Since it launched last December, the arcade kart racing of Mario Kart 7 has gone on to sell over five million copies world wide, becoming one of the 3DS' best selling games so far - and who can blame it? Mario Kart's simple racing, combined with colourful characters, crazy track designs and a wide variety of power-ups to help and hinder makes for some pretty heated multiplayer sessions - both on the Wii and on Nintendo's handhelds too, thanks to the genius that is Download Play. With Mario Kart 7 bringing a few changes to the series - letting you glide through the skies with a built in glider attachment, drive along the seabed and even customise your vehicle by changing it's body and wheels - it's become a firm favourite at Outcyders - apart from those dastardly homing red shells.
Soaring, tumbling, free-wheeling, through an endless coin-filled sky.
Given Mario Kart's status as an accessible, family-friendly, fun racing game, Nintendo have announced they're launching a competition intended to get the whole family involved, as they try to find "Britain's Fastest Family" this summer. The tournament will run across England, Scotland and Wales, with regional heats taking place in local branches of HMV, as Mario Kart 7 fans compete to get the fastest lap times possible. As it's meant to be a family competition, you'll be racing in teams of two, one of which must be over eighteen, with a minimum age gap of ten years between team-mates. The ultimate prize for the fastest family will be a brand new Honda Jazz Si, along with a cool Mario Kart 7 trophy and a "host of other incredible prizes", while the runners up who manage to come top of their region will win a year's worth of 3DS games. Actually, forget the car - we think we'd rather have that!
Seeing as the competition doesn't start until August, and the grand finale isn't till October, you've got plenty of time to get some practice in - whether it's Mom, Dad, little Timmy or Grandma, both young and, er, not so young can enter - so don't let them make any excuses about being "too old for this sort of thing". Make sure you check back closer to the date for more details on where the regional heats will be held - so far all we know is the final will be taking place in good old Birmingham.
