Topic: Mario Kart Tour

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Reposting my thread topic here because @Octane doesn't think an effort post is deserving of its own thread. Jerk.

I'm starting a new thread here as the old one is ancient.
Here's a list of everything important I can think to write down here.

Maps Seen so far (either played, or reference by a character/kart/glider bonus track)
SNES Mario Circuit 1
SNES Choco Island 2
SNES Rainbow Road (R)

N64 Kalimari Desert (R)
N64 Koopa Troopa Beach

GBA Bowser Castle 1

GCN Dino Dino Jungle

DS Luigi's Mansion (R)

3DS Mario Circuit
3DS Toad Circuit (R)
3DS Daisy Hills
3DS Shy Guy Bazaar
3DS Rock Rock Mountain

Most of these courses (specifically, ALL of them not from the SNES game) are right out of Mario Kart 7 with only minor changes. Mario Circuit 1 and Choco Island 2 are completely flat courses that greatly resemble their MKDS appearance. No crazy added features to them like Mario Circuit GBA or Donut Plains 3 in MK8.
In addition, some courses have 'R' variations (So, courses named like 'DS Luigi's Mansion R'). These are remixed versions of the original tracks, with some significant differences.

Characters:
Characters are split into three tiers and pulled via the Gacha system. You are given one character at the very start (mine was Toadette, although I don't know if that is guaranteed).
The tier determines several factors. First, the 'base points' earned in a race for using that character. Ultra-rare is 500, Rare is 450, and Normal is 400.
Base points are raised as you use a character in races. I have no real sense of the maximum points a character can be worth. Right now my highest Rares are Toadette and Luigi, each at 542 points, and I have the Normal Koopa Troopa and Baby Daisy at 500. So, you can rather quickly bring a 'Normal' character to the same base level of an Ultra-Rare one.
Second, the tier changes the amount of repeated copies of a character you need to raise their skill level (different from 'Base Points'). It takes 2 additional copies of a unit to raise a Normal unit from skill Lv 1 to Skill level 2, while it only takes a single copy of a rare. I have no ultra-rares yet.

When breaking an item block on a course, you get either 1, 2, or 3 items. This is determined by the character you choose. Ultra-Rare characters get 3 items on 2 courses, and 2 items on two courses. Rare characters get 3 items on one course and 2 items on two others. Standard characters get 3 items on one course and 2 items on one course. Characters also multiply bonus points when being played on one of their ++ (3 item) tracks, so having a varied roster is essential to scoring well. These courses are listed to the right of each character name, with a '/' denoting the split between ++ and + tracks.

Finally, each character is associated with a personal item, like in Double Dash (and for the first time since Double Dash, many of these items finally re-appear). I have listed these items below with the associated characters. These items can only be found in an item box if you use that character.

Ultra-Rare:
Metal Mario: Fire Flower (behaves more like triple Green Shells in this game than it did in Double Dash). 3DS Mario Circuit, 3DS Toad Circuit R / SNES Choco Island 2, SNES Mario Circuit 1
Rosalina: Boomerang Flower N64 Koopa Troopa Beach, SNES Rainbow Road / 3DS Daisy Hills, SNES Rainbow Road R
Dry Bowser: Bowser Shell (straight outta double dash!), GBA Bowser Castle 1, N64 Kalimari Desert / 3DS Rock Rock Mountain, N64 Kalimari Desert R
King Boo: Double Bob-Omb DS Luigi's Mansion (and R) / GBA Bowser Castle 1, SNES Mario Circuit 1

Rare:
Mario: Fire Flower, SNES Mario Circuit 1 / 3DS Mario Circuit, SNES Rainbow Road
Luigi: Fire Flower (sadly, not green) DS Luigi's Mansion / DS Luigi's Mansion R, SNES Rainbow Road R
Peach: Heart (from Double Dash, absorbs one hit and gives you the item that hit you) 3DS Mario Circuit/3DS Daisy Hills, 3DS Toad Circuit
Yoshi: Yoshi Egg( From Double Dash, right down to dropping three items when it impacts your foe!), 3DS Rock Rock Mountain / 3DS Mario Circuit, GCN Dino Dino Jungle
Bowser: Bowser Shell, GBA Bowser Castle 1 / 3DS Rock Rock Mountain, 3DS Shy Guy Bazaar
Donkey Kong: Giant Banana (splits into three normal bananas on impact), GCN Dino Dino Jungle / N64 Kalimari Desert, SNES Choco Island 2
Toad: Triple Mushrooms 3DS Toad Circuit/ 3DS Toad Circuit R, DS Luigi's Mansion R
Toadette: Triple Mushrooms, 3DS Toad Circuit / 3DS Toad Circuit R, N64 Koopa Troopa Beach
Daisy: Heart, 3DS Daisy Hills/ 3DS Toad Circuit R, SNES Choco Island 2
Wario: Double Bob-Omb N64 Kalimari Desert R/ DS Luigi's Mansion, N64 Kalimari Desert
Waluigi: Double Bob-Omb, DS Luigi's Mansion R / DS Luigi's Mansion, N64 Kalimari Desert R

Normal:
Koopa Troopa: Triple Green shells (cannot get Triple Red shells like he could in Double Dash) N64 Koopa Troopa Beach / 3DS Daisy Hills
Shy Guy: Double Bob-Omb, 3DS Shy Guy Bazaar/GBA Bowser Castle 1
Baby Mario: Boomerang Flower, SNES Mario Circuit 1/SNES Choco Island 2
Baby Luigi: Boomerang Flower DS Luigi's Mansion/SNES Mario Circuit 1
Baby Peach: Triple Mushrooms 3DS Toad Circuit R / 3DS Toad Circuit
Baby Daisy: Triple Mushrooms SNES Choco Island 2/3DS Mario Circuit
Baby Rosalina: Boomerang Flower SNES Rainbow Road/N64 Koopa Troopa Beach
Iggy: Triple Green Shells N64 Kalimari Desrt R/ SNES Mario Circuit 1
Larry: Triple Bananas N64 Kalimar Desert/3DS Shy Guy Bazaar
Lemmy: Triple Bananas SNES Rainbow Road R/SNES Rainbow Road
Ludwig: Double Bob-Omb GCN Dino Dino Jungle/SNES Rainbow Road R
Roy: Double Bob-Omb, 3DS Rock Rock Mountain/SNES Rainbow Road
Morton: Triple Green Shells, N64 Kalimari Desert/GBA Bowser Castle 1
Wendy: Heart, SNES Choco Island 2/N64 Koopa Troopa Beach
Dry Bones: Triple Green Shells, 3DS Shy Guy Bazaar/GCN Dino Dino Jungle

Each character can be upgraded up to Skill Level 10
Here's how a Normal/Rare/Ultra-Rare character's Skill Tree looks:
Lv 1 (By default) x2 bonus points on ++ courses
Lv 2 +3/4/5 coins for landing a hit with your Special item (or just using your item for Triple Mushrooms/Hearts)
Lv 3 +10/15/25 Points for landing a hit with double Bob-Ombs
Lv 4 x3 bonus points on ++ courses
Lv 5 +120/160/200 to base driver points
Lv 6 +6/8/10 coins for landing a hit with your special item
Lv 7 x4 bonus points on ++ courses
Lv 8 +20/30/50 points for landing a hit with your special item
Lv 9 +1/1.5/2 seconds to Frenzy duration
Lv 10 x5 bonus points on ++ courses

The biggest factor contributing to your score is that x2/3/4/5 multiplier, which is consistent across the rarity tiers.

Also included in the Gacha system are the various Karts in the game.
These are again broken into three tiers. Ultra-Rare, Rare, and Normal.
Higher rarity means higher base points, that some skill levels are improved (but speed boosts are not), and more favored courses.
Ultra-Rares have 2-3++ and 3+ tracks, Rares have 1 ++ and 2-3 + tracks. Standards have 1++ and 1-2 + tracks. After writing down all of the character tracks, I'm not energetic enough to take down these right now.

You begin the game with a Pipe Frame. The rest must be earned/acquired through the gacha or beating courses. Each kart has a unique skill associated with it, similar to how the characters have special items. These are listed below. This skill just make exactly one method of getting a boost last a bit longer.
Karts also level up through normal gameplay, just like characters, but the points awarded are lesser. Right now, my best Standard is a 250, my only rare is at 256, and my one Ultra-Rare is at 315. I imagine they can be boosted significantly more than that.

Ultra-Rare: (250 base points)
B-Dasher: Dash Panel Plus
Blue Seven: Slipstream Plus
Bumble V: Mini-Turbo Plus
Bruiser: Jump Boost Plus

Rare: (220 base points)
Zucchini: Rocket Start Plus
Egg 1: Mini-Turbo Plus (as it should be!)
Cloud 9: Jump Boost Plus
Koopa Clown: Mini-Turbo Plus
Poltergust 4000: Slipstream Plus
Barrel Train: Rocket Start Plus
Turbo Yoshi: Dash Panel Plus

Normal: (200 base points)
Pipe Frame: Slipstream Plus
Birthday Girl: Dash Panel Plus
Bolt Buggy: Jump Boost Plus
Soda Jet: Rocket Start Plus
Landship: Mini-Turbo Plus
Koopa Dasher: Dash Panel Plus
Mushmellow: Slipstream Plus
Super Blooper: Rocket Start Plus
Cheep Charger: Jump Boost Plus

Karts also have a skill tree, shown below for Standard/Rare/Ultra-Rare
Each bonus type has separate Coin/Point bonuses. For example, the Rocket Start can only be achieved once per race, so the bonus coins/points are greater for it than for, say, mini-turbos.
I don't feel energetic enough to record all of that information here right now.
Lv 1: Small speed boost on +/++ tracks
Lv 2: +X coin for getting the kart's speed boost
Lv 3: +X points for kart's speed boost
Lv 4: Medium speed increase on +/++ tracks
Lv 5: +20/32/40 Kart Points
Lv 6: +X coins for getting the kart's speed boost
Lv 7: Large speed increase on + and ++ tracks
Lv 8: +X points for getting the kart's speed boost
Lv 9: +60/80/100 Kart Points
Lv 10: HUGE increase to kart speed on + and ++ tracks

Last, Gliders have basically the same setup as karts and characters. 3 tiers. Each has a normal item affinity. You begin the game with a Super Glider. The rest must be acquired through other means. The Super Glider has an affinity for Super Horns, meaning you'll have a higher chance of getting Super Horns out of an item block. However, all items not mentioned above in the 'characters' section can still be pulled by anyone, regardless of configuration. This boost is increased when playing on one of an items associated courses. Standard gliders have 1++ and 3 + tracks. Rares have 2-3 ++ tracks and 3-4 + tracks.
Ultra-rares have 3 ++ and 3-4 + tracks.

Ultra Rare:
Gold Glider: Coins
Cloud Glider: Lightning
Swooper: Bob-Omb

Rare:
Peach Parasol: Red Shell
Flower Glider: Banana
Wario Wing: Bullet Bill

Normal:
Super Glider: Super Horn
Paper Glider: Green Shell
Parachute: Blooper
Parafoil: Mushroom

Standard Gameplay:
Mario Kart Tour is set up in a series of cups. Each cup includes 3 races and a mission, very similar to the Mission Mode of MKDS.
Upon completing a race you are awarded a score based on three factors: Your kart/character/glider setup, your final placement, and your performance during the race. Races are 2 laps instead of the usual Mario Kart 3 laps.
Nearly everything positive you can do during a race awards you points. Mini-turbos, hitting opponents with items, doing tricks (automatically) off of jumps, staying in the air while gliding, using boost panels, and getting a rocket start each grant you points. Upon completing the first lap, you are awarded bonus points based on your current placement. For a high score, you'll need to be in first place after each and every lap. For an even higher score, choose a higher engine class. 100cc is unlocked at level 5, and 150cc is unlocked at level 10. Each grants higher scores than the previous. In addition, racing on 150cc or higher (200cc is not in the beta), the points you get per race consistently climbs as you continue to score 1st place, but drops a bit when you don't.

Mini-turbos have three tiers like MK8D. However, you must navigate to the options and turn off automatic drifting in order to score the tier-3 boost (which grants far more points, and a far better boost than the lower tiers).
While all shortcuts fro the original versions of these tracks are present, the game doesn't like you going off the track. The only way to make use of an off-road shortcut is to use a mushroom when you approach it, or else you'll be auto-steered to stay on the track.
Things like the glide panels in Kalimari Desert are especially tricky to use.
Hitting an item box grants you 1/2/3 items, determined by your choice of character as noted above. The first item is automatically dragged behind you, and can be activated with a tap, or thrown forward/backward (when appropriate) with a swipe. Triple items, such as shells, do their usual spinning shield around you to protect you from incoming projectiles. However, they do not fire separately, but are thrown all three at a time if you choose to fire them. Upon using one item, the next is instantly dragged behind you, ready for use.
By default, the game will fire off all remaining items the instant you pass through a question block. This can turned off in the settings so that you only get new items in your open slots.

You are granted 'Grand Stars' based on your final score, up to 5 per race. Grand stars have two purposes. First, a number of them must be acquired to unlock the next cup. Second, every 10 grand stars you get grants you a prize from the 'Beta Test' awards list.
Each cup concludes with a mission mode, which thus far (through the Bowser Cup, cup #8) includes a Rocket Start tutorial, driving through rings, going over jumps, avoiding collisions, gliding a long distance, and a boss-fight style race against a Giant Bowser. Successful completion grants you 3 extra Grand Stars, and a number of coins (up to 100) based on your performance. For example, Beating Giant Bowser on 50cc grants you 20 coins, 30 coins on 100cc, and 50 coins on 150cc, but clearing it at a higher engine class grants you all the lower rewards as well.

Grand Stars can also be earned from completing Challenges. These are tasks like 'get 1st place 3 times in a row', collect X coins, and the like.

One cup per week is designated as the 'Ranked Cup' (the Koopa Troopa Cup for week 1). After completing it for the first time, it may be replayed in Ranked mode. You are matched with 19 other players and compete for the highest combined score among the three tracks. 1st place of the 20 gets 30 emeralds, 2nd/3rd get 10, 4-10 get 3, and 11-20 get nothing. Landing in each of those tiers nets you a rank increase for the following week. Being in a higher rank pits you against players who scored well in prior weeks, making getting the top spot more difficult, but also presumably granting better rewards.
As the beta is only 2 weeks long, the first ranked week is the only one for which you'll be able to claim the rewards.

Gacha: Doing a gacha pull costs 5 emeralds for 1, or 45 for 10. Each Gacha pipe has a 'Spotlight' (also known as a 'Focus' in Fire Emblem Heroes).
However, the pull system is quite different from FE Heroes.
The 'Pipe' is loaded up with 100 items. Specifically, it is fitted with the Spotlight items (In the Beta-Test Pipe 1, that's Metal Mario, the Gold Glider, and the B-Dasher), 1 each of an Ultra-Rare Driver, Kart, and Glider. 15 Rare Drivers, 10 Rare Karts, 4 Rare Gliders, and 35 Standard Drivers, 17 standard karts, and 10 standard gliders.
That's a total of 100 items contained in the pipe.

Each time you pull, you're given 1 item from those 100. That means that after pulling exactly 100 times, you will ALWAYS have all the Spotlight items, 3 other ultra-rares, 29 rares, and 65 commons.

At any time, you may 'Reset' your pipe and reshuffle a new 100 items into it. This can allow you to better your chances of getting what you want. Say I am going for Metal Mario and I pull him in my first batch of 10. Now I know I won't get another copy of him for the rest of the pipe, so I'll hit 'Reset', giving me a chance to get him in my next set.

Annoyingly, the game forces you to pull once for 5 emeralds, which counts toward that 100 limit. Assuming you only pull in increments of 10 after that, I don't know what the game does when you hit only 9 items left, but it is likely you'd be forced to do single pulls from then down.
It may be to your advantage to reset the pipe after getting your first single pull to save you 5 emeralds at the end.
WE DON'T KNOW IF PROGRESS FROM THE BETA CARRIES OVER TO THE REAL GAME, BUT EMERALDS ABSOLUTELY DO NOT (see the FAQ). SPEND THEM ALL BEFORE THE BETA ENDS, AS YOU WON'T GET THEM BACK.

There are two other ways to acquire items. First, through spending Coins. Each day, the game has a 'Shop' with 6 items that cost coins. Today (Day 1), this is a Normal Paper Glider for 500 coins, and the Rare Cloud 9 and Koopa Car for 2,000 coins each. In addition, there are red level-up tickets for gliders and karts at 200 coins each (granting extra base points), and a 4,000-coin Rare skill-up ticket that may be used to raise the Skill of any Rare character (the same as pulling an extra copy of that character through the gacha).
We don't yet know if characters will appear here, but it seems likely. Given that specific rares show up for 2,000 coins, it might be worth waiting for the kart/character/glider you want to appear on sale instead of buying a universal ticket for a premium.

Finally, there's the Grand Star Prize List. Over the course of the beta, you get a prize for every 10 grand stars you collect, up to 350. With 16 cups in the Beta 'Tour', and thus far 18 per cup I count only 288 grand stars in the Cups so far. Although cups 9-16 have not unlocked yet, so that is not for certain. You can also earn 36 Grand Stars by completing the first 9 Beta-Test Challenges. Finally, a second batch of Beta-Test Challenges will appear after another week. These are likely worth another 36 Grand Stars or so, bringing my total count to 360. (Of which you would need 350 to get every prize).

On the prize list, there are a total of 170 Emeralds, 700 coins, 2 Coin Rush Tickets (worth up to 800 coins each), 9 Item Box Tickets (items you can use once per race to spin your item slots without hitting an item block), 3 'Points Up' cards each for drivers, karts, and gliders, 1 skill-up card each for Standard drivers, karts, and gliders, 1 skill-up card each for Rare drivers and karts, and 3 for gliders for some reason.
1 skill-up card each for drivers/karts, and gliders.
Last, you unlock a set of driver/kart/glider at each of several milestones.
10: Koopa Troopa/Koopa Dasher/Paraglider
50: Shy Guy/Super Blooper/Parachute
100: Baby Mario/Cheep Charger/Paper Glider
150: Ludwig/Landship/Super Glider
200: Daisy/Zucchini/Flower Glider
250: Yoshi/Turbo Yoshi/Peach Parasol
350: Metal Mario/B-Dasher/Gold Glider

That means that after the 5 emeralds you're forced to spend on a single gacha pull, there are 170 from the prize list, up to 30 from getting rank 1 in your 20-person pool after week 1, 50 from regular card 1 (which requires some intense playing, like using the super horn to hit opponents 300 times), and some from the log-in bonus, which I didn't record when I saw it. Log-in Bonus items will include emeralds and point tickets.)

So, conservatively, you get 170 emeralds. At best you could get 250, plus the login bonus. It takes 450 emeralds to fully empty the pipe. As it is, 170 gets you 37 pulls, 200 gets you 44, and 250 would be 55.
That's no where near enough to empty the first pipe.

Well, that's what I know so far, I think that's enough for now.
I hope you enjoyed reading my discoveries so far if you were not fortunate enough to be selected for the beta test.

The hearts/stamina system is mostly irrelevant right now. Completing races gives you a bunch of XP, and leveling up grants you 3 or 5 extra hearts. You can easily clear the first 8 cups without needing a heart recharge.
The later cups are unlocking at specific intervals throughout the next few days, so that's a harder wall than personal recharging hearts right now anyways.