Mario Kart 7 Gets Its First Update In More Than A Decade

Mario Kart 7–that’s the one for the 3DS–has received a new update, its first in about a decade.

You might read Mario Kart update and think, “Oh that’s got to be for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe,” as the latest batch of DLC courses have dropped, alongside the ability to customize which items you play with. But what you’ll actually find is an update for Mario Kart 7, the previous entry in the series that launched on the 3DS in 2011.

The update arrived yesterday, December 13, and is pretty vague in what changes have actually been made. “Several issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience,” is the only change mentioned in the patch notes. As pointed out by general Nintendo source-code tinkerer OatmealDome (thanks, Eurogamer), there’s a chance the update has fixed a security exploit, which might be the same one that was also applied to games like ARMS, Super Mario Maker 2, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Prior to this update, the last and only other update the game received was way back in May 2012, which just got rid of a shortcut exploit in three of the game’s tracks.

Whatever this update does, at least you know your general gameplay experience in Mario Kart 7 has been improved, if you’re still playing it.

Obviously, the more exciting of the two recent Mario Kart updates is the one for 8 Deluxe, which now lets you have only blue shells on if you like to live a masochistic life. The new DLC wave also adds in eight new tracks across two new cups, so there’s plenty more to dive back into.