I was very excited when I was asked if I would like to review the new MarioKart Live Home Circuit for Nintendo Switch. As a huge Mario Kart fan the concept of a physical car driving around a track I create using my hand held console sounded too good to be true.
The car itself is really sturdy, it is easy to charge, simple to connect to your console and the camera produces brilliant quality footage. I was really impressed with the quality and it certainly feels robust. I was also really impressed with how long it lasts after a charge and the fact that the battery/fuel level is shown whilst in-game help you prepare yourself for when it runs out of power.
Inside the box, you get the car, the charging cable, 2 arrow barriers and 4 gates which are easy to open and fold back down. You can get Mario or Luigi.
When in the game (which is a free download from the Nintendo eShop) you are able to customise these gates so although they have items/boosts associated with them you can still change them as well as their appearance in the game.
You are also able to customise your car using power ups that you collect during the game. With lots of designs to collect as you play you will want to keep racing.
Setting up your MarioKart Live course is really easy and the game talks you through the different stages. It even includes an option to help you to stay on the course you set if you find the car difficult to steer (although I found it really easy to manoeuvre). You can race around your track in a time trial, a Grand Prix or as a custom race and can even play multiplayer although that needs more than one car. There are different races which will theme your course and these come with their own obstacles and challenges and I can’t wait to try each of them out.
We have played with MarioKart Live Home Circuit at home on our wooden flooring as well as in my office which has low pile carpet and it ran well on both surfaces but I can not advise on what it would be like on thick pile carpet.
Overall MarioKart Live Home Circuit has been a huge hit with us and we can’t wait to unlock even more races and customisations. One thing I will say though is that this is one item that needs space so if you only have a small amount of floor space you may struggle to really feel the benefits however you can make some awesome tight turn courses such as a figure of 8 or similar.