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!