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[Tg89]

Similar to Smash Ultimate, MK8D has left people wondering where they could possibly go with the next iteration. Unlike Smash Ultimate, I think the answer is pretty obvious. Of course the expectation would be to include all the courses/characters currently in MK8D as well as the usual amount of new tracks. While this would obviously still sell millions, a lot of people would probably consider that to be not enough.

Up until now, Nintendo has gotten off pretty easy with Mario Kart. There hasn't been any real competition since the N64 era and they've managed to do extremely well despite the entries being consistently barebones with only three exceptions, imo:

Super Mario Kart - obviously this more or less invented the genre as we know it, combine that with the hardware it was on and it's more than passable
Double Dash - Added a pretty substantial mechanic
MK8D - Sheer amount of content gets this one off the hook, though it was obviously the beneficiary of Wii U doing so poorly that they were able to repackage a lot of that.

Mario Kart 64 was the most egregiously barebones game in the series, especially when compared to its contemporaries - Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing. Both of those games are far and away better than Mario Kart 64 (which kind of sucks, honestly) in a lot of ways, but the most obvious is the single player campaign - something that Nintendo still hasn't felt the need to add. With MK9 not having an obvious path forward from MK8, is now the perfect time for them to tackle this? Imagine a hub world akin to Diddy Kong Racing that brings you across the Mushroom Kingdom (or other places in the Nintendo universe - throw Hyrule in there), no need to reinvent the formula - collect stars by winning races to progress through the different worlds with the goal of saving Peach. Add some boss races with unique tailored tracks that are exclusive to the single player and have set pieces (ala Wizpig in Diddy Kong Racing) It's weird that they still haven't done this yet, even their Mario sports series have mostly attempted some sort of single player outside of you just playing vs. the computer.

As fun as Mario Kart is with friends, I'm (and a lot of you I'm sure) at a point in my life where I don't constantly have friends sitting on the couch next to me. I'll probably buy the next Mario Kart regardless, but this would be a big value add for me.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

I'm on board for the idea of a bigger campaign/solo experience.

It's a muuuuuch better idea than the nonsense we keep hearing from fans who want it to "be like Smash" where all Nintendo franchises are combined. No thanks, it has more than enough crossover already... even the Link DLC was a huge mistake IMO. Mario Kart works best within the Mushroom Kingdom as a consistent setting.

The missions in Mario Kart DS were pretty good, even that would be nice for 9.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Nintendo see Mario Kart as a party game first and foremost. And honestly, I’m perfectly happy with MK not having single-player campaigns with the trademark cheating Mario Kart AI, or with a colossally obtuse rating system like the stars in Super Circuit.

 

[ADiTAR]

It's gonna be Mario Kart X, mobile is 9.

 

[AngelMuffin]

IMO, they’ve got as far as they can go with the current iteration. New course aren’t going to get me excited & it’s a multiplayer game at its core so single player missions don’t really move me either. I’d like to see a broader cast along with some type of vehicle transformations akin to Sonic Allstars Transformed.

 

[Spukc]

It will be mario kart vr

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

They're making shit tons of money without having to change anything.

 

[Deerock71]

 

[Sethbacca]

On the list of things I’d love to see that we would never get is an open world Mushroom Kingdom racer like Forza/Crew etc. That could be amazing. Probably not as a mainline Mario Kart game but would be a great spinoff for the series.

Also, they haven’t used the Wave Race license in a dogs age, so maybe some Mario Kart Jetskis could be kind of dope and be a great way to add more water dimensionality to the courses.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Will it have Raytracing in game on not just in the Garage?

 

[ReBurn]

Mario Kart is more party game and online racer than single player adventure anymore. I'm fine if the next iteration keeps that focus. If they were going to change anything for single player mode I would want it to be better AI so that the offline races were closer to the challenge of the online races. Running a 150 cc race online feels worlds different from a 150 cc race offline. I don't need story mode or other junk like that. Just provide track-based challenges along with better AI and it could be great.

 

[NahaNago]

Probably not. Most likely they will port 8 to the switch 2 and add some big new features, more tracks, and more characters. I'd love it if the tracks were more creative/ out there instead of just a track that has a mario skin on it.

On expanding the series, I think they should just add more Nintendo characters this time around.

 

[Happosai]

Really confused at where this is going. When was there ever a single player issue with any of the previous Mario Kart games. Your side rant on Mario 64; yeah...I agree that it was not the greatest entry. You don't really need friends on the couch sitting next to you to go multi-player either with 8D. Get Nintendo Online and go multiplayer online.

 

[gaming_again]

I wish they'd port 7 to the Switch.

I dunno. MK hasn't really been true to the originals in decades. It is what it is. I still play SMK a lot... it never gets old. MK8 is more of a novelty game. It's fun to do every now and then. I really miss tight circuits.

 

[IDKFA]

I'd like to see Mario Kart turn into Carmageddon, but with light-hearted Nintendo spin.

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

along with some type of vehicle transformations akin to Sonic Allstars Transformed.

This is what I want to see. Give us the next level of what Sonic Allstars Transformed did with changing terrain depending on the lap, changing vehicles, and tracks with a lot of secrets akin to Beetle Adventure Racing for N64.

I think they've taken the standard Mario Kart formula about as far as it can go without becoming tired.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

No they should Just make a diddy kong racing sequel since it's a different flavour of kart racer. Put story, boss fights and secret levels in that game while following the highly successful Mario Kart formula for Mario Kart

Keep funky kong out of Mario Kart also

There is room for 2 kart racers on nintendo if you space out their releases from each other

 

[Tams]

Mario Kart 64 (which kind of sucks, honestly)

I don't usually advocate for bans, but this opinion deserves a week long one.

 

[Tg89]

I don't usually advocate for bans, but this opinion deserves a week long one.

Not only is it the worst Mario Kart (outside of maybe Wii) but it’s the only one that had two direct competitors at the time that were just far superior. Even if you didn’t have a PS1 to play CTR, DKR was right there. Just a far superior game in every way. Better driving mechanics, better tracks, better battle mode, better music, more characters, far more effort put into including variety of content in the game (single player, time trials against TT, coins to collect on each track).

There’s no excuse to play MK64 over DKR other than your parents bought you MK for Christmas 96 and didn’t want to spend more money on another Kart racer.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Really confused at where this is going. When was there ever a single player issue with any of the previous Mario Kart games. Your side rant on Mario 64; yeah...I agree that it was not the greatest entry. You don't really need friends on the couch sitting next to you to go multi-player either with 8D. Get Nintendo Online and go multiplayer online.

Mario Kart DS had a pretty decent single-player "missions" mode with boss fights and more.

I'd like to see that return, at least.

 

[AngelMuffin]

Mario Kart DS had a pretty decent single-player "missions" mode with boss fights and more.

I'd like to see that return, at least.

I didn’t say that.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

I didn’t say that.

lol, multi-quote got scrambled on backspace. The correct guilty party has now been targeted.

 

[BlackTron]

Not only is it the worst Mario Kart (outside of maybe Wii) but it’s the only one that had two direct competitors at the time that were just far superior. Even if you didn’t have a PS1 to play CTR, DKR was right there. Just a far superior game in every way. Better driving mechanics, better tracks, better battle mode, better music, more characters, far more effort put into including variety of content in the game (single player, time trials against TT, coins to collect on each track).

There’s no excuse to play MK64 over DKR other than your parents bought you MK for Christmas 96 and didn’t want to spend more money on another Kart racer.

Even if that is all 100% true, Mario Kart 64 was still a fun game and remains a classic

 

[Codes 208]

Mario Kart DS had a pretty decent single-player "missions" mode with boss fights and more.

I'd like to see that return, at least.

MKDS was by and large the best MK we got and mission mode was part of that reason.

Its a shame they immediately dropped it with MKwii and MK7

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

MKDS was by and large the best MK we got and mission mode was part of that reason.

Its a shame they immediately dropped it with MKwii and MK7

It's the same situation with the amazing Mario Tennis on the GBA, replaced by a series of boring multiplayer only sequels with barely any kind of campaign.

This is one reason I miss dedicated Nintendo handhelds. The franchises were much more likely to try fun things like inventive single-player modes on the portable releases. Even Mario Party on GBA had a full single-player mode which wasn't the board game at all, it was an entirely different journey through quests.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

I think that’s the direction it has to go, honestly. It won’t launch with 96 courses, it’ll launch with 32ish and hopefully a robust single player like DS but doubling down on that

 

[MAtgS]

I wish Diddy Kong Racing had continued to be a series. It could've been the Forza Horizon to Mario Kart's Forza Motorsport. Imagine a new DKR with an open world Kong island.

 

[mariosbrother]

We're not going to see eye to eye because Mario Kart 64 is one of my favorites, and was great coming off SMK, improving basically everything. Kind of feel like this judgment is taken out of the context of time where you can sit and play it and everything after, all at the same time, and sort according to your current expectations (case in point, comparing against Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing). In my mind, the farther an entry drifted from the original concept of go kart racing, the weaker it was because it shifted disproportionate focus to the new concept vs the core gameplay.

 

[LordOcidax]

Nintendo is not going to touch the Mario Kart formula at all…

 

[Grechy34]

I'd like to see Mario Kart turn into Carmageddon, but with light-hearted Nintendo spin.

Decapitate goombas?

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Decapitate goombas?

Is it even possible to decapitate a goomba? I think the worst you could do is amputate its legs

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I don't usually advocate for bans, but this opinion deserves a week long one.

But it's true. The only thing worth coming back to in MK64 is that one battle arena.

There is nothing remotely interesting going on on MK64's tracks. You're mostly racing on empty roads as wide as highways. The few times they decided to put some hazards on the track it's a sick joke like that train in the desert or fucking Toad's Turnpike. The Rainbow Road never bloody ends. The game is desperately boring. Coming from literal hundreds of hours on SMK, 64 was one of my biggest letdowns in gaming ever. Having a PAL N64 made everything even worse.

We're not going to see eye to eye because Mario Kart 64 is one of my favorites, and was great coming off SMK, improving basically everything.

What, pray tell, does MK64 improve over SMK?
The game feels slower.
The track design isn't remotely as tight as in SMK.
The voices are out to murder your ears, if you pick Toad you are a literal masochist.
It introduces the blue shell, making everything cheaper than the already blatantly cheating CPU opponents in SMK.
It has the longest, emptiest, most boring tracks ever seen in probably any racing game ever. Wario's Stadium, ffs. What is even there to DO in Wario's Stadium? What's the point?

The only good thing about MK64's tracks is that they got recycled in future MK games and turned into proper racing game tracks.

That one time I managed to gather three friends to play MK64 together, they were on the verge of murdering me before we even finished a single cup. Fortunately there was that one battle arena to fall back to and the day (and my ass) was saved.

 

[Shut0wen]

Fuck no, who the fuck wants a mario kart campaign? Makes no sense if anything it would be nice to unlock shit karts and characters by doing the coursee instead of picking up coins

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Imagine MK9 they give you a pit team to help maintain the kart

 

[Mowcno]

I would definitely like a Diddy Kong or CTR style adventure for the next mario kart yes. Especially if it was coop like Diddy Kong.

 

[Alexios]

It's not very realistic at all to expect all current tracks plus more new ones, there's like 100 by now I believe. I'd be fine with 30 or less at launch. I dunno what you mean by proper, it's been proper single player in every iteration, the cups format is great for an arcade racer. A story mode is fine too

 

[mcjmetroid]

I think perhaps a few years ago I would have said no but I think these days with the position Nintendo is in they're delivering on all fronts with their games and have the time to think and relax and create something amazing.
They have to know what they're doing when they've made Mario Kart 8 as gigantic as they have over the time.

They have to be thinking "how do we top this" and they were thinking with Wonder after the mario maker games. " How do we make something players can't just create themselves"

I think they'll deliver in some shape or form.

 

[kirby007]

how is adding story adding gameplay?

 

[MLSabre]

how is adding story adding gameplay?

It's basically a glorified training course for newbies to familiarize themselves the game's mechanics and techs. Diddy Kong Racing's story mode is an example of this.

 

[Hudo]

Story mode will be a Wave Race game instead.

 

[dezzy8]

They need more crossover characters. Single player content is fine as it is. Every game doesn’t need some grand campaign.

 

[dezzy8]

But it's true. The only thing worth coming back to in MK64 is that one battle arena.

There is nothing remotely interesting going on on MK64's tracks. You're mostly racing on empty roads as wide as highways. The few times they decided to put some hazards on the track it's a sick joke like that train in the desert or fucking Toad's Turnpike. The Rainbow Road never bloody ends. The game is desperately boring. Coming from literal hundreds of hours on SMK, 64 was one of my biggest letdowns in gaming ever. Having a PAL N64 made everything even worse.




What, pray tell, does MK64 improve over SMK?
The game feels slower.
The track design isn't remotely as tight as in SMK.
The voices are out to murder your ears, if you pick Toad you are a literal masochist.
It introduces the blue shell, making everything cheaper than the already blatantly cheating CPU opponents in SMK.
It has the longest, emptiest, most boring tracks ever seen in probably any racing game ever. Wario's Stadium, ffs. What is even there to DO in Wario's Stadium? What's the point?

The only good thing about MK64's tracks is that they got recycled in future MK games and turned into proper racing game tracks.

That one time I managed to gather three friends to play MK64 together, they were on the verge of murdering me before we even finished a single cup. Fortunately there was that one battle arena to fall back to and the day (and my ass) was saved.

Sorry you had such a bad time with 64. Me and my friends had a blast with MK64 for the whole life cycle of the N64. Most fun I’ve had with a Mario kart after 8.

 

[wipeout364]

Hopefully they will add real tire and brake wear and then have replacements in the MTX store. I was going to suggest fuel as well but maybe that could be saved for the sequel.

 

[Chastten]

While I would love for Mario Kart to get a Diddy Kong Racing-like campaign, I just don't see it happening.

Especially since 8 sold 50 million copies without it

 

[Jinzo Prime]

I don't want any returning courses for Mario Kart 9. 40 brand new courses, Kirby as a guest character, single-player missions, and I will be very happy.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Mario Kart doesn't need a story. Every race is it's own story.

 

[Grechy34]

But it's true. The only thing worth coming back to in MK64 is that one battle arena.

There is nothing remotely interesting going on on MK64's tracks. You're mostly racing on empty roads as wide as highways. The few times they decided to put some hazards on the track it's a sick joke like that train in the desert or fucking Toad's Turnpike. The Rainbow Road never bloody ends. The game is desperately boring. Coming from literal hundreds of hours on SMK, 64 was one of my biggest letdowns in gaming ever. Having a PAL N64 made everything even worse.




What, pray tell, does MK64 improve over SMK?
The game feels slower.
The track design isn't remotely as tight as in SMK.
The voices are out to murder your ears, if you pick Toad you are a literal masochist.
It introduces the blue shell, making everything cheaper than the already blatantly cheating CPU opponents in SMK.
It has the longest, emptiest, most boring tracks ever seen in probably any racing game ever. Wario's Stadium, ffs. What is even there to DO in Wario's Stadium? What's the point?

The only good thing about MK64's tracks is that they got recycled in future MK games and turned into proper racing game tracks.

That one time I managed to gather three friends to play MK64 together, they were on the verge of murdering me before we even finished a single cup. Fortunately there was that one battle arena to fall back to and the day (and my ass) was saved.

Each to their own but the actual handling in SMK64 is miles ahead of SMK. The tracks are more varied in terms of elevation and variety. I still think it's comparing apples and oranges. SMK64 is heavy nostalgia for me so I'll defend it to the hill but no Mario Kart compares to 8 when it's all said and done.

 

[Celcius]

They do need to add Wiz Pig as a nod to Diddy Kong Racing though

 

[RCU005]

As much as I would love a single player campaign in Mario Kart 9/10. I'd rather they make All-Stars Mario Kart. They need to! With MK8 Deluxe, they already gave us pretty much every classic stage plus tons of new tracks. What's next?

I want to race in tracks based from Nintendo and third party franchises. I want tracks based on Metroid, Star-Fox, Kid Icarus, and also third parties.

Also new items based on those franchises! I want a Metroid to be an item to get suck on the opponent's head and slow you down, or Star Fox bombs that make a huge explosion (much more than a bomb-omb or even a blue shell).

The possibilities are endless!

They need to make Mario Kart the new Smash Bros when it comes to cross overs and content (which MK8 already rivals it).

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

As much as I would love a single player campaign in Mario Kart 9/10. I'd rather they make All-Stars Mario Kart. They need to! With MK8 Deluxe, they already gave us pretty much every classic stage plus tons of new tracks. What's next?

I want to race in tracks based from Nintendo and third party franchises. I want tracks based on Metroid, Star-Fox, Kid Icarus, and also third parties.

Also new items based on those franchises! I want a Metroid to be an item to get suck on the opponent's head and slow you down, or Star Fox bombs that make a huge explosion (much more than a bomb-omb or even a blue shell).

The possibilities are endless!

They need to make Mario Kart the new Smash Bros when it comes to cross overs and content (which MK8 already rivals it).

Ehhh. Nifty idea, but I’d really rather Mario Kart remains its own thing, and not be a mish-mash. Making a AAA 4K Mario Kart with lots to do for solo racers, and adding a bunch of fun multiplayer modes, and 32 brand new insanely great tracks would be all they need to sell 25+ million copies.