When a new, mobile version of Nintendo’s Mario Kart game hit the app store recently, it was met with instantaneous popularity, taking the world, and Seward County Community College, by storm.

The game, which was downloaded 90 million times in the first week according to Sensor Tower data, became available to users on Sept. 25 and already boasts a five star average rating on the app store based on nearly 600,000 player reviews, most of which are positive.

It’s no wonder, then, that students all over campus could be observed playing the game. 

Destiny Duran, a sophomore behavioral science major from Liberal, said she noticed the popularity of the game when she started playing it. 

“I saw a lot of people playing it, and after playing myself, I think it’s understandable,” Duran said. 

The premise of the game is quite similar to previous versions released for gaming consoles like the Wii and Nintendo DS. Users complete “cups” which consist of three different races and one challenge. To move onto new cups, players must earn enough points while racing to acquire stars and unlock new tracks.

Points are earned through a player’s placement in the race, actions performed throughout, and the characters, karts, and glider combos being used. 

Duran, who says she enjoys Mario Kart overall, was drawn to the game through her previous experience of it. 

“It’s a pretty addicting game to play, and it brings back some good childhood memories for me with some of the tracks,” Duran said. “I used to pay the game on the DS, the 3DS and the Wii.” 

Duran claims that the most appealing aspect that the game has to offer is its accessibility.

“I really like the fact that the game is on mobile the most, because it’s a lot easier to access on my phone than having to find my Wii or old Nintendo DS,” Duran explained. 

Despite the games popularity, some players have expressed dissatisfaction with certain features. 

“The steering is pretty difficult–it leans hardcore to the sides,” Duran said. “Also, I’m really not sure if I’m playing with actual people or bots.”

Ana Hererra, a sophomore behavioral science major from Liberal, said she downloaded the game because she’s a “boss” on Mario Kart for the Nintendo DS, and wanted to try it out on her phone. However, she found that her expectations were not met. 

“Honestly, the game is pretty disappointing because you have to spend money to get anything that’s really useful, and I’m not really about that,” Herrera said. “I still like to play because I’m easily entertained, but there are no cool tracks, and I just think the mobile version is garbage compared to the original.”

As for the question of whether users are actually competing against other players or not, according to Nintendo, players compete against bots designed to perpetuate the illusion of live, head to head races between randomized players from around the world. 

The bots even possess unique usernames that emulate actual names real people might choose. 

However, it seems that Nintendo plans to introduce a multiplayer option to the game in a future update; the multiplayer option in the app is labeled “inbound.”

As for now, according to the description of the game on the app store, players are actually pitted against other real users when it comes to scores, and players are able to compare scores with friends after adding them on the app.

The future of the game may depend on the development of a multiplayer option, though, as students seem excited by the idea of playing against friends and classmates. 

“I only play now because I’ve found some people here at school that play, too, and I’m really competitive,” Hererra said. “Plus, I like to waste time.”