With the incoming beta, I'm curious to see both how it will play, and how Nintendo will monetize it upon release. I've been a fan of the mariokart games from their inception, but I wonder how they'll capture the speed and feel on mobile. Will tracks be simplified for motion controls? Will there be motion controls? How much variety in characters and karts will we see? I haven't been impressed with Nintendo's phone games so far but I think MKT has potential. What would you want to see from it?

So I got into the beta, and have played a couple hours worth of Mario Kart Tour, played 7 different circuits (cups), which have consisted of about a dozen different tracks, and unlocked 150cc mode . Overall, I've found the game a little underwhelming. Coming in first is still cool, but the real focus is collecting stars which is based off the "points" you get from the race. You get points from what character you bring in as a driver, what kart you use, what glider you include on your kart, as well as how you perform during the race (rocketing off the line, using items on other drivers, as well as what place you finish in). This allows for some weird challenge curves in later circuits where a great driving performance still won't get you the full set of stars. There are achievements, some of which suggest they expect people to play the game a lot (hit other drivers with items 1000 times). The rubber banding AI on 150cc is also miserable, even by Mario Kart standards. The lack of actual online play is a bummer also, but this is still the beta, so maybe it will be in the full release.

On the positive side, the game looks and sounds pretty great for a mobile game. Daisy is so excited to be racing, and Ludwig sometimes dabs when he goes off jumps.