Mario Kart Arcade GP

Mario Kart Arcade GP plays and controls similarly to most entries in the Mario Kart series, The goal of the game remains the same; players must drive their go-kart through a given course in hopes of completing it faster than competing racers. Like prior Mario Kart games, Arcade GP features "rubber band" physics, a feature that generally makes the game harder for players who are doing well, and easier for players who are struggling, to help balance competition among players. Grand Prix works similarly to other entries in the series, where the player races against computer-controlled opponents in a series of four races, earning points based on what place they finish a race. The photo is altered depending on what character the player chooses—for example, choosing Mario adds Mario's hat on the photo—and the photo hangs over the player character, making it easier for other players to recognize real people from computer-controlled ones. The sequel, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 retains and adds upon the content of the original Arcade GP. In addition to the original's race tracks and Cups, another two Cups of tracks are added to Arcade GP 2. The game also added a new set of courses themed around Namco Bandai's Taiko no Tatsujin series, and added its mascot, "Don-Chan", as a playable character. The fourth title, Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, represented a major change in direction and gameplay. The game is played in a hybrid arcade cabinet/virtual reality set up with an HTC Vive. Racing is done from a first person perspective. Through a Vive Tracker, the game has motion control aspects, such as actually moving one's hand to pick up items and throw them at other players. Racing is however far more restricted and structured into shorter segments, more comparable to a roller coaster. ==Development and release==

After losing third party software development support with the Nintendo 64, Nintendo executed a number of efforts to increase developer support with their follow-up, the GameCube. One of these efforts was a collaboration with Sega and Namco to create the Triforce arcade system. Sega and Namco, on the other hand, were allowed to create games using Nintendo's IP. It was later delayed to December 2005. The game was released in North America in October 2005, two months prior to the Japanese release. Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 was first announced in October 2006, as a sequel to the original Mario Kart Arcade GP released a year prior. The game was co-developed by Namco Bandai and Nintendo. With its announcement occurring so close to the launch of Nintendo's then-upcoming Wii home console, some publications expected the game to release on updated an updated arcade board, but it was later revealed to run on the same Triforce arcade hardware of its predecessor. The Triforce arcade board was created in collaboration with Namco and Sega to bolster third party game support for Nintendo's own GameCube hardware; Nintendo allowed for the use of their intellectual property in arcade games in exchange of more third party game support of their home video game consoles. The game was released to arcades in March 2007. Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, the third entry in the Mario Kart Arcade GP sub-series, was released in late 2013. This entry is generally the most-commonly found of the sub-series, particularly in North America. Bandai Namco partnered with the Dave and Busters franchise to host the arcade machines. The fourth entry, Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, was released in 2017. ==Reception==

Mario Kart Arcade GP was generally well-received from publications. IGN, GameSpot, and Nintendo World Report all generally praised Namco's translation of the Mario Kart formula to an arcade game format. Both IGN and GameSpot found the graphics technically better than Mario Kart: Double Dash on the GameCube, the most advanced title graphically at the time. Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 was praised by GamesRadar for being a fun improvement over the original Arcade GP, but was criticized as being closer to a minor upgrade seen in series like Capcom's updated versions of Street Fighter 2 rather than a full-fledged numbered sequel as its title suggested. IGN singled it out as a stand-out title to play in Japanese arcades, and praised the announcer giving play-by-play commentary of the race as a feature they hoped would be moved into future home console iterations of the game. Mario Kart Arcade GP VR was strongly praised by IGN for its fun gameplay and having an impressive sense of speed without any sense of motion sickness often experienced in fast moving virtual reality video games. ==Notes==