Nintendo’s Mario Kart Tour mobile game does a lot of things right, especially now it has gained online multiplayer, but playing in portrait mode has always felt a little unnatural.
The Japanese giant seems to recognise this too and has launched a landscape more for the iOS and Android version of its seminal kart racing game.
From tomorrow you’ll be able to flip the handset to landscape in order to have a wider field of view when racing around courses, firing on enemies and attempting to avoid those irksome green shells.
The landscape more also features a new control layout with the steering controls on the left, which is more befitting of a Mario Kart game.
The company says: “When set to Portrait/Landscape, the game will switch between these two modes during races depending on the current orientation of your device. When Left/Right Controls is enabled and you race in landscape mode, you can use the left side of the screen to steer your kart and the right side of the screen to use items. Landscape mode is only available during races. The tutorial and Practice While Downloading races do not support landscape mode.”
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It’s not clear why it’s taken Nintendo almost a year to add this mode, but the update coming on July 21 is welcome nonetheless. Mario Kart Tour is free to download and play, but offers a subscription model to unlock premium features. If you want to play the fastest and most demanding 200cc Gold Races and access extra rewards then you’ll need to fork over a whopping £4.99 a month.
Recent reports have suggested Nintendo might be considering stepping away from the iPhone and iOS gaming arena in order to focus on the continued success of its Switch consoles. Last month Bloomberg reported the company would be retreating from the mobile realm after witnessing the huge success of Animal Crossing for the Switch.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.