Mario Kart Arcade GP VR

[テクニカル諏訪子]

Basically a repost of my own topic at a different forum.

This game has been playable for almost a year now in VR ZONE SHINJUKU, and has been expanding nationwide since.
Regardless, I keep getting surprised that so few people outside of Japan heard about it,

Basically, it's a 1 lap, 1 course tech demo that makes use of HTC Vive, and the game itself was made using Unreal Engine, and is playable a number of VR arcades owned by Bandai Namco Amusement.
I've been there back in May, and decided to give it more love.

Here's a little impression (sets of photos and a video I made):
Also, please forgive me for the rotated photos, they are taken correctly, but this forum system rotates all vertical photos for some reason.

 

[CM30]

Oh hey, someone actually played this game.

So what did you think of the actual gameplay anyway? From what I can see in the videos I'm not 100% sure about it. But from someone who has played it, did it still capture what made Mario Kart great? Is the game more exciting to play than it is to look at in video form? Do you ignore the lack of item variety/opponents/fairly basic level design when actually experiencing it?

How do the controls feel in general?

Just wondering...

 

[Magma]

I've heard of this before and well as you said it's mostly a tech demo. At the moment, I'm not fully impressed with VR technology so this isn't too interesting to me.

 

[テクニカル諏訪子]

Basically, this is more like a tech demo than an actual game.
The staff gives you 3 minutes to play, which is the entirety of the game any way.

Before playing, you get the choice between 4 karts: Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi.
The kart you choose is the character you play as.

The game starts from a very simplistic title screen (reminded me a bit to the title screen for Mario Kart 7 during E3 2011).
After the title screen, the game immediately jumps into the course.
Then suddenly Wario and Koopa pass you from either side, face towards you and laugh, I think that was quite a nice touch they added.

The whole course is 1 lap only, and swaps between different sceneries over time (similar to how certain courses work like in Mario Kart Arcade GP 1, 2, and DX).

Item grabbing is quite sensitive, first time I grabbed an item I incidentally threw it, only to realise that just sticking one of your arms in the air was enough.

Regular driving feels realistic (the kart you're in also shakes all the time for that reason), but once hit by anything the feel makes no sense.
For example, a Pakkun bites you, and while you see your kart spin around, the kart you're in only shakes a tiny bit harder.
Same thing with the gliding section; visuals are correct, but sensation is not.

But overall, the experience was fun, but I still think Mario Kart in VR still has a long way to go before it can become a full blown game concept.

 

[CM30]

Basically, this is more like a tech demo than an actual game.
The staff gives you 3 minutes to play, which is the entirety of the game any way.

Before playing, you get the choice between 4 karts: Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi.
The kart you choose is the character you play as.

The game starts from a very simplistic title screen (reminded me a bit to the title screen for Mario Kart 7 during E3 2011).
After the title screen, the game immediately jumps into the course.
Then suddenly Wario and Koopa pass you from either side, face towards you and laugh, I think that was quite a nice touch they added.

Wait, Wario and Koopa are in game, but not playable? That's a bit disappointing, given the models are clearly all there.

The whole course is 1 lap only, and swaps between different sceneries over time (similar to how certain courses work like in Mario Kart Arcade GP 1, 2, and DX).

Makes sense. That said, this one does seem to change scenario a bit more... drastically than past tracks. Would be neat to see a track designed like this one in a mainline Mario Kart game or something (multiple world themes in one track).

Item grabbing is quite sensitive, first time I grabbed an item I incidentally threw it, only to realise that just sticking one of your arms in the air was enough.

Only motion controls for items? Damn, that's a bit disappointing. There's even a big button on the steering wheel the picture you posted says isn't used in game.

Regular driving feels realistic (the kart you're in also shakes all the time for that reason), but once hit by anything the feel makes no sense.
For example, a Pakkun bites you, and while you see your kart spin around, the kart you're in only shakes a tiny bit harder.
Same thing with the gliding section; visuals are correct, but sensation is not.

But overall, the experience was fun, but I still think Mario Kart in VR still has a long way to go before it can become a full blown game concept.

Yeah, that disconnect must be a bit weird. Then again, I guess to some degree, that's expected in VR in general. You either can't realistically simulate hits/damage/force (if using a traditional headset) or can't safely simulate it (if using a theme park ride/amusement arcade setup). Your kart isn't flying through the air in real life anytime soon, and that will always dampen the effect a bit.

Either way, thanks for giving your thoughts on this. Always was interested to see how these Mario Kart arcade games actually worked out.

 

[テクニカル諏訪子]

Yea, I really wonder why there's a button on the wheel all while it's not used in the first place.（笑）
Even the staff explicitly mentioned this fact 3 times before I could play.

 

[Yikes Spike]

The real question is: Do they still reuse the characters' voice lines from Mario Kart Double Dash?

 

[テクニカル諏訪子]

I didn't pay much attention to that actually.

 

[Metal]

Imagining an Initial D version of this VR would be nice that way we'd all be Takumi, unless there is an Initial D version out? I know there's arcade games of it.