Mario Kart Live is a fun, if flawed, excuse to race around the house
Besides being an actual working RC car, the Mario Kart Live kart makes for a nice conversation piece on its own.
When we were first introduced to the concept of Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit just last month, it seemed like one of the most clever implementations of "augmented reality" we'd ever heard of. A remote-controlled Mario Kart with a camera that lets you view your house as a virtual race course on your Switch? What could go wrong?
After spending about a week with Mario Kart Live in my house (complete with an eager six-year-old co-tester), I found a lot of imaginative fun in the novelty of this "real world" Mario Kart. Once the novelty wore off, though, the realities and annoyances of this particular "real-world" implementation left me wondering how much long-term appeal there is to the idea.
Smile, you're on candid cameraSetting up Mario Kart Live is a relatively simple process. After downloading the free Switch app from the eShop, you simply point the kart's camera at an on-screen QR code to pair it with the system over Wi-Fi (no external router or Internet connection needed). From that point on, you see an over-the-shoulder view from the kart's camera on the Switch screen, though the kart itself is replaced on-screen with an animated version.
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