Ever wanted to play Mario Kart with your friends and find out what it would be like to race in real life? Now you can.
Mario Kart VR is a new experience from Bandai Namco and licensed by Nintendo that lets players take the seat of their favourite characters from Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Yoshi.
Players strap into their seats with an HTC Vive headset and two wrist-mounted motion controllers that can be used to pick up items just like they do on Nintendo consoles.
By raising their hand each racer must reach out to grab items hanging from balloons so they can throw them at other racers and even their friends in multiplayer mode.
If you have ever been hit by a blue shell just before you reach the finish line then this is the perfect way to exact revenge.
Players can pick up green shells and bananas to throw at opponents and even hammers to smash their way to victory as they race through the Mushroom Kingdom, Airship Fortress and Bowser's Castle which will be recognisable locations to longtime fans.
The original Mario Kart debuted on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1992. Since then there have seen several iterations including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch (the system’s most popular title) and the recently launched mobile phone game Mario Kart World Tour.
Mario Kart reached a larger audience of all ages when it arrived on the Wii in 2008 with the implementation of motion controls.
Now with the latest virtual reality technology, players can drive the go karts around the Mushroom Kingdom as if they were really there.
Mario Kart VR was first released in Japanese arcades in July, 2017 and since then has only been available in select locations before coming the the UK in a limited number of venues. Now it has opened its doors to a new venue on London’s South Bank.
It's available to play at Namco Funscape in South Bank, London. Prices start from £7.95 for one player or £24.95 for four players.
