Thursday morning saw the release of a surprise Nintendo Direct. The Direct primarily focused on the announcement of Super Mario 3D All-Stars for the Nintendo Switch. But the re-release of Super Mario Galaxy and others wasn't the only big announcement of the event. Nintendo also revealed the Augmented Reality game Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. Nintendo fans will be able to race their very own RC car in real-life track locations starting October 16.
To start, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a game that's played on the Nintendo Switch. But it also involves a real-life RC car shaped like either Mario or Luigi in a classic kart. These karts have a camera attached to them, which enables the Augmented Reality aspect of the game. Players will see through their kart's camera and the game will add in AI opponents, power-ups, as well as the track itself. Players won't ever have to take their eyes off the screen while they're playing, though.
The interactions between the real-life kart and the in-game experience are especially interesting in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. To start, players will create their own track. All it requires is a driveable circle. Once that's made, they can race just like in Mario Kart. In-game boosts will speed up the velocity of the kart and attack items will slow the kart. These power-ups and attack items aren't in real life, but the kart will react to them as if they were.
Players will, of course, be able to arrange the real-world aspect of the experience as much as they like, too. In the trailer revealed during today's Nintendo Direct, kids are shown lining the track they created with empty cups and things they found around the house. Theoretically, the track itself could probably be augmented too, so players could add ramps or obstacles for players to drive through or around.
Another great feature is that it appears Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit can be played cooperatively. In the trailer, two players with real-life karts are shown racing each other. One player has a Mario kart and the other player has a Luigi kart. These separate packages will each cost $99.99 and only Mario and Luigi are available. However, the game will allow for 4-player racing. Players will simply have to double up on the Mario brothers.
Beyond Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, Nintendo did make a couple of other announcements. Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. is a throwback handheld device that plays some of the original NES Super Mario games. Super Mario Bros. 35 is a 35-player competitive online game. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is a re-release of the Wii U game. These and others will be coming to the Nintendo Switch soon.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit releases October 16 on Nintendo Switch.