In spite of a steady stream of rumors that Nintendo recently started work onMario Kart 9, it doesn’t look like a new installation in the extremely popular racing franchise is around the corner. Nintendo recently announced a new wave of DLC forMario Kart 8 Deluxe,in spite of its age, which heavily implies that developing a newMario Kartgame isn’t a priority for Nintendo right now. Fans will just have to keep playingMario Kart 8 DeluxeorMario Kart Tourfor now, but in the meantime, it seems like rumors about bold innovations inMario Kart 9will continue to circulate.
TheMario Kart 8 DeluxeBooster Course Passcertainly makes it look like innovation inMario Kart 9will be key. As exciting as the Booster Course Pass is, it significantly raises the bar for the quantity of content that the nextMario Kartgame will offer. Nintendo may have created a problem forMario Kartthat it’s also experiencing in theSuper Smash Bros.franchise.Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s sheer scale raises questions about what anotherSmashgame could possibly do to live up to its legacy, andMario Kart 9may be facing similar questions now.
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Inheriting the Smash Ultimate Obstacle
Sora Ltd., Bandai Namco, and Nintendo certainly took a risk withSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.TheSmash Ultimaterosterincludes every past fighter and then some, which results in a staggering amount of playable characters. It also brings back a huge amount of stages, packs its own story mode, and offers various other features that make it a dominantSmashexperience. While that meansSmash Ultimateis a great game in a vacuum, that also results inUltimatebeing a seemingly impossible act to follow. After all the characters and amenities thatSmash Ultimateoffered, futureSmashgames are at risk of feeling like a step down if they don’t try to be as big asUltimate.
Unexpectedly,Mario Kart 9may face similar risks because of the wayMario Kart 8 Deluxeis expanding right now. Asthe best-selling game on the Switch,Mario Kart 8 Deluxeis already a hard act to follow, but by the end of the Booster Course Pass,Deluxewill have nearly 100 courses for players to choose from, which is an unprecedented number for consoleMario Kartgames. These courses will offer an incredible amount of variety toMario Kart 8 Deluxeplayers, which means that ifMario Kart 9has significantly fewer courses than that, it may feel repetitive in comparison.Mario Kart 9probably can’t launch with 100 courses, though, so it needs to make up for the difference somehow.
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Mario Kart 9’s Changes and Challenges
Many rumors suggest thatMario Kart 9will feature guest charactersfrom various Nintendo properties, and while that would be a great way to help the game stand out from the rest of the franchise, it may not be enough to make it feel as diverse asMario Kart 8 Deluxe.It’ll need some serious mechanical changes too, whether that means shaking upMario Kart’s item system or introducing different styles of racing toMario Kartaltogether. The more Nintendo does to makeMario Kart 9feel unique, the better.
Mario Kart 9may yet be able to avoid the strange situation that theSuper Smash Bros.series faces. Big ideas thatchange theMario Kartformulawill serve a new game well, no matter how many courses it ends up having. The same is true forSmash,butMario Kart’s need for innovation may be more pressing, considering how long it has been since Nintendo released aMario Kartgame on consoles. The Booster Course Pass will keep fans entertained for now, but demand for another game is growing, so hopefully Nintendo has some tricks up its sleeve.
