Mario Kart Tour is available today on iOS and Android, bringing some portable kart action to phones and other devices. If you want to enjoy tough races with a faster pace, though, it turns out you’ll need to shell out some money.
Mario Kart games have always had different racing tiers. This usually means starting with the slower 50cc races before moving up to higher-speed races. In Mario Kart Tour, the 200cc tier is actually locked behind a subscription service that costs $4.99 a month. The 50, 100, and 150cc tiers are unlocked from the start. Nintendo outlined the program in a press release this morning:
Players can sign up for a free two-week trial subscription to the Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass by tapping the Gold Pass purchase button in-game. With the Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass subscription, players can unlock the extra-fast 200cc mode, obtain additional in-game rewards from racing and gain access to bonus goals exclusive to Gold Pass holders. Once the two-week free trial period ends, it will convert to a monthly subscription for $4.99/month, unless canceled.
A free trial is nice, but asking for a subscription to unlock additional game modes might be ambitious. Mario Kart Tour already has microtransactions that allow players to buy an in-game currency to spend on randomly acquired things like different drivers and kart parts. Nintendo’s mobile games have been hit or miss, with successes like Fire Emblem Heroes and stumbles like Dr. Mario World. It’s not surprising to see experiments in monetization, but it’s also hard to imagine anyone but the most hardcore players paying a monthly fee for speedier races.