Ever since Super Mario Kart released in 1992 for the SNES, the Mario Kart series has become one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises ever, capitalizing off of the popularity of its famous plumber. And now, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch continues to be one of the system’s best-selling games, beating its own annual sales records time and time again. Over the years, with 8 mainline iterations, a brand new mixed reality game, a mobile game, and even a series of arcade games, the series has amassed an incredible wealth of playable characters, race tracks, vehicles, different game modes, and more.
After nearly 30 years of shaping the kart-racing genre, a series as lucrative as Mario Kart seems due for a definitive game serving as a celebration of the series, much the way Super Smash Bros. Ultimate acts as the definitive Smash game. And from Double Dash‘s buddy racing system to Mario Kart 7‘s additions of gliders, underwater driving, and kart customization (and more), the series is still looking to innovate whenever possible. However, taking a breather from introducing new mechanics to focus on fan-favorite characters, courses, and vehicles can help serve as a reminder of everything that has made Mario Kart great in the first place.
With over 50 different characters, over 115 courses, and a countless selection of vehicles across all mainline Mario Kart games, the series has made incredible use of nearly all that the Super Mario franchise has to offer. For returning characters, it goes without saying that any definitive game should include all past characters from the Mario Kart series. After all, thanks to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe‘s sizable roster, the game only excluded around 10 characters from past mainline titles, so the return of fan favorites like Bowser Jr., Diddy Kong, and Petey Piranha would be welcome additions.
As for returning tracks, it would be quite a feat to implement every track from past Mario Kart games as they are a lot more involved when compared to stages from Super Smash Bros. so bumping up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe‘s 48 tracks to around 60 or so seems more reasonable, leaving room for some new tracks while also giving players the chance to return to some fan favorites.
The kart-racing series’ venture into mobile gaming with Mario Kart Tour has done a great job at bringing back older characters, karts, and tracks, but since the gameplay in Mario Kart Tour is rather simple, the game’s tricked out “T” and reversed “R” courses should remain in the mobile realm. And although Mario Kart 8 Deluxe includes some costumed characters like Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, Mario Kart Tour‘s limited-time costumed characters should remain a mainstay in the mobile game in order to promote its gacha format, while a new mainline Mario Kart game should focus on introducing entirely new characters to the series.
On the Wii U, Mario Kart 8‘s venture into paid DLC was welcomed by many with open arms, adding 4 new cups, returning and new characters, and new vehicles as well, and while many thought that the game would receive some more DLC, Mario Kart 8 didn’t receive any more new content until its deluxe port on the Nintendo Switch. However, although Mario Kart 8‘s DLC format worked fine for the game in the past, something akin to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s challenger packs may help drive excitement and hype for the game the same way they do for Smash.
Much like Ultimate‘s challenger packs, racer packs for the next Mario Kart game could follow suit by simply including one new racer, one new track, and one new vehicle. This could give the series the chance to introduce both fan favorite Mario characters like Kamek and Plessie, and even other Nintendo all-stars like Samus, Fox, or Captain Falcon. Since the series recently dipped its toes in the realm of guest characters with the addition of Link, Inklings, Villager, and Isabelle in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, guest characters seem more likely than ever.
With the incredible sales of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the recent release of Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a new entry in the series may seem rather unlikely, but despite this, rumors about the next Mario Kart game always seem to be floating around. It also may be worth noting that the series is coming up on its 30th anniversary soon, and while Nintendo has their hands full with anniversaries as of late, Mario Kart fans may be in for some surprises in the next year or so.
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