Nintendo’s ‘Mario Kart Tour’ Subscription is Terribly Broken

Mario Kart Tour finally debuted on iOS and Android devices earlier this week. Tons of gamers flocked and downloaded the mobile title and swiped their way to nostalgic racing glory. Mario Kart Tour is available for free and offers unlockable karts and drivers as extra incentive to keep playing the game. Most of these devices can be unlocked by playing through races or accomplishing mini-missions throughout the game. You can also go the pay-to-win route, and just buy loot boxes that’ll provide you with much of the same goodies in much less time.

On top of all that, gamers were met with a nasty surprise that was omitted from the beta but will be an ongoing feature in the full version of the game. This surprise is a $4.99 monthly subscription charge that offers gamers Gold Challenges, Gold Gifts, and an insanely fast-paced 200cc racing mode. To some, this may not sound so bad. To me, this is easily the biggest reach I’ve seen in quite some time. A $5 monthly fee for a single mobile game feels like the most asinine thing ever. Especially considering Apple is charging the same amount for “Apple Arcade” which will let gamers play any of their 50 game titles that’ll be available on that platform. Considering specifically what you get for that $5, I would say it’s flat out not worth it. And that’s coming from someone who tremendously enjoyed this game.

Either way, some people will buy-in and most won’t. I could see if this were to extend to Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch as well, but $5 monthly on ANY SINGLE MOBILE GAME is a reach. This pay-to-play concept is easily one of Nintendo’s most broken ideas, and I hope they rework it somehow.