WATCH: ‘Mario Kart Tour’ previews in-game Tokyo track

A new trailer for “Mario Kart Tour” shows how the official mobile game will work, as well as how its Tokyo course is shaping up, ahead of a late September release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aixSc5LxJkQ

Previously, New York and Paris had been name-checked along with Tokyo in an August announcement of the game’s Sept. 25 arrival on iOS and Android operating systems, while various tracks’ in-game appearances had been glimpsed in an August teaser video.

The new trailer encourages potential players to imagine themselves racing through real-world cities while implicitly preparing them for the cartoon representations portrayed in the game.

The plan is for “Mario Kart Tour” to include new takes on some of the 27-year-old Nintendo franchise’s classic courses and have special city courses inspired by real-world locations available during specific time periods at launch and beyond.

Some “Mario Kart” characters will also be given local variations. It is an approach that should be similar to those familiar with 2012’s wildly popular “Subway Surfers”, which is still cycling through internationally-themed cities to this day.

Nintendo is promoting “Mario Kart Tour” as being free-to-start, with no further price information. The same label was applied to “Super Mario Run”, which provided free access to its first three levels. RGA/JB

RELATED STORIES: 

‘Mario Kart’ coming to mobile phones by March

Playing ‘Mario Kart’ may improve driving skills—study