Hopes for the next Mario Kart (discussion)

[Perkilator]

With the Booster Course Pass all said and done and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in general being the best-selling game in the entire Mario franchise, I think it's more than safe to say that the next Nintendo console is absolutely going to see another Mario Kart game. So, I wanted to spark a discussion thread where we share all of our hopes and dreams for the next game. Whether they be characters, tracks, etc., what are your hopes and dreams for the next Mario Kart game? For me:

• Dynamic music changes for each section in 3-section tracks
• 48 tracks at launch and 16 as DLC
• Track design more in the vein of Ninja Hideaway and Squeaky Clean Sprint, mostly for the nitro tracks
• A character roster that dives deeper into Mario's own history, along with the Mario-adjacent series
• Track ideas:
  • Luigi's Casino
  • At least one track based on Odyssey and Wonder
  • A Rainbow Road based on its appearance in the movie
• Coins as currency for things like character costumes and kart parts and not as an item
• Retro tracks I'd like to see:
  • N64 Wario Stadium as a 3-section track
  • GCN Mushroom City
  • GCN Wario Colosseum with an anti-gravity update
  • GCN Rainbow Road
  • Wii Toad's Factory
  • Wii Bowser's Castle
  • 3DS Wuhu Loop
  • Wii U Cloudtop Cruise
  • Tour Piranha Plant Pipeline, since it was the only track from Tour that wasn't in the Booster Course Pass
• Aesthetics being a mix between base MK8's realism and Tour's vibrant style (basically something like Super Mario Odyssey)
• The following characters from Tour:
  • Hammer Bro
  • Nabbit
  • Chargin' Chuck
  • King Bob-omb
  • Dixie Kong
  • Poochy
• Character-specific items earned through a meter filled by tricks
• A single-player Adventure Mode in the style of Crash Team Racing and Diddy Kong Racing
• A track editor
• Vehicle customization that works like a mix between MK8D (being able to choose your vehicle, tires and glider) and Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled (being able to change the color of each kart part and having a more detailed side menu for each kart part)

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Great single player content.

I don't care if it's an Adventure mode ala Diddy Kong Racing or a mission mode like in MKDS, given how much the series has mastered multiplayer appeal, I don't think it's that much of an ask to get something of note for the single player (or even just 2 player co-op).

 

[fogbadge]

i'd like toadsworth, e.gadd and cranky as racers. and seeing as they new mario party had an mk board why don't we have a mario party themed track. i'd also like one set in rogueport but that's wishful thinking

 

[BritishGuy54]

I think it’s really easy and obvious to ask for things in a traditional Mario Kart. I’m just going to say what I would like out of a possible ‘Nintendo Kart’ (or rather, ‘Mario Kart and Friends’) game.

• 32 brand new tracks. 16 Mario-verse, 16 Other Nintendo. No retro tracks this time, I’m afraid.
• Around 48 characters. Split 3:2 Mario to Nintendo characters.
• Zelda, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Xenoblade, Metroid, and F-Zero in the base roster.
• Kirby and Fire Emblem as DLC or in the base roster.
• Pokémon as DLC or not present at all for now.

 

[Gorgonzales]

ignore this

 

[Gorgonzales]

• Some mechanic that rewards skill. It can be special items earned by doing tricks like Perkilator said, or it could be something else like a buff achieved through something like Tour's combo system. As-is, the game feels a little too reliant on the wheel of fate and having just a little extra thing in your control or you work towards would be great.
• Get rid of Kart customization, going back to pre-built karts like in Double Dash, DS, Wii, and most recently, Tour.
  • 7 and 8's kart bodies are mostly bland and very few have boundary-pushing designs or are themed toward specific characters, something that's plentiful in the aforementioned titles.
  • It takes too long anyway since you have to scroll through dozens of options, while you can only see a select few at a time. Just make a Kart selection screen like what we have for characters so people can pick a vehicle and we can move on with our lives.

• Kart Palettes would be nice. Just pick your favorite color and go, they don't impact stats so people won't take forever choosing the objectively best combination.

• Characters. This is the big one. I want them to be more creative with their picks; even if you ignore all the spinoff stuff, mainline Mario still has TONS of unique characters and designs to pull from for drivers.
  • I want more spinoff representation too. Professor E. Gadd, King K. Rool, Poochy, Ashley, the whole nine yards. I've put my most wanted newcomers below.

I'm not even asking for RPG characters. For goodness sake people, you have one of the most vast worlds in gaming with characters of all shapes and sizes and you still decide to put in characters like Baby Rosalina and Tanooki Mario? People would froth at the mouth to get to make decisions of who to include from Mario's wide universe (I know I would, at least) and I sorely hope they do much better with the next Mario Kart's base roster. Anyways...

• Character alts / costumes.
• Using coins in an in-game shop to buy said costumes.
• All of Tour's newcomers (King Bob-omb, Dixie Kong, Poochy, etc), this should go without saying.
• A singleplayer mission mode with boss battles.
• Elimination Balloon Battle. It's been sorely missing ever since DS and the score-based Balloon Battle they've been using since is a lot less enjoyable.
• Elimination races.
• A more vibrant art style reminiscent of Mario Kart Arcade GP DX.

That's pretty much it. I'm very passionate about this series and firmly believe there's plenty of ways to evolve it that don't involve shoving other Nintendo characters into it.

 

[Pupp135]

Like Gorgonzales above, I really want some elimination modes in the next game, and that is my most wanted thing (DS Balloon Battle is probably my favorite thing from the series so far).

In terms of other things, I guess Funky Stadium as a battle track would be cool. For racers, Captain Falcon would be cool to see if they continue the route of crossover characters.

 

[Oracle Link]

My Boi:

Add him!
And i guess you can add Zelda in that style too!
Zelda has both her looks from echoes of wisdom and link has green, red, blue and shadow looks!

 

[Perkilator]

I think the tracks with differing paths each lap that the Booster Course Pass has the potential for some creative nitro courses! As well as some fun changes to courses like Mushroom City that never got the retro treatment.

 

[Mamboo07]

More characters from other Mario spin-offs like Donkey Kong Country, Yoshi, and Wario Land/Ware

 

[fogbadge]

so bob-ombs, boos, piranha plants and bloopers have been items, king bob-omb, king boo and petey piranha are racers. surely we should have gooper blooper as well

 

[Northsouthmap]

Being able to build your own race tracks like LittleBigPlanet

 

[Perkilator]

Name one track idea you have for Mario Kart, either based on a Mario game or a real-life location.

My idea is a grocery store.

 

[fogbadge]

Name one track idea you have for Mario Kart, either based on a Mario game or a real-life location.

My idea is a grocery store.

edinburgh

 

[DreamyMystX64]

Mario Kart would definitely benefit if it had original characters (but they'd be the starting characters instead of the main Mario cast, making this like Smash Ultimate almost).

Ideally, Nintendo could bring back characters from Mario Kart's predecessor: https://www.mariowiki.com/Michel_Rumble

 

[Mamboo07]

Name one track idea you have for Mario Kart, either based on a Mario game or a real-life location.

My idea is a grocery store.

A prison track based off Alcatraz

 

[fogbadge]

Mario Kart would definitely benefit if it had original characters (but they'd be the starting characters instead of the main Mario cast, making this like Smash Ultimate almost).

Ideally, Nintendo could bring back characters from Mario Kart's predecessor: https://www.mariowiki.com/Michel_Rumble

it has original characters. toadette for one thing

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

We've also had some like Pink Gold Peach, Baby Daisy, Baby Rosalina. Sure, they're not as notable as Toadette, but they do make them. Not saying it's "well done" as a concept either in these cases. Toadette is definitely a well done one, though.

I don't remember if there's any original characters that aren't just palette swaps, though. Which is unfortunate, and hopefully that gets changed. Even Smash introduced more by now, with far less games(albeit, Giga Bowser is a special case where it's based upon the original Bowser sprite, and Mr. Game & Watch is not a literal character from the actual games but specifically is just a name for all of them being put into one person. The only other cases are the Mii Fighters, but they're more like the palette swaps I mentioned above. While they debuted in Smash, they are clearly just a retake on a previous character(and unlike Giga Bowser, are actually just an actual palette swap of the basic design options. Albeit, they also did get official core designs, separating them more akin to Toadette. So you could go either way on them. But otherwise, Master Hand etc. are your full out OC sets).

But yeah, they can do better. Even if it's just another member of the species. Like, we've had more than one Koopa Troopa thanks to Paper Mario. At the very least they could still bring in other Universes properly(WarioWare has no connections to Super Mario like Wario Land does, so that's one example), and it's still weird there's no playable Dr. Mario despite being an easy costume swap. Though that said, Gold Mario is a little different in that it is from a game(but he's just basically a swap for Metal Mario, despite having no connections to him. And this is only notable because Metal Mario is a different person specifically in Mario Kart's stuff. Smash Bros. 64 somewhat aside, anyway, and kind of in some of Ultimate's stuff. Gold Mario is just a powerup for Mario. On the other hand, even if they did quick costume swaps, it makes little sense for Gold Mario, who is just Metal Mario effectively, to not be his swap. They even have the same voices for a reason).

If they really want to go all in, they could also use lesser known characters, or even some cool costumes referencing comics, cartoons, etc(assuming certain designs don't have rights attached to them. Even if it's a joint rights. Like Koopa's design is based upon Bowser and Wart as a combo, but Nintendo may not be allowed to use it if they signed an agreement with DiC over how it works. Geno is probably the best example, assuming Nintendo has any straight ownership of him. But we definitely know Square-Enix owns him to some degree. I can't think of any known examples of a joint ownership of a character, but you get the point anyway).

 

[Lenidem]

We've also had some like Pink Gold Peach, Baby Daisy, Baby Rosalina. Sure, they're not as notable as Toadette, but they do make them. Not saying it's "well done" as a concept either in these cases. Toadette is definitely a well done one, though.

I don't remember if there's any original characters that aren't just palette swaps, though. Which is unfortunate, and hopefully that gets changed. Even Smash introduced more by now, with far less games(albeit, Giga Bowser is a special case where it's based upon the original Bowser sprite, and Mr. Game & Watch is not a literal character from the actual games but specifically is just a name for all of them being put into one person. The only other cases are the Mii Fighters, but they're more like the palette swaps I mentioned above. While they debuted in Smash, they are clearly just a retake on a previous character(and unlike Giga Bowser, are actually just an actual palette swap of the basic design options. Albeit, they also did get official core designs, separating them more akin to Toadette. So you could go either way on them. But otherwise, Master Hand etc. are your full out OC sets).

But yeah, they can do better. Even if it's just another member of the species. Like, we've had more than one Koopa Troopa thanks to Paper Mario. At the very least they could still bring in other Universes properly(WarioWare has no connections to Super Mario like Wario Land does, so that's one example), and it's still weird there's no playable Dr. Mario despite being an easy costume swap. Though that said, Gold Mario is a little different in that it is from a game(but he's just basically a swap for Metal Mario, despite having no connections to him. And this is only notable because Metal Mario is a different person specifically in Mario Kart's stuff. Smash Bros. 64 somewhat aside, anyway, and kind of in some of Ultimate's stuff. Gold Mario is just a powerup for Mario. On the other hand, even if they did quick costume swaps, it makes little sense for Gold Mario, who is just Metal Mario effectively, to not be his swap. They even have the same voices for a reason).

If they really want to go all in, they could also use lesser known characters, or even some cool costumes referencing comics, cartoons, etc(assuming certain designs don't have rights attached to them. Even if it's a joint rights. Like Koopa's design is based upon Bowser and Wart as a combo, but Nintendo may not be allowed to use it if they signed an agreement with DiC over how it works. Geno is probably the best example, assuming Nintendo has any straight ownership of him. But we definitely know Square-Enix owns him to some degree. I can't think of any known examples of a joint ownership of a character, but you get the point anyway).

It's not the first time I read that Metal Mario has become a separate character from Mario. When and how did that happen?

For what's is worth, I would rather have existent characters, especially from the spin-off, than new ones. Bring me playable E. Gadd, in Mario Kart and in Smash!! And also King K. Rool, Dixie, Cranky, Ashley, Captain Syrup... Toadette is awesome, like Waluigi, they were both made up for a spin-off series and ended up being great. But they are like wonderful accidents, I wouldn't bet on a new original creation to be as great as them.

 

[Laniv]

Name one track idea you have for Mario Kart, either based on a Mario game or a real-life location.

My idea is a grocery store.

A giant garden. Think Ribbon Road, but outside in someone's backyard.

 

[Northsouthmap]

Name one track idea you have for Mario Kart, either based on a Mario game or a real-life location.

My idea is a grocery store.

A Mario themed city

 

[Mamboo07]

It's not the first time I read that Metal Mario has become a separate character from Mario. When and how did that happen?

First happened in Smash Bros on N64

A Mario themed city

Bonus points if said track takes inspiration from this concept art:

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

It's not the first time I read that Metal Mario has become a separate character from Mario. When and how did that happen?

For what's is worth, I would rather have existent characters, especially from the spin-off, than new ones. Bring me playable E. Gadd, in Mario Kart and in Smash!! And also King K. Rool, Dixie, Cranky, Ashley, Captain Syrup... Toadette is awesome, like Waluigi, they were both made up for a spin-off series and ended up being great. But they are like wonderful accidents, I wouldn't bet on a new original creation to be as great as them.

As I spoke of, Smash Bros. 64 specifically had him separated from Mario. This is the first time he wasn't a power-up. However, it was just a case of "easy quick clone boss". Mario Kart 7 directly made Metal Mario separate with a new personality and dialogue, properly defining him as an alternate person.

That said, I got no issues with having some OC's. But only if it's a minor amount. Toadette was great. The rest... not so much. I only don't mind Pink Gold Peach due it to being a new metal color and a one time thing. That, and Metal forms is a popular power-up whereas the Babies are far less so due to having more annoying voices. That said, at least among them, none of them are actually weird forms or anything. Like, everybody starts as a baby. Still, I think they can do better than constant alts. I get that fully unique models is hard to pull off, though. Starting to add stuff like Tanooki Mario is honestly where it went haywire. A very tiny amount of some unique stuff is fine, but... overdoing it to get out quick costumes over ones people want far more of? Yeah. (To note, we literally have not had any Metals in the Super Mario series that weren't Metal Mario, Metal Wario, and Pink Gold Peach. Also, they could've added Baby DK, who at least was a logical thing for Yoshi's Island DS, as the modern DK being a baby is a fun idea that at least fits the settings better. It also somewhat helps bridge the odd gap of the Grandfather thing, if only cause it just means that Baby DK aged much closer to Mario. Cranky would've been a more closer to a child or teenager I guess? And DK Jr. probably would be the same age as Baby DK at that point. I guess it's easier to work with than having nothing at all, lol.

I mean, at least with the DKC series... they spun off from DK(Arcade). WarioWare spun off from Wario Land as well. It's a spin-off of a spin-off, but regardless of that point, they're still cool Original designs that should be in too.

 

[Gorgonzales]

I'd rather not see any new OC's for the next game. There's more than enough existing material to work with to fill out a roster of basically any magnitude.

 

[Geno Boost]

whats stopping nintendo from giving us the ability to customize emblem like in mario kart DS

i hate the fact we cant do that anymore

 

[StormC]

It's a cliche to ask for it at this point but I still want an adventure mode.

 

[Lenidem]

So it started with Smash 64? I'm a tad disappointed, I was expecting something more grandiose than that. After all, Mario (and Luigi) could just have grabbed a Metal Hat before the beginning of the fight. Yes, there is no time limit to it, but the items in Smash do not always work exactly as they do in their original series (see the Fire Flower, for instance).

As I spoke of, Smash Bros. 64 specifically had him separated from Mario. This is the first time he wasn't a power-up. However, it was just a case of "easy quick clone boss". Mario Kart 7 directly made Metal Mario separate with a new personality and dialogue, properly defining him as an alternate person.

That said, I got no issues with having some OC's. But only if it's a minor amount. Toadette was great. The rest... not so much. I only don't mind Pink Gold Peach due it to being a new metal color and a one time thing. That, and Metal forms is a popular power-up whereas the Babies are far less so due to having more annoying voices. That said, at least among them, none of them are actually weird forms or anything. Like, everybody starts as a baby. Still, I think they can do better than constant alts. I get that fully unique models is hard to pull off, though. Starting to add stuff like Tanooki Mario is honestly where it went haywire. A very tiny amount of some unique stuff is fine, but... overdoing it to get out quick costumes over ones people want far more of? Yeah. (To note, we literally have not had any Metals in the Super Mario series that weren't Metal Mario, Metal Wario, and Pink Gold Peach. Also, they could've added Baby DK, who at least was a logical thing for Yoshi's Island DS, as the modern DK being a baby is a fun idea that at least fits the settings better. It also somewhat helps bridge the odd gap of the Grandfather thing, if only cause it just means that Baby DK aged much closer to Mario. Cranky would've been a more closer to a child or teenager I guess? And DK Jr. probably would be the same age as Baby DK at that point. I guess it's easier to work with than having nothing at all, lol.

I mean, at least with the DKC series... they spun off from DK(Arcade). WarioWare spun off from Wario Land as well. It's a spin-off of a spin-off, but regardless of that point, they're still cool Original designs that should be in too.

I didn't know there was dialogues in Mario Kart 7, I'm gonna check that.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

So it started with Smash 64? I'm a tad disappointed, I was expecting something more grandiose than that. After all, Mario (and Luigi) could just have grabbed a Metal Hat before the beginning of the fight. Yes, there is no time limit to it, but the items in Smash do not always work exactly as they do in their original series (see the Fire Flower, for instance).



I didn't know there was dialogues in Mario Kart 7, I'm gonna check that.

To clarify, the Metal Box first started as a thing in Melee. Same with the general idea anybody could go Metal(along with Special Smash which allowed you to set a specific starting item, etc. Brawl further made it a menu where you could toggle anything you want at once instead of being individual modes).

But yeah, Smash 64 simply started the concept. Mario Kart is when he's a true individual. It's Gold Mario that is just a quick palette swap, and it's unclear if Pink Gold Peach is meant to be a character or just a quick silly thing like Tanooki Mario is. However, it's worth noting she is not ever a palette swap option in Tour, but a proper character. From what I'm finding, they do make it appear she's just a power-up in comparison to Metal Mario who has changed dialogue.

That said, it's also nice to have a somewhat more unique take on it, and being she's not a costume instead, it's possible she may grow into a more proper character. One other notable thing is that Peach does not have the exact same quote pool as Pink Gold Peach. PGP does reference some Smash Bros. phrases(though given that's the other set of games to otherwise have a normal Metal Peach, it's probably the reason for it).

For another fun fact: Gold Mario actually first appeared as an unlockable skin for Metal Mario in Mario Golf 64. Though in that case, it had multiple alternate selves instead of any individuality. That said, Metal Mario's first somewhat individual appearance was in Smash 64, during the same year. It does sound like they somewhat treated him a bit more uniquely after the powerup. Gold Mario usually is treated closer to a powerup whereas Metal Mario zigzags it. Him being a final boss in some of the Classic Modes of Smash Ultimate didn't mean much either, being there's also Giant DK, just a simple callback to Smash 64 for Jigglypuff's route. The game also treated a Spirit as an individual, with Ganon and Ganondorf being completely separated. It may help that the Boss is nothing like the Final Smash in terms of how they work.

Same with both Giga Bowsers(at least Giga Bowser was an actual separate being to a degree, having his own symbol... even after being transformed from Bowser, who had a Mario symbol first. Then again, who says someone can't transform into another person from what is treated as another franchise? It's just a game, after all, heh. That said, this is notably the case solely for the boss, as the Final Smash does not change Symbols(which would make little sense anyway, but it does kind of work when you fully play as him, but wouldn't during Ultimate's silly "punch attack" instead). Also, Giga Bowser no longer transformed from Bowser as a boss after Melee, either, further separating them. It's a bit more justified than Metal Mario, as Giga Bowser was loosely based upon the NES design, but wasn't actually meant to be a costume for Bowser, isn't actually treated specifically as the same person as Bowser(somewhat further shown during Melee, as the Bowser is a different size to make it clear he's different from the playable one. Not that Brawl doesn't muddy it, but you can somewhat get what they're going for).

Let's just say the games are weird about it, heh.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Honestly...no retro tracks. With the BCP being comprised mostly of old tracks, and even the "all new" tracks being ports of Tour tracks that weren't available in that game yet, it's burned me out on the concept.

To make up for it, they could go back to 5 tracks per cup like Super Mario Kart, and/or having more Nitro cups than MK games usually have.

 

[Gorgonzales]

whats stopping nintendo from giving us the ability to customize emblem like in mario kart DS

i hate the fact we cant do that anymore

Well unfortunately in today's era people would probably abuse the emblem creator to make obscene stuff. Content sharing in the DS era was overall more "wholesome", I guess: just look at Flipnote Hatena. Not saying it was perfect but it was a lot more innocent than nowadays. Compare that to today, where taking one look at the custom stages on Smash Ultimate will tell you all you need to know about how the tone of user content has shifted since then, and it's understandable why we probably won't see custom emblems again.

At least in a "sharing them online" sense. I could see custom emblems making a comeback if they're something confined to singleplayer/local multiplayer and can't be used or shared online.

 

[Geno Boost]

Well unfortunately in today's era people would probably abuse the emblem creator to make obscene stuff. Content sharing in the DS era was overall more "wholesome", I guess: just look at Flipnote Hatena. Not saying it was perfect but it was a lot more innocent than nowadays. Compare that to today, where taking one look at the custom stages on Smash Ultimate will tell you all you need to know about how the tone of user content has shifted since then, and it's understandable why we probably won't see custom emblems again.

At least in a "sharing them online" sense. I could see custom emblems making a comeback if they're something confined to singleplayer/local multiplayer and can't be used or shared online.

bruh smash had custom stages where you can exactly do those dirty stuff and can be shared yet that didnt stop nintendo its only less 1% of the community who does these types of stuff but still preventing customization to create your own thing as an edition for the sake of few individuals isnt the way to go about it

 

[Gorgonzales]

bruh smash had custom stages where you can exactly do those dirty stuff and can be shared yet that didnt stop nintendo its only less 1% of the community who does these types of stuff but still preventing customization to create your own thing as an edition for the sake of few individuals isnt the way to go about it

You do have a point. Content moderation on the online Smash stages seems to be basically nonexistent, even when the service first launched. Maybe I'm thinking too deep about this, but then again, Mario Kart is a much more casual and family-oriented experience than Smash. I don't think Nintendo would want to risk tarnishing Mario Kart's image by potentially allowing risque content to sneak its way online, even if the chances are small.

 

[Perkilator]

I’ve decided to make a more in-depth wishlist on Google Docs.

 

[fogbadge]

here's a crazy tack idea: a city in the middle of a kaiju attack