The Eternal Battle
The quiet feud between two of gaming’s greatest siblings has built to a head. Nintendo’s best brothers, Mario and Luigi, have now taken their fussin’ and feudin’ to the racetrack, and will be decided in the new “Mario vs. Luigi” tour, now live in mobile racer Mario Kart Tour.
The new update adds a new “Team Rally” mode, which asks players to party up as a part of Team Mario or Team Luigi. As racers whiz around various circuits, they will gather up special tokens for their chosen Team Captain, in a bid to prove who is the most Super of the Mario Bros. At the end of the rally, the winning team will be awarded with in-game items and an exclusive title screen, proudly emblazoned with the winning sibling’s ‘tasche.
With this new “Vs.” mechanic, it feels like Nintendo may be experimenting with the head-to-head battle mechanic that proved so popular in its Switch shooter series Splatoon. Mario Kart Tour has long abandoned the concept of visiting real-world locations, and as the maligned mobile title enters its second year of operation, perhaps Nintendo is hoping that a little fan-favourite debate will help keep the gacha coins coming into 2021.
Mario Kart Tour is available now on iOS and Android devices.