Mario Kart Tour has somehow managed to cram loot boxes into the Mario Kart series and the drop rates for rare characters and items have been revealed. It should come as no surprise that the drop rates for some of the items are as low as .3%.
Mario Kart Tour was released on mobile phones today, and it offers a simplified version of the Mario Kart games that can be played on a touchscreen device. Mario Kart Tour follows the same example as Dr. Mario World and hides characters and items behind random mechanics. It's possible with a lot of grinding to earn some of these characters for free, but the pressure is on the player to fork out money to win things quicker.
Mario Kart Tour uses "Pipes" as its loot boxes and players can win some for free by grinding or through buy them with rubies, which can be bought with real money. The drop rates for the current crop of items have been revealed and some of them are lower than a single percent. According to Video Games Chronicle, the current item drop rates are as follows -
Normal - 5% Appearance Rate -
- Koopa Troopa
- Dry Bones
- Baby Daisy
- Baby Mario
- Baby Peach
- Shy Guy
- Birthday Girl Kart
- Bullet Blaster Kart
- Mushmellow Kart
- Pipe Frame Kart
- Koopa Dasher Kart
- Super Glider
- Parachute Glider
- Parafoil Glider
Super - 1% Appearance Rate
- Donkey Kong
- Toad
- Bowser
- Mario
- Peach
- Yoshi
- Daisy
- Diddy Kong
- Toadette
- Daytripper Kart
- Mach 8 Kart
- Soda Jet Kart
- Barrel Train Kart
- Turbo Yoshi Kart
- Flame Flyer Kart
- Super Blooper Kart
- Flower Glider
- Peach Parasol Glider
- Bob-omb Parafoil
- Shell Parachute Glider
High-End - .3% Appearance Rate
- Dry Bowser
- Metal Mario
- Peachette
- Musician Mario
- B Dasher Kart
- Badwagon Kart
- Blue Badwagon Kart
- Swooper Glider
- Gold Glider
- Bullet Bill Parachute Glider
There is also a promotion currently ongoing that involves Pauline, where the player has a 1% chance of unlocking her, the Yellow Taxi, and the Fare Flier.
The sad thing about these numbers is that they aren't far off from the regular gacha fare that is seen in similar mobile games. It's no wonder why government enquiries are being held around the world regarding the connection between loot boxes and gambling when even Nintendo is getting in on the action. The Dry Bowser, Metal Mario, and Peachette fans in the world are looking at some ridiculous grinding if they ever want to unlock those characters in the game.
Source: Video Games Chronicle