Currently a Japan-only thing
Mario Kart returns arcades this summer after a six-year hiatus with Mario Kart Grand Prix DX, which features gliders and underwater racing found in Mario Kart 7, developer Namco Bandai revealed.
Grand Prix DX will have four modes: Grand Prix, Battle Mode, Team Co-op, where players team up against CPU drivers, and Alter Ego, a new mode where players race against the stored ghost data of others across the country through an online network. The modes will playable across “10 redesigned courses” that will feature more than 100 items.
One such item found in Team Co-op is “Cart coalecsence,” according to the press release’s translation, which will combine a team’s two karts into a single, larger one. At this point, one player will be responsible for driving and the other for using items, similar to that found in Mario Kart: Double Dash. A new shield ability can also be used to deflect incoming attacks.
Keeping tradition from past Mario Kart arcade releases, Namco Bandai will include a playable character cameo and themed-level from one its franchises, this time Taiko Drum Master.
Mario Kart Grand Prix DX is currently only listed for release in Japan this summer, though past entries also saw release in other territories, so here’s hoping.
Press Release [Namco Bandai via Siliconera, Arcade Heroes]
