What should the next Mario Kart do to stand out?

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Due to the booster pack, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had gotten quite big, I don't think simply going for bigger scale is going to be sustainable for each new installment so what could the next game do to stand out?
I think an in game course maker might make things interesting as well as including planes and boats
 
I had the exact same ideas and I think they make a lot of sense where each game in the series has had the same basic gameplay since 1992. At this point, where Nintendo has made itself one heck of a metagame in MK8 Deluxe, they need something really new to freshen things up.
 
i was under the impression that Mario Kart Live was the de facto "Mario Kart Maker", or basically Nintendo/Velan's most competent approach to this concept that was also accessible and appealing to customers. a race course creation tool wouldn't be their first rodeo either.

i don't know if mario kart games can or need to stand out gameplay-wise anymore. singleplayer experience was already fleshed out to some extent in DS and Tour; major series staples like tricks and bikes were already a thing by 2008; gliding, underwater, and antigravity mechanics were mere gimmicks that only bolstered presentation and marketing; and the in-depth kart-building gameplay i've seen suggested kinda contradicts the accessible, pick-up and play direction of the series.

at this point i genuinely think innovation all comes down to brand new, well-designed courses and a character roster that doesn't take a decade to not suck.
 
Koopa con Carne said:
brand new, well-designed courses and a character roster that doesn't take a decade to not suck.
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That would be a wonderful alternative to new gameplay and would make the next Mario Kart game masterfully enjoyable, but at this point Nintendo doesn't seem to care too much about that stuff and fresh, hopefully-not-too-gimmicky gameplay mechanics will probably be what they'll go for in the next game.
 
Double Dash is literally the only Mario Kart game I haven't played aside from MK Arcade GP, GP DX, and GP VR (yes, I've got GP 2 under my belt), and from what I've seen and heard, it seems like the paramount of classic Mario Kart action just before the retro courses kicked in, with what looks like a worthwhile twist in double karts. So with that in mind, Double Dash 2 wouldn't actually be a bad idea, if done right.
 
  • A better sense of speed. Mario Kart has felt like a sluggish game since DS and that's due to the overly wide tracks. 200cc was a step in the right direction but it can still feel a bit sluggish compared to the likes of Double Dash and Super Circuit.
  • A single player worth a shit. This repetitive slog through Grand Prix has been criticized since the 64 days and little has changed since then. Please give me stuff to do other than race 4 tracks in three different speeds over and over and over. Other kart racers have already picked up slack on that department, CTR has a story mode with a large world to lounge about in, Sonic & All-Stars Transformed has a career mode, even freaking Cars 2 has a story mode. Mario Kart doesn't need a story per se but anything to break up the tedium would be nice. Have me target and kill CPUs with a ludicrous stash of items racing like in Cars 2, have rival missions where you have to beat someone 1-vs-1 with special conditions, avoid traffic (like Traffic Attack), perform drifts through drift areas, have races where the last player gets eliminated, actually require Battle Mode to be played to completion. Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii sorta did this but they quickly abandoned it and the missions in MKDS were entirely optional and didn't even contribute to completion of the game or unlocking anything, making its completion feel pointless (plus Mission Mode locked you to using specific characters). Tour is a terrible game that I'll never play so that's why I don't mention it.
  • A better customization system. Paint jobs should be THE BARE MINIMUM at this point and I keep asking for them. Almost every single racing game lets you change the color of your vehicles barring probably the Sonic & All Stars racing games (except Team Sonic Racing). Even fucking Beetle Adventure Racing in the 64 days let you change your vehicle's color. People want a matching color for their favorite character or do something entirely ridiculous like having Bowser drive a pink car. Give players that option. Emblems are fine but I still prefer paint jobs over them AND they are easier to implement (you don't even need to moderate them).
  • VS mode implementation is very bad. Quick Run in Mario Kart Super Circuit lets you hop in and out of any track you desire, while DS's implementation of VS from here on railroads you into doing a certain number of races making things quite cumbersome. Customization has been improved in 8 Deluxe however with the new item system but they should still go further, like adjusting your rivals, choosing their vehicles, that sort of thing.
  • Smart steering and auto accelerate are nice additions but why not take things further and give the option of optimal racing lines, rewind, ability to retry courses on the fly.
  • An actual shop system and not "unlock parts at random when you hit X coin amount".
  • Have any character use ANY STAT like in CTR. If I want to be Baby Luigi driving with Bowser's stats, then freaking let me. Abolish the weight class system for characters entirely, just have them have "default" stats that you can switch to any time.
  • ITEM RAIN MODE. So many fan-games have something like this where random items rain on the track and you can pick them up to get something or risk getting blown up by some random bomb. Have a mode with entirely random items just for the heck of it.
 
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Koopa con Carne said:
singleplayer experience was already fleshed out to some extent in DS and Tour
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Okay hear me out: since Mario Kart on console is a couch experience, open up these missions so friends can play with them too. Have a bunch of people battle against some giant asshole boss from Super Mario Odyssey or something.
 
How about a new mode where you compete to score the most points doing tricks on the ground and off ramps, quarterpipes, etc.
 
Manic the Hedgehog said:
How about a new mode where you compete to score the most points doing tricks on the ground and off ramps, quarterpipes, etc.
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We call that Stunt Run

Hopping, going on gliders, taking cannons, going on boost pads, drifting should also contribute to it. Basically do flashy moves.
 
Story mode,
trophies for battle mode,
Records of who won the gold trophy (character and kart customs)
Return of optional first person view,
Option to show us not right side up when we're not (seriously I usually don't know when I'm upsidedown in mk8d until the replay)
 
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Mario Kart might be the only racing game in existence without a first person camera mode aside from 7.
 
How about something that was originally going to be in Double Dash!!, Reverse Mode. It's a Grand Prix, but you play all the tracks backwards, but they might have to put some ramps or something to make the track possible to drive backwards, like what they do in Tour.
 
Would love to play in Reverse Mode, other racing games did try out that concept so it would be cool to have Mario Kart try the same.
 
While Mario Kart doesn't need the service model where the game is continuously being updated throughout its lifespan (because the game is a perpetual seller), I can see Nintendo going this route where new courses and characters, as well as new challenges are added every few months to flesh it out.

If anti-gravity were to return next time, I hope that they could have courses that really take advantage of the breathtaking viewpoints for it. Doesn't have to be all, but if it has it, then it should be designed with that in mind. Mario Circuit is great, and then there are stuff like Shy Guy Falls and Electrodrome that take it further.

Also yes, reverse mode would be a fantastic addition rather than just merely mirror mode. Even a tricky mode where the course has some new stuff strewn in to give it a different routing is also welcomed.

Thank you for reading.
 
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