Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is undeniably impressive in its execution at combining Augmented Reality and Nintendo’s popular franchise. There’s a sense of magic to creating your track in the real world and watching as it comes to life on the Switch. However, at nearly one hundred pounds the price of entry is a tough pill to swallow especially since multiplayer requires you drop another hundred on top.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
Velan Studios · Oct 16, 2020
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Control a real-life Mario Kart with Nintendo Switch and watch it come to life in the game!
Race a real-world Mario Kart™ through your home! Use the Nintendo Switch™ system to control your kart and watch as it reacts to what’s happening in the game as you boost and drift to victory. Your in-home course comes to life on-screen with a view from right behind the driver’s seat.
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Critic reviews
- Without question, its novelty is charming and it makes a stellar first impression, but the experience can start to seem shallow the more and more laps you make around the track. If you have a good amount of space and flexibility where you can play, Mario Kart Live is a neat and well-functioning toy, but diehard Kart fans are likely to be left in the dust not long after the race begins.
- 8.0What's really amazing about Home Circuit is the fact that it feels like a true Mario Kart experience, despite the game's gimmick. In fact, at times, it's easy to get so distracted that you forget there's an R/C car moving around the house. That's because the game itself feels true to the series, and it controls very much like it does in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Power-ups remain mostly the same, though there are some exclusions and minor adjustments; for example, a Spiny Shell will simply make the Kart stop, as opposed to the dramatic reaction that occurs in other Mario Kart games. Players do get to see the Kart physically speed up when a Mushroom is used, though, which is quite neat. During my time with the game, I did run into the occasional bit of slowdown, but the experience was mostly smooth.
- 9.0Mario 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.
- 7.0Mario 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.
- Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a gleefully successful experiment for Nintendo and Velan Studios. The AR tech on display here is breathtaking and delivers on the promise of what this game could be, though some minor elements hold it back from exceeding expectations. Instead what we end up with is a fantastic toy in all the right ways.
Gamer reviews
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
 Have you ever wondered what it's like driving a miniature kart and drive it around your living room? This is the game that makes Nintendo game unique in some ways. As of the writing of this review, I have been playing this game around my apartment for a while now and I have enjoyed it, a lot! Though there are downsides of the unit itself, this game is definitely fun when playing with a friend that also has this game and his miniature kart. Augmented Reality has come a long way and Nintendo delivered it and brought it to our living rooms. The camera works as advertised (not 4K camera) at least, the carboard signs that is included in the box works without any fuss. The game is free to download via eShop, means you need to have a Nintendo eShop account to get the game. Sorry physical collectors out there, there is no physical release of this game as of the time of writing. The kart itself has a rechargeable battery built in and is powered through via USB-C. The game does not have an included charger so the charger of your Switch will charge it. As previously mentioned, there are some features I wanted to address this game before you buy. The kart has small tires so it is not advisable to run it on a rough surface area or with some bump that can cause the kart to get stuck on the tracks. The other issue is that the range of the kart is short. I will not recommend running this outside the house since it has a short range of connectivity from the console to the kart. The lack of external antennae on the kart may be possible for it to have a short range of connectivity. But due to the limitations of the Nintendo Switch, the kart is being connected via WIFI from the system. It means that it you cannot play online racing on this game with your friends, only local co-op. Hence the short-range signal. And also, this game may be FREE to download but you still need to buy the actual KART (Remote Control Kart) in the box with cardboard signs for the tracks. But what it's worth, this game is fun to play with kids who someone you know who loves MARIO KART. The reason I bought this game was to give time and play with my cats. They love chasing the kart around the house without setting up the carboard signs for the tracks. The idea of the kart with a built-in camera was a great touch as you can play the game on your TV from the eye of the kart while your pets can run around with it.
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