Over a year and a half after the game was announced, Mario Kart Tour is finally available to the public on iPhones and Android devices across the world. 

Since Super Mario Kart came out on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992, the franchise has been adored by millions and has brought family and friends together for hours of pure fun. 

As of now, only certain characters and tracks are unlockable. Most tracks within the game are from previous Mario Kart installments with one new track, “New York Minute,” available now. 

In future updates, many more aspects of the game will be expanded. Additional characters will become unlockable, such as Luigi, Rosalina and Wario, as well as additional tracks such as Waluigi Pinball, DK pass and new Paris and Tokyo-inspired tracks as well. Multiplayer mode will be released in the next update, allowing players to race with their friends in real time. 

The addition of new content helps keep the game fresh and therefore interesting for much longer, which is a great implementation for the longevity of the game. 

Special items are a feature brought back from Mario Kart: Double Dash on the Nintendo GameCube, which allows for players to only receive certain items only while playing as a specific character. Certain characters, vehicles, and gliders also receive additional boosts in number of items received and points earned for playing, which solves the issue of players selecting the same character/vehicle combination every time and adds to the variety present within races. 

While the game contains many interesting new features, the control interface is sub-par at best. The game is played in a portrait orientation, only allowing for limited visibility of the road. The game is played with one hand, involving sliding your thumb cross the screen to steer and drift and swiping up or down for items. Although disappointing, this setup is understandable as Nintendo aims to make the game easily playable for anyone regardless of experience. More experienced players are given the option to disable smart steering and enable manual drift to give themselves even greater control of their vehicle. 

While free, in-app purchases are abundant throughout the game, which may lead to a serious dent in the wallet for players looking to unlock as many characters, vehicles and features as possible. Thankfully, for the casual player just looking to have a good time with their friends, the necessary features are easily unlockable with in the game without having to spend a penny.