We’re just one day removed from the reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 and, within that trailer, a short look at what will presumably be called Mario Kart 9. Since its been over a decade since a fully original release in the series, plenty of fans are excited, and have started speculating and making Mario Kart 9 wish lists for what they want to see from the game. Needless to say, no one can quite agree to what this new title will provide.
Mario Kart 9 Being Open World
One of the most common things we see get thrown out by Mario Kart fans is they want the next game to be open world. While some point to Forza Horizon for open world racing, we’re not too sure how well that would fit in Mario Kart. We don’t think driving everywhere to do anything you want makes much sense for an arcade racer like this. Instead, what we imagine more people are hoping for is a story campaign similar to that of Crash Team Racing or Diddy Kong Racing. Both of these 90s racers were beloved for the colorful worlds that you have complete freedom to drive (or fly in Diddy Kong Racing’s case) around in.
Mario Kart could make a condensed open world that doesn’t feel like a chore to drive around and explore. Make it too big with nothing to do in it, though, and you have a forgettable experience. Nintendo is pretty good about making interesting worlds that people want to run around in. If they can incorporate that in a game where you are driving all the time is the question.
Mario Kart 9 Character Roster
While some people still throw out that they want Mario Kart to go the route of Super Smash Bros. and bring in more Nintendo franchises for its roster, most seem to be focused on the Mario representation still. In the thread we linked above, multiple people are holding out hope for King Bob-omb to be a playable racer for the first time ever. Other notable shout outs have been for Professor E. Gadd, King K. Rool, Poochy, Nabbit, and Spike.
A big common wish list for Mario Kart 9 is to stop filling up spots on the roster with clones of other characters. For example, Metal Mario, Raccoon Mario, Pink Gold Peach, baby versions of characters, and the Koopalings. Instead, people seem to want a costume/skin system where you can just change your racer’s looks instead of the character screen being filled with unwanted shadows. With that, they could work in dozens of great costumes from past games like Super Mario 64 model Mario or 2D pixelated versions of characters that were in Super Mario Kart. More variety from the main character cast seems to be the stressing point, though.
The Next Mario Kart Gimmick
Of all the Mario Kart 9 wish lists, this is a conversation that no one has a clear idea for yet. Many Mario Karts have a gimmick that sets them apart from the rest of the series. 8 had anti-gravity sections, 7 was gliding and underwater driving, Wii was just driving with motion controls, and Double Dash was two racers per car. We have seen someone throw out that off-road racing could be the focus in an open world Mario Kart, but we’re not sure that’s exactly interesting enough that Nintendo would try to sell it as the main feature. Some also think the addition of fuel could be used for interesting effects.
Some still hold out hope for a Double Dash-like mode to be featured. We would say the likeliness of that is quite low, especially considering that Mario Kart 9 is already extending the number of contestants to up to 24. There’s a chance it could work with 12 cars racing at once, but if we imagine the tracks are being designed with two dozen cars in each race, doing that may make things feel too spacious.
Probably the idea we like the most is introducing wonder seeds into the mix. These made their debut in the recent Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and have been a big hit. When you grab them in that game, they completely change the way the level plays by bringing in interesting effects. If that was added into Mario Kart 9, we would love to see how that could force players to drive differently.
