Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit Reviews
There's real magic at the heart of this brilliantly faithful AR take on Mario Kart, but a fair few caveats abound.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit's course creation and in-game tracks are a blast held back by some key limitations.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit brings back that sense of wonder we all felt when we cracked open our first video game and realised there was another world behind the screen. Only now that other world is in our living rooms.
A wonderfully inventive attempt to bring Mario Kart into the real world, whose mere premise is enough to amuse and delight, despite some unavoidable practical limitations.
While it doesn't deliver a flawless performance, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a novel concept that provides a unique twist to the well-established racing experience
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is Nintendo at its toyetic peak, with a magical AR effect that nonetheless requires some elbow grease to find the fun.
From racing against the computer to taking on friends with their own karts to designing the perfect track to just exploring your place through the eyes of a tiny, kart-racing Mario, this is a toy in the best way: a portal to inventive, constantly changing play that’s fun no matter how you decide to interact with the platform. Your home is now Mario’s own set of challenges and opportunities, and that’s a jump I did not expect from the Mario Kart franchise.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is the natural extension of Nintendo’s penchant for unique peripherals, from the Zapper and Power Pad of the ‘80s to the Wii’s endless assortment of plastic junk (for which the planet may never forgive us). A couple years ago Nintendo smartened up with the more environmentally friendly cardboard Labo kits, which enjoyed only passing popularity.
Mario Kart Live is a wondrous and magical toy that combines real world and digital play in an incredible way. It's a shame though that not everyone will have the space, or the money, to experience it.
Live Home Circuit is a great combination between a toy (a radio controlled kart) and an augmented reality game for Nintendo Switch, with some creative additions in the way we design each circuit.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is an entertaining take on the classic franchise. The mixed reality format allows player creativity to shine, as the ceiling for possibility is practically infinite. Nintendo is able to expertly weave staple Mario Kart features and characteristics into an augmented reality setting, making the game stand out from other RC racers.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit feels like magic. It's expensive to play multiplayer, but if your imagination (and house) is big enough, there's plenty of fun on offer.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a gleefully successful experiment for Nintendo and Velan Studios...though some minor elements hold it back from exceeding expectations.
Nintendo's augmented reality kart racer – which involves a miniature kart – works better as a creative toy than a traditional racing game
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a unique experience that is really impressive at first glance. I enjoyed putting the courses together and exploring the variety of Grand Prix’s, but after a while, the experience does lose its charm much faster than normal Mario Kart experiences. I think this is in part due to the fact that there really is only so many ways I can set up four gates in my living room, the game gets stale because my ideas get stale. Some of the in-game obstacles that impact your RC cars steering, like the Chain-Chomp power-up and the high winds, often caused me to crash into living room objects or knock the gates out of place. This was incredibly annoying and really ruins the experience more than a badly timed Blue Shell. Moreover, the cost to play multiplayer is way too steep, keeping this ultimately a single-player experience for most families. While there is a nice amount of variety in courses, there really isn’t much to do after you master the 200cc difficulty – assuming you haven’t lost interest long before then.
It's one of the best applications of AR I've got my hands on and features some impressive tech. The kart is a joy to drive and responds as closely to the game as physically possible, with multiplayer adding even more fun into the mix. Mario Kart Live Home Circuit is a fantastic blend of mad Mario Kart action in your own home. It's awesome seeing your home from the shifted perspective while you are zag zagging through your coffee table and under the sofa while dishing out red shell revenge.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is heavily dependent on the amount of free floor space you have available. If you have a large home, space to drive under the sofas, no extra rugs or thick carpets, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit will be an amazing experience to share with the children. If you live somewhere fairly cramped or have a lot of clutter that's going to get in the way, then you will find this very difficult to enjoy indeed. Great for the kids at Christmas, as long as you have the space.
If Mario Kart Live Home Circuit plays well and feels fresh it also has some awkward limitations. First, the connection between the kart and your Switch is too short. Then, if you live in a small flat, it's complicated. Finally, if you plan to play with other people, you have to buy another complete set, as there are no individual karts for sale.
Review in French | Read full review
My time with Home Circuit was fun, and I’m sure I’ll set up a new course sometime in the future when I’m feeling particularly inspired. I just wish there were two karts in the box so I could play with a friend, and I wish the range was double what it is so I could build bigger and better courses. I’m not so sure I feel like I got a $99 value out of what I played so far.
Hindered or enhanced by your imagination, Nintendo's latest mad project is still a well-designed and madly charming new entry in its beloved karting franchise.