With the recent discussion about Nintendo's next kart game, I thought I could provide my own thoughts about the whole debate as it has been fairly divided in half.
So I thought it would be a good idea to give my own thoughts and interpretations about the next kart game from Nintendo.
If the next game is Mario Kart 9 (or 10), I would guess it would probably return to just Mario (and related series) characters. But I feel like limiting the roster like how it was done with 8 and its port isn't the way to do this. There are lots of Mario spin-off and side series games that Nintendo can pull from that can easily take the place of the dozens of character clones taking too many slots. Characters like Fawful, Professor E. Gadd, and even Captain Syrup would've made great additions to the Mario Kart roster, heck, Wario Ware alone has enough unique characters who could also be racers. Even if it's just Mario Kart, it never hurts to bring characters from series related to Mario, even if made by another developer.
If the next game would be a Nintendo Kart, the possibility of characters joining the race basically skyrockets because unlike Smash where typically only protagonists and antagonists (with a few exceptions off course) get to join the Smash roster while a lot more would either become collectibles or summoned to assist, a Nintendo Kart would allow just about anyone from a Nintendo franchise to join, from story-important NPCs like Groose from Skyward Sword, to a Pokemon like Toxtricity from Sword and Shield.
And the track possibility for both outcomes would diversify even more. And this is not even getting to the possible combination of original kart parts that would be available, allowing for even more possible combinations. But regardless of which outcome, the game would still be called Mario Kart simply because of brand recognition. The name Mario Kart is simply too iconic to give it up.
Now as for which side I take? I personally choose Nintendo Kart because it would not only encompass all of the Mario-related series, but also other Nintendo franchises as well, having major possibilities that could even revive many of the now-abandoned Nintendo franchises created over the years. This is only a good thing since Smash Bros. will likely take even longer to get a new entry, so having another popular game bring attention to these other series would definitely introduce old, forgotten characters to a new generation of players, which can bring new suggestions about reviving the series in which the characters come from. (And yeah, I know my examples for Nintendo Kart were characters from series that will guarantee get new entries, but those were just examples of anyone from a Nintendo series would be able to join, regardless if they are a main character or not.)
So I thought it would be a good idea to give my own thoughts and interpretations about the next kart game from Nintendo.
If the next game is Mario Kart 9 (or 10), I would guess it would probably return to just Mario (and related series) characters. But I feel like limiting the roster like how it was done with 8 and its port isn't the way to do this. There are lots of Mario spin-off and side series games that Nintendo can pull from that can easily take the place of the dozens of character clones taking too many slots. Characters like Fawful, Professor E. Gadd, and even Captain Syrup would've made great additions to the Mario Kart roster, heck, Wario Ware alone has enough unique characters who could also be racers. Even if it's just Mario Kart, it never hurts to bring characters from series related to Mario, even if made by another developer.
If the next game would be a Nintendo Kart, the possibility of characters joining the race basically skyrockets because unlike Smash where typically only protagonists and antagonists (with a few exceptions off course) get to join the Smash roster while a lot more would either become collectibles or summoned to assist, a Nintendo Kart would allow just about anyone from a Nintendo franchise to join, from story-important NPCs like Groose from Skyward Sword, to a Pokemon like Toxtricity from Sword and Shield.
And the track possibility for both outcomes would diversify even more. And this is not even getting to the possible combination of original kart parts that would be available, allowing for even more possible combinations. But regardless of which outcome, the game would still be called Mario Kart simply because of brand recognition. The name Mario Kart is simply too iconic to give it up.
Now as for which side I take? I personally choose Nintendo Kart because it would not only encompass all of the Mario-related series, but also other Nintendo franchises as well, having major possibilities that could even revive many of the now-abandoned Nintendo franchises created over the years. This is only a good thing since Smash Bros. will likely take even longer to get a new entry, so having another popular game bring attention to these other series would definitely introduce old, forgotten characters to a new generation of players, which can bring new suggestions about reviving the series in which the characters come from. (And yeah, I know my examples for Nintendo Kart were characters from series that will guarantee get new entries, but those were just examples of anyone from a Nintendo series would be able to join, regardless if they are a main character or not.)
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