Mario Kart World doesn't feature Nintendo icons from Zelda and Animal Crossing because its developers say "it didn't seem necessary to us, given everything we could already do with Mario"

Mario Kart World screenshot showing a Goomba happily jumping out of a kart.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario Kart World's producer has explained why characters from the wider Nintendo universe haven't returned from Mario Kart 8, and it's down to how big Mario's roster is.

During the 10-year wait (although fans would've had you believe 40 years) between Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart World, one of the prevailing bits of fanfiction in the Mario Kart community is that the next game would take inspiration from Super Smash Bros. Since Nintendo included The Legend of Zelda's Link, Villager and Isabelle from Animal Crossing, Inklings from Splatoon, and crossover tracks with the likes of F-Zero and Excitebike, Super Smash Kart being Mario Kart 9 felt like the natural progression to some. But as we know now, Nintendo went even harder on Mario, with all manner of little cretins that only the most sicko of Mario fans knew the name of (present company included) making up a large chunk of the roster.

In an interview with Ouest France (via machine translation), Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki was asked about the lack of guest racers this time around. "As developers, it would have seemed incongruous to us to add characters from other games into this universe." Yabuki said, adding, "It didn't seem necessary to us, given everything we could already do with Mario." When asked if he had considered adding a character from Arms – the last console game he produced before Mario Kart World – he simply responded "Absolutely not!"

And yet, despite the roster of little freaks like Coin Coffer, Conkodor, and Cataquack, Yabuki said, "the reception has been so warm that it surprised even us! It definitely exceeded our expectations." And when asked if he had a favourite, unsurprisingly it was the same as everyone else, as Yabuki said, "just from the reception it has received, I have to tell you that it's the Cow."

To get some of those aforementioned little freaks, you'll need to take advantage of the items in Mario Kart World, so check out our full list of Kamek unlocks in Mario Kart World.