Mario Kart 7 features the standard gameplay present in preceding games in the series, with the gameplay style being very close to that of Mario Kart Wii. By pressing, the player can activate the view and then the system to steer. One of the gameplay mechanics in Mario Kart 7 is racing in first-person views.

4.1 Statistics shown in the vehicle customization screen.

4 Drivers' and vehicle parts' statistics.

Once Nintendo introduced retail games that could be downloaded via the Nintendo eShop, Mario Kart 7 was released in 2012 for the eShop, where it requires 635.38 MB (5,083 blocks) to download. Mario Kart 7 is the first Mario game to use the Nintendo Network service as it offers the ability to create custom communities, which would then become one of the features of the service. Nintendo stated that the game brings 'a bunch of new elements' to the Mario Kart series. Players can also receive Ghost data via SpotPass and race against other player's Ghosts from around the world. In the game, players are able to exchange Ghost data and play online in multiplayer mode.

Kart customization is also introduced instead of racing in pre-made karts like the previous titles. The main new feature of this installment is the hang gliding and underwater driving, which allows racers to glide through the air and race in underwater sections of the new and old tracks. Additionally, it is the first Mario Kart game to be developed by more than one video game developer, namely Nintendo EAD and Retro Studios, and the second Mario Kart to have a different video game developer (not including the Mario Kart Arcade GP series), the first being Mario Kart: Super Circuit. It is the seventh console installment in the Mario Kart series (hence the game's title), and the second (the first being Super Mario 3D Land) installment in the Mario series overall (excluding crossover installments) to be localized to Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian. Mario Kart 7 is a racing game developed by Nintendo EAD and Retro Studios for the Nintendo 3DS.

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