Topic: Mario Kart World

@Dev1024 Guest characters are unlikely to go away, although if they are to stay, they need to bring the Kirby gang.

@chapuH Wait. Having tanks as karts would be a blast, because you’d actually be able to have the ability to shoot other racers in a track.

@Dev1024 @N00BiSH May I ask why didn't they use Charles's clips? Mario doesn't really talk. While I was playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Mario didn't say anything he had not said before and Kevin was just imitating Charles. I realise now that I took Charles's contributions for granted, but he really nailed it and helped build the character since Super Mario 64. Maybe Nintendo wants Mario to start conversations now, but I doubt it.

@MrCarlos46 The tank actually WAS a kart in MKDS (no missile-firing ability though), along with a rhino kart, an excavator kart, a pair of "legs" for ROB... point is, I miss those wacky designs.

They mostly showed pretty basic characters. Considering the trailer showed almost nothing concrete I imagine they chose not to hint at the character cast either.

I hope they don’t copy/ or go the Lego 2k drive approach

@CobaltFan Not a fan of the redesign. It worked in the movie ,but it doesn't work here. Kinda like how Dedede looked good in forgotten land, but when that design was added to the Return to Dreamland remake it looked awful.

@Banjo- Nintendo for whatever reason, wanted to phase out Charles after the movie came out - trouble is when it came to doing do, they handled the whole thing in a very inelegant manner - instead of gradually introducing a replacement as an understudy, they just kinda tossed Martinet out the door(not even considering keeping him on retainer to train the new talent) and threw in a very green VA who just happened to be in the right place at the time.

@N00BiSH I know, but my point is, did Nintendo really need a new voice actor just for imitating Charles's ouchs and phews in a new game? It would have made sense if they had hired Chris Pratt, since he voiced Mario in the film. I don't see the need for imitating Charles's sounds in a new game with a new voice actor.

No Poochy, no party.

@Banjo- Not really, no. Could've just kept Martinet and life would've gone on. And if they wanted to get more words out of Mario, that wouldn't have been an issue at all, given that, y'know, Charles knows how to talk as Mario on top of the yips and yahoos.

@N00BiSH Of course. I just don't understand why Nintendo did not use Charles's clips after his departure, since Mario doesn't really speak in the games. I could say that I am surprised at Nintendo's behaviour and how they got rid of Charles, but I would be lying, because they didn't care about Rare and what they did for SNES and N64 either. Nintendo can be extremely cold and even cruel to their contributors and fans, despite their family-friendly games.

Like I said in my first comment, I realise that I took Charles's contribution for granted, but he nailed it and helped build the character since Super Mario 64. Not just Mario, but also Luigi, with the same level of personality. I love Luigi's voice. The video you posted shows his mastery. [sarcasm]Oh, but the Nintendo Switch 2 video is way better than this.[/sarcasm]

Nintendo's priorities should have been:
1) Keep Charles Martinet.
2) Use Charles's audio clips.
3) Hire Chris Pratt, the voice of Mario in the cinema.
4) Hire a voice actor for imitating Charles.

I don't think anyone said this (correct me if I'm wrong) but from the footage we have, Peach is driving a bike but with a dress no race suit. So I wonder if all princesses will wear dresses instead of a race suit.

@Potato-man Maybe that could lead to customizable costumes for the characters.

@Banjo- Don't forget step 4A: Ease the new talent into the role by introducing them as an understudy for a year or so. That's important.

Anyways, in terms of improvements I'd like to see, I hope off-road shortcuts are less reliant on items moving forward. In 8 these almost always rely on having a mushroom in order to get off road, which is a rarity most of the time, given how most item types are dependent on your position, and coupled with the fact that 8 actively punishes you for driving off-road for even a millisecond, I feel no incentive to actively use these shortcuts. I'd prefer if they designed these shortcuts around the player's skill rather than the luck of the draw, like how CTR does it.

I really like the concepts that the trailer seems to imply. The 24 man races accompanied by what seems to be a far larger track design from what we're used to for this series.

That being said- I don't think that this was the best thing to showcase for the first Switch 2 game. Especially when you have so many people confusing it for Mario Kart 8, or saying that it looks "Last-gen." The track they picked is probably the worst showcase for this (and I get why, given that it's probably the first track in the game- but I digress). I think it would've been better if they showed off something more visually stunning with crazy lighting- like Rainbow Road over something like a bland desert highway.

I also don't think the game is going to be open world. Mario Kart isn't really.. about that? It isn't a series that tends to be about exploration, and focuses more on competitive racing. I know there are racing games with open worlds, but I just can't see something like Mario Kart being one. Especially given the track they showed (even the highway portion) seems to have strict barriers preventing people from straying too far from it. Signs and barriers off the side that keep you on the track at all times.

My thinking is that the main gimmick for the courses is that they're going to be the largest in the series. That what we've seen isn't open-world, but rather a track with a ton of different routes that diverge from one another. One with a far larger scope that feels more open and detailed from what we're used to. This is assuming what we were shown isn't just a new mode for the game as well- which it could very well be. It's also assuming the track is going to wrap around back to the starting point- when it could be like the various tracks in 8 with goals leading to a different end-point.

Another thing I wanted to say is that so far I think the art style looks really nice. It's going for the same sort of look that wonder had, and seems to be more akin to the older artwork from the original Mario Kart. The characters are larger than their vehicles and look to be far more animated. Sorta like how the original game had the sprites.

Edit: I also don't get the logic that this game can run on Switch 1 and might be cross-gen. The game has a higher poly count than many Switch games do (if the smoothness of Mario's model and the steering wheel/look of the wheels on the Kart itself are anything to go by), along with the fact that there's far larger courses and more characters on screen than ever (with the same amount of detail as the player character). This game couldn't run as well as it does in this gameplay if it were to be released on Switch 1 as well as Switch 2. Definitely an exclusive.

@chapuH I feel like they're probably obscuring a good amount of Kart designs, given that this is meant to be a small teaser. Doubt they would get rid of the more unique parts- or change how 8 handled the custom karts.

@Dev-N For me, I don't really care for the cross-over characters. Not a massive fan of the whole "Smash Kart" idea. Rather Mario Kart to continue to pertain to Mario and it's universe. This being said, the roster should probably contain more interesting characters from other games in the series. Pull from the spin-off titles, and pull unique ones from games like Odyssey. Give us a T-Rex driver, or give us some of the characters from Mario and Luigi (given there's a whole wealth of them to pull from that game series). Maybe some characters from Warioland and Warioware as well.

@Dev-N They need to bring back Baby Park again so we can suffer through a 24 racer hell.

Wait, I just realized. 24 player races are already going to be chaotic, but imagine if that extends to Battle Mode? 24-player Balloon Battle would be absolutely nuts and I'm all for it.

The 24-player could be just a game mode or the hub world. I've been a Mario Kart regular player since I was a kid. My favourite entries are Super Mario Kart and Double Dash, because they are the only two that feel like proper racing games. Mario Kart DS is fantastic, considering that it's fully 3D and uses a D-pad. I still play them regularly. I have Mario Kart 8 and all the DLC on Wii U and Switch since launch, but I've never enjoyed them as much. I suspect that the next entry is going to use similar physics and controls, because it's veeery easy to play and it is the best-selling entry. I would like to try it before I buy it, especially if I need to buy a new console to play it. Physics and controls are crucial in racing games, much more than graphics and ornaments. Many of the best Mario Kart circuits are simple because they lack the superficial gimmicks.

There are some interesting questions here, like how long the circuits will be, how items will affect the races and what game modes will be included. Looking at other Nintendo games like F-Zero and other non-Nintendo games like Diddy Kong Racing, Crash Team Racing or Team Sonic Racing, I don't think that the problem is the number of racers or laps, but how Mario Kart has transitioned from a racing game to a party game over the years. I also wonder if there will ever be another F-Zero, Wave Race and 1080° Snowboarding or if it's just Mario Kart from now on. I really love some Mario Kart entries, but Wave Race is one of my favourite Nintendo franchises. However, Nintendo has been selling us Mario Kart 8 successfully for over a decade. Everything regarding Switch 2 is giving me rinse and repeat Switch vibes.