Mario Kart Arcade VR hands on at Hollywood Bowl O2

I was able to try out the new Mario Kart Arcade VR machine that is the first of it’s type outside Japan today at Hollywood Bowl in London’s O2 Arena. Mario Kart Arcade VR is allocated in the arcade part of the bowling area in the VR London Zone Portal alongside Hospital Escape Terror which is another VR game.

Mario Kart ….in VR

There are 4 actual karts on the podium and each kart has a different character (Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach or Yoshi) and the karts each have a steering wheel alongside brake and accelerate pedals. You are given a HTC Vive headset, headphones and hand graspers with Velcro straps which are used to getting the weapons. Each of these make the player feel like they are actually in the game as opposed to playing it on a screen.

There were only 3 weapons to choose from the roster (banana skin, green shell and a hammer) so no blue shelling the leader XD. These weapons are hanging from balloons in which you use the grasper put on your hands to grab them and throw them or bash the hammer at your opponent.

There is only one course, but it takes the players through various Mario Kart tracks from Bowser’s Castle, Kamek’s Laboratory and Donut Plains, each separated by boost ramps that fade into cloudy whiteness that is the transition method. Each level has it’s famous obstacles such as the Piranhas, Bullet Bills and the Thowps)

This game takes from the Mario Kart Arcade spinoff as opposed to the main series and this arcade has a Mario Kart Arcade GP cabinet as well so you can make comparisons between the two.

At £7.99 per person (or £24.99 for a group of 4) this is more of a occasional experience for many as opposed to being a frequent activity at least for the time being. Also it would have been nice to choose your character on a select screen and have 8 characters at minimum at least.

In short, Mario Kart Arcade VR is for a group of players to battle each other but it’s price can be off putting for frequent players.

For more information check out Hollywood Bowl O2 VR

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Tags: Hollywood Bowl, london, mario kart, mario kart arcade, O2 Arena, VR

This post was written by Cyburn, posted on August 4, 2018 Saturday at 7:16 pm