It’s been a long time since Nintendo released a brand new Mario Kart game and the series needs to do something big to outshine Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The natural progression for the Mario Kart series is to follow the example of Super Smash Bros. and make it a full crossover game.
It will likely be a long time before Nintendo releases another Mario Kart title. Nintendo only ever releases a single Mario Kart title on each platform, although older games can be made available through services like Nintendo Switch Online. However, the bigger reason is that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the biggest selling game on the Switch, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold a staggering 33.41 million copies around the globe, and it has been a constant presence in the sales charts since it launched in 2017. These factors combined mean that the next Mario Kart game will likely be released on the Switch’s successor.
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Mario Kart 9 has some big shoes to fill, as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an extremely hard act to follow, both from a content and sales perspective. The best way it can up the ante is by continuing the groundwork that started with the DLC in Mario Kart 8, and turn the franchise into a full Nintendo crossover.
Mario Kart 9: Everyone Is Here (To Race!)
Characters from other Nintendo franchises have appeared in Mario Kart games in the past, like R.O.B. appearing in Mario Kart DS and Pac-Man appearing in the arcade games. Mario Kart 8 brought in the big guns, as the first DLC pack added Link from The Legend of Zelda series, while the second pack added Isabelle and the Villager from the Animal Crossing series, along with their own stages. The DLC also added stages from Excitebike and F-Zero. These DLC packs were incorporated into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, along with the Inklings from Splatoon. This means that the Mario Kart series has already included prominent Nintendo characters into the series, so Mario Kart 9 should take it even further.
There are so many options for Nintendo characters, items, and stages that Mario Kart 9‘s roster could match Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in size. The main benefit of this approach is that Nintendo could promote the game in the same way as it does with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Nintendo has tried this approach with Mario Kart Tour, but it’s hamstrung by the fact the developers are restricted to a small pool of characters. The announcement for Lederhosen Luigi isn’t going to match that of FF7‘s Sephiroth or Minecraft‘s Steve, but it could be exciting if the concept was expanded to characters outside of the Mario universe, as well as third-party characters. Making Cloud from Final Fantasy 7 a DLC character in Mario Kart 9 with his Hardy-Daytona motorcycle would generate a ton of buzz and lots of people would buy it, especially if there was a Midgar stage thrown in. Nintendo already proved that it’s fine with third-party characters in Mario Kart with Pac-Man, so there’s no reason why it couldn’t happen in the mainline games.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an incredible game that’s packed full of content. Any future Mario Kart games would have to go above and beyond to try and outshine it, and the easiest way to do that is by going the Super Smash Bros. route and turning it into a crossover franchise.
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