Nintendo won't fix Mario Kart 7 track glitch

A major glitch in one of Mario Kart 7's tracks will remain unfixed, Nintendo has said.

Mario Kart 7 players discovered an exploit that enables racers to skip almost half of the Wuhu Mountain Loop course (named Maka Wuhu in North American versions).

By deliberately driving off of the track at a specific point near the course's start, gamers are sneakily returned to the track much farther on - near its final section.

But fixing the bug would give an "unfair advantage" to those with unpatched copies of the game, Nintendo decided.

"We are aware that it is possible to navigate a certain part of the track in Wuhu Island in a way that allows a large part of the course to be bypassed," said Nintendo spokesman Buddy Roemer in a statement to fans, posted by Sticktwiddlers.

"There are no plans to update the game to remove this shortcut as doing so would create an unfair advantage for the users of the original release of the game. Rest assured your comments have been added to our records for Mario Kart 7."

The track has become a favourite for online players who know the exploit, as it allows for an easy win against players unaware of the shortcut. A video of the illicit manoeuvre lies below.