Mario Kart Wii U - What we want to see the next time we’re on Rainbow Road
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Watch out for Blue Shells
Well known to gaming insiders, it might surprise some Nintendo fans to find out that the Mario Kart games on the DS, Wii, and 3DS were consistent top sellers for those systems. Given the millions of sales Mario Kart has collected in recent years, it’s only a matter of time before the king of the kart racers come to the Wii U in some form.
But when it’s finally time for our next race, there are a few things we have in mind for his next race around the tracks.
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Don’t get too casual
The Mario Kart series has tread the fine line between casual players and hardcore fans for years, with some entries doing a better job of balancing than others. Mario Kart: Double Dash was loved by longtime kart racers, but didn’t reach a wide audience. Oppositely, Mario Kart Wii simplified things, making it popular with new Wii owners while some older kart fans grumbled. Can a middle ground be found on Wii U?
Hopefully Nintendo will keep follow the example of the most recent entry on 3DS. Mario Kart 7’s newer tracks had some complexity to them, power-ups like the Blue Shell were more consistent, but it still appealed to newer players with options like motion controls. Which reminds us…
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It needs better motion controls
Mario Kart Wii introduced motion controls to the franchise, a move that some old school fans rejected as unneeded, particularly when a cheap plastic steering wheel was added to the mix. Despite that rejection, motion controls returned in the 3DS version (along with a similar steering wheel), meaning it’s all but assured the function will be in the Wii U entry. So what can be done?
First off, it’s very fortunate that in its normal position, the GamePad is held similarly to an in-game wheel, perhaps fitting the system a good degree better than on the Wii or 3DS. More importantly, the game will likely follow the style of New Super Mario Bros. U, meaning you can play with either the GamePad or Wii Remote, so we hope that the devs upgrade and deepen the Remote controls this time around.
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Give the GamePad other uses
As we just described, the GamePad and its motion controls will almost certainly be used as a simple steering option in single player races, but what else can be done with the versatile controller? Let’s hope Nintendo has something better planned than a rearview mirror.
Perhaps the screen can be held sideways, allowing you to control racers like the F-Zero minigame in Nintendo Land. Or perhaps in four player races no one will hold the GamePad, it just staying in the center as a map, similar to what we’ve seen in Pikmin 3 demos. Or how about a five player mode that imitates New Super Mario Bros. U, letting the non-racer survey the course and drop items and obstacles in the way of the other racers? There are so many possibilities.
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Add a level creator
Speaking of a ton of possibilities, the ability to play, create, and share has become a staple of the PlayStation brand over the last few years, and the recent release of LittleBigPlanet Karting (and the less-recent release of Modnation Racers) showed just how well that ideology works with kart racing. We’d love to see the next Mario Kart go where none have gone before: level creation.
Using the GamePad, level creation would be incredibly simple to execute. Drawing tracks would take but a few minutes, and populating them would be as easy as dragging and dropping little icons into the game world. Being able to create cool arenas and share them over Miiverse would be absolutely awesome, and help keep us karting for a long time.
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Add even more transformations
Mario Kart titles have had some hidden complexity of late, be it customizable cars, different racer duos, or driving motorcycles, but Mario Kart 7 pushed things even farther. You could outfit you racer with a hang glider to stay in the air longer on big jumps, and every car was able to drive underwater. Both opened up many new avenues for both players and level design.
For the Wii U entry, we say let the transformations continue. Let players change their car into an off-road ATV or an imposing tank if the course calls for it. Sure, that might sound like we’re asking Nintendo to rip-off the most recent Sonic Racing game, but we’re sure Nintendo can find its own unique spin on the idea.
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Include characters from outside of the Mario series
Crossovers and cameos have been around almost as long as the medium of gaming, but having guest characters is pretty indispensable at this point. Series like Soulcalibur, Final Fantasy, and Yakuza have all recently used crossovers to spice up their franchises, and Mario Kart’s fairly static roster could really use something like that to freshen things up.
Who should join Mario and his friends on the track? If Nintendo wants to keep things uncomplicated, the next game could just add other Nintendo characters to the game, like Link, Pikachu, or Kirby. And if Nintendo is feeling more generous, they could open the floodgates to include characters from friendly third party publishers like Namco, Capcom, or Ubisoft. making the tired collection of Mushroom Kingdom residents feel fresh again.
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Restrict old courses to DLC
We revel in Nintendo nostalgia as much as the next fanboy, but Mario Kart is starting to test our tolerance for retrospection. Each release in the franchise subsists more and more on reusing old courses, with about half of the tracks in Mario Kart 7 recycled from previous games. If Nintendo is going to keep reusing old tracks, the least they can do is limit that to DLC and give players a fully new experience in the retail copy.
Nintendo is quickly becoming very accepting of selling DLC to players, and it’s a fine way to extend the life and--more importantly for Nintendo--the revenue of a title. The next Mario Kart will surely have DLC of some kind, so why not put it good use and partition off the reused courses? We’ll pay to play Moo Moo Farm or Waluigi Pinball again, especially if we enjoyed at least two dozen new courses in the retail version.
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New battle modes
Just as we think the roster and the number of tracks could use some freshening up, the same goes for the battle modes. We love Balloon Battles almost as much now as when we perpetually played them in Mario Kart 64, but we need something else to keep things interesting.
Mario Kart 7 had the right idea with the Coin Runners, a competitive mode about collection the most coins instead of bursting balloons, so let’s see some more of that. How about choosing your own load out of items for a match, bringing CoD style customization to the game? Or maybe even let the person holding the GamePad battle against four Wii Remote holding racers using the touch screen?
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Quicker fixes to exploits
Exploits can ruin any game, but they can have a particularly damaging effect on racing games. Not long after Mario Kart 7 hit stores, players found some particularly exploitive shortcuts in a few tracks, something Nintendo needed to fix quickly to make online play fair again. And Nintendo did release a patch… five months later.
If Nintendo is really serious about having an online system, the company can’t wait that long to release a patch to the Wii U game. Not if it wants to keep any kind of community for the game at least. Based on the speed of updates to the console’s firmware, we have our doubts.
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Please don’t call it Mario Kart 8
It was a cute surprise to see Mario Kart 7 be the first numbered entry in the series, recognizing its legacy and all that. Still, numbers that high should be reserved for Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Dump the numbers with the next entry, otherwise it just makes the series feel old.
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See you at the finish line
We've shared our vision of Mario Kart's future with you, but we'd love to read your ideas for the next step in kart racing. Please let us know in the comments!
Want more Wii U predictions? Read The Legend of Zelda Wii U - What we want from Link's Wii U adventure and Super Mario Wii U - What we want to see next in the Mushroom Kingdom.
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mariozeldapikachudud - December 2, 2012 5:05 p.m.
Here's some things I want in the Mario Kart U game(in order): 1. Make a Course Maker, that would be totally awesome! >=) 2. BRING BACK WALUIGI! 3. MAKE THE GAMES A MILLION TIMES HARDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4. Get some of the rival companies(Sega and Konami) to put their character in the game, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl. 5. Put some other Nintendo characters into the game, like Link and Pikachu. 6. PUT IN MORE RETRO COURSES! I get bored of the old courses because there isn't even that many. l=/ 6. Make a storyline, like Bowser kidnapping Peach(except a little less obvious). -
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chaoswanderer - November 28, 2012 11:43 p.m.
I would love to get rid of the position sensitive items. I hated mario kart wii because I was always in first and only got bananas. I want variety no matter what position I am in. -
JamesRadar - November 26, 2012 11:15 a.m.
i want to push buttons on the game pad, like the mach five from speed racer! -
Bionichute - November 26, 2012 8:50 a.m.
Seven things I want: 1. No old tracks. Why does Nintendo think we want these? We probably own the previous games, and we can play them one those games. 2. Actually do something interesting with the game. Literally every Mario Kart is the exact same, aside from Double Dash. 3. Be better then Mario Kart Wii. Mario Kart Wii was a piece of crap. 4. Be better then Mario Kart 7. Mario Kart 7 was ALSO a piece of crap. 5. Bring back Waluigi, get rid of the bee and Lakitu. Why wasn't Waluigi in Mario Kart 7? That was a BIG mistake Nintendo. 6. Better customization, or none at all. If you aren't going to put any effort into the customization, why have it at all? 7. Stop making Mario games. We need games that star characters people actually want games about. Make Wario games, make Luigi games, make anything but more Mario games. -
mariozeldapikachudud - December 2, 2012 4:47 p.m.
You're an idiot. Everyone wants old tracks, that's why Nintendo remakes these, stupid. What's the point in playing an old course on an OLD game(besides Double Dash) when you can play a NEW AND IMPROVED version of the course with new characters and karts! Another thing, I agree with you on the fact that Mario Kart 7 is a piece of crap, but NOT Mario Kart Wii, that game rocked! You're right, they should have a different Mario Kart game, like another Double Dash!! cuz that rocked! Waluigi should DEFINITLY be in the next Mario Kart game, as you said. Better customization would be helpful. They do need a Super Luigi or Super Wario Bros, maybe even a Super Waluigi Bros! -
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zombi3grim - November 25, 2012 8:05 a.m.
All of these suggestions are very good. Nintendo should browse this site from time to time for ideas, lol. -
JarkayColt - November 25, 2012 5:53 a.m.
Some really nice points here, I agree with all of them except the "old courses as DLC" one. The 50/50 approach so far is great and who's to say they can't add more NEW tracks as DLC too? Or, to take a different angle, would there even be any point if the game had a level editor? The DLC could be more environment templates and things. Also, one thing I really missed in MK7 was a "quick/single race" mode. In MKDS/Wii you could set up races with your own custom settings, but in 7 you were stuck either playing the Grand Prix or Time Trial (at least in single player anyway.) Also I would like to see the 'sticky' blue shell come back. That is to say, the version that would wait on the track for someone to drive by if you threw it backwards. That way, players might like to use it to stall people tailing them rather than hitting the person in front. Also, it NEEDS a backwards function because if you end up with it whilst in 1st (it happens) you just shoot yourself. -
MrJechgo - November 25, 2012 4:32 a.m.
More characters, more new tracks, make the Blue Shell only available in last and second-to-last place, bring back the Boo (the ghost that rendered you invisible, invincible and stole an item) so people can DODGE the Blue Shell, reduce rubberbanding A.I. because it's a pain to get hit by a Blue Shell in 1st place and have like 6 racers fly by as you fall, bring character-exclusive items from Double Dash, keep the retor cups because those are fun ^_^ -
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zombi3grim - November 25, 2012 8:02 a.m.
New ideas dont exist. Everything is based off of something else. -
rainn'sgaydar - November 24, 2012 8:37 p.m.
I like the retro courses, but they're running out of really good retro courses to use. Would love to see Yoshi's Valley (MK64) come back though. All the alternate paths were fun to me. Other than that, I'd like to see some new items, or the return of old ones, like the ghost and leaf. The leaf because it opens new possibilities for accessing shortcuts. The ghost because it adds a wrinkle and gives incentive to use items you may normally save for a specific area of a track (like a mushroom for access to a shortcut or the aforementioned leaf). -
Theudebald - July 15, 2014 3:57 p.m.