'Mario Kart Tour' mobile racing is now available on Android and iOS
Go forth and fire your blue shells.
We've been waiting since January of last year to get a taste of Mario Kart on mobile devices, but it's almost here. After a few delays, Mario Kart Tour launches today on compatible Android (4.4 or higher) and iOS (10.0 or higher) devices, and many people are reporting it's already installed on their iPhones and iPads. The bad news is that you can't play until the servers open at around 4AM ET / 1AM PT / 10AM CEST.
Until then you can work out your strategy, evaluate the best ways to navigate its free-to-play mechanics and make sure you've already created a Nintendo Account -- you'll need one to play. Nintendo also put together a five minute video explaining how everything works, so you might want to watch now and avoid any wasted time that could be used ruining someone's day with a blue shell.
For the first two weeks the tour will take place in a New York City-based course, with other locations rotating in afterward. Players can unlock Musician Mario and Pauline from Super Mario Odyssey as drivers during the tour's first stop. The controls will have players sliding their fingers across the screen to turn, and tapping the screen to unleash stored items. Head to Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store to pre-register and you should have access as soon as the game launches in a few hours.
Update: The game is now live, and after some initial server wonkiness, it seems to be holding up well. Let us know if you enjoy its touchscreen-adapted gameplay in the comments below. You can check out our first impressions of the game right here.
