Kart experience that set the groundwork for the next game in the franchise.

Mario + Kart = 10/10, não tem erro. Muitas pistas únicas desse jogo são perfeitas e acho uma pena não terem sido portadas para o Kart 8. Assim como qualquer jogo desse gênero, que é uma paixão platônica minha, esse é extremamente divertido e bem feito, perco muitas horas do dia jogando umas partidas, seja de torneios normais ou o modo batalha que também é excelente.
Não existem tantas mudanças desse para o sucessor, e como amo demais Mario Kart 8 esse acabou me conquistando da mesma forma. Só acho que poderiam ter mais personagens já que a seleção aqui é bem curta, mas nada que afete a qualidade do jogo final.
Masterpiece, mais um joguinho de Kart que ficará guardado a 7 chaves no meu coração.

Figured I’d end the year off with some quick Mario Kart. Definitely not as good as 8 especially when it comes to item balancing and mechanics but it’s a good ass game with a great ass track selection. If you’re wondering what my ranking is for each of the tracks again, well…

Rainbow Road
Waluigi Pinball DS
Maple Treeway Wii
Airship Fortress DS
Maka Wuhu
Music Park
Daisy Cruiser GCN
Kailmari Desert N64
Wario Shipyard
Mushroom Gorge Wii
Piranha Plant Slide
Boston Building DS
Koopa Cape Wii
Koopa Beach N64
Rainbow Road SNES
DK Jungle
Shy Guy Bazaar
Dino Dino Jungle GCN
Wuhu Loop
Mario Circuit 2 SNES
Rock Rock Mountain
Mario Circuit
Neo Bowser City
Bowser Castle 1 GBA
Bowser’s Castle
Daisy Falls
DK Pass DS
Coconut Mall Wii
Rosalina’s Ice World
Toad Circuit
Luigi Raceway N64
Cheep Cheep Lagoon

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.

Thinking like I had a good fill of the 3DS's library during its heyday, but then I remember I was playing stuff along the lines of Tails Adventure on Virtual Console and Ketzal's Corridors, and not like, I don't know, any of the actual top 20 best selling games on the damn thing. So, somehow, my first experience with Mario Kart 7 happens to be in 2024.

Much like what I feel Smash Ultimate did for Smash 4, I feel like Mario Kart 7 has lost a lot of its identity and purpose in a post-Mario Kart 8 + Deluxe + Booster Course Pass world.

But also much like how I feel about Smash 4, I don't find their experiences inessential, because both Smash 4 and Mario Kart 7 have just enough unique quirks and intricacies worth taking a look at.

The paragliding, as it was introduced here, plays so much more elegantly than I was used to for the past 10 years. It's the poster feature of the game along with the underwater traversal, but it's moreso introduced as a reward for hitting the off-path blue ramps and not entirely the frontfacing feature this game's marketing of yesteryear would have you suggest. Interestingly enough, sailing is more responsive to player input here. You can actually make some intricate moves in the air and keep your altitude, as opposed to how automated it feels in 8. It feels a lot more in-hand with how, unlike the mandatory aquatic karting, paragliding is treated as a reward here and not an automated falling section granted upon every player off the same track-wide ramp as neutered it felt in 8. You can actually take your sails pretty far here, moreso than when on even the same tracks in Mario Kart 8 and Tour. The underwater segments, on the other hand, felt just as weightless in handling as they do in variety and purpose, sadly not much different from how they are now. The trick system takes the runway median here, signified by the fact that they're actually on a humanly possible button to activate this time (You don't remember having to press Up on the D-pad back on Mario Kart Wii? Because I do.) Tracks are garnished with half-pipes and ramps, moreso than they did on Wii, and trick boosting feels more powerful than it ever did in the series here, especially when chained. That final stretch of this game's Rainbow Road that's just a long stretch of ramps on straights to the finish line? Exhilarating; S tier track for that alone.

Balancing changes are definitely felt, what with the attainability of triple mushrooms available all the way up to second place, drift boosts taking just a bit longer to activate so they feel less spammable, and the infamous series CPU rubberbanding is felt here one last time before I feel it was finally nerfed greatly in 8. (I personally never minded the rubberbanding, playing at a high skill level feels too boring in 8, where you can practically lap the back half of Hard CPUs at 150-200cc.)

Unfortunately the biggest hit this game has taken with its age is within its track relevancy - 8's returning track list perhaps favored from Mario Kart 7 a bit too much, so a lot of a first time playthrough in 2024 will be a lot of “been there, done that." (Doubly so if you've played Mario Kart 8 and Deluxe pre-Booster Course Pack, where these tracks dominated the popular vote online. Christ, Piranha Plant Slide makes me physically ill in this day and age.) Though that is not to say Mario Kart 7 would be a pointless retread today, because there's still some great tracks in here exclusive to this title: both Wuhu Island tracks are fantastic, some of the highest tier in the series for me personally, I loved Bowser’s Castle in this one, and my biggest shock of all was seeing the only two tracks in my Booster Course Pass wishlist that didn't make it here - DS Airship Fortress and GCN Dino Dino Jungle. Loved seeing them here again. (Also, to everyone complaining about how Coconut Mall’s aesthetics were "ruined” in 8’s Booster Course Pass, did we just gloss over how it was here? Same thing.) Mario Kart 7's Rainbow Road though? I already mentioned it earlier, but it's the best in the series, or at least tied with Wii.

Mario Kart 7, as it is now, lives a very contradictory existence. As most of its content lives on in both 8 and Tour, the actual intricacies of its mechanics and balancing feel exclusive to itself here. Much like how you can always go back to Smash 4 for Smash Run and Smash Tour (both of which are fun, my comments are always open for discourse), Mario Kart 7 still has its reasons for going back to, and I will be doing so, because God damn those Wuhu tracks are good, I can play as Wiggler and Honey Queen for some reason, and to witness a glimmer of the uber-polished, arguably best era of Mario Kart that was yet to come. Mario Kart 8 ran a long lap before I realized it was my favorite, but before then, Mario Kart 7 refreshed the series in an under-appreciated way. The seeds of the series' current generational quality streak were planted here, though seeds they were.

I forgot how much fun this game is. I think the track selection is maybe the best in the series, and the physics are surprisingly fun. I personally think the roster is fucking hilarious, I love that honey queen of all people was chosen, and for some reason metal Mario feels kinda cool in this game. It sucks that it’s missing some characters that feel like mainstays but other than that the game is awesome. I personally hated gliding in Mario kart because it feels like an excuse to make you go straight for a long time and take control away, but I was shocked coming back to this game to find that’s really only a problem in Mario Kart 8. This game’s gliding gives you so much control and you can do insane shit like even going under the rings of Saturn to grab a hidden item box on Rainbow Road (which is one of the best in the series btw). While 8 is obviously more mechanically sound and has 3 times as many tracks making it honestly probably the better game, this game has a lot of weird magic that I can’t help but feel was lost in the transition to its sequel on the Wii U.