Yes, YOU.

As with the Zelda fanbase, there seems to be a schism in the Mario Kart fanbase. There's the Double Dash folks and the Mario Kart Wii folks, and seldom shall the twain meet. (And then the MK64 weirdos off in the corner (Battle Mode was awesome, though).) Of course, that's a somewhat simplified take, and ignores the solid handheld entries. But I wonder if this has become a Zelda-like situation, where the fans want very different things.

What do you want to see from the next/future Mario Karts? Feel free to give pie-in-the-sky answers like track creation, but focus more on realistic elements that you want to see represented. If you want to create a Frankenstein Kart from Mario Karts past (track design from MKx, battle mode from MKx, etc.), you can do that. And/or you can suggest improvements to the formula.

Also, are you still invested in the series? Or has it become ho-hum for you at this point?

I started thinking about this after playing Double Dash with my nephews. They had never played much Mario Kart before and were totally loving the Battle Mode and the Super Weapons. After they went back to their house, my sister called me up and asked what Wii game(s) she should buy for them next. I said Mario Kart Wii, since their Wii doesn't have the Gamecube controller ports. Apparently, after they played it, they panicked and exclaimed, "B-but wait! This isn't the fun one!!" Even though my suggestion bombed, I was pretty proud of them. I freaking hate Mario Kart Wii.

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carlosrox said:

Wii U Nintendo reminds me very much of the Nintendo that wants to blow you away.

I felt that way about Wii Nintendo though and they still played it safe with Mario Kart. Mario Kart 3DS was pretty safe (albeit awesome) as well, despite the fact Nintendo has been killing it with their other 3DS software.

I think Nintendo just looks at Mario Kart and says F it, it's going to sell a billion copies regardless of what we do, so why bother pushing it to the next level? Sort of like how they view 2D Mario. And Pokemon, maybe, but I don't play those games so I can't say for sure.

Here is my definition of inspired vs uninspired. Compare the Rainbow Roads.

Uninspired


Inspired


More inspired for MK8 plz.

@Tranquilo

Rubber-banding has been non-existent in the series after Mario Kart 64. That was the last game to have it. I kind of agree with you on Blue Shells, but maybe instead of getting rid of them altogether, just lower the frequency of when they appear.

@Jargon

You want ALL THE TRACKS?!? Goodness! That wouldn't be content overload, would it? I feel like it would be, but I dunno...maybe I'm wrong? Either way, I think that's a lot of extra work for development, since they'll have to balance and re-build each track to accommodate the new items, characters, mechanics, etc.

Also, the motion controls in Mario Kart 8 are terrible. I got rolled by Dr. Fink at Best Buy pretty hard. I think I would have done decently if I had an analog stick, but oh well.

@Smerd

Those options are available in multiplayer matches in Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 7's community races. That's gotta count for something, yeah?

@PogueSquadron

Mission Mode! YES! That was awesome in Mario Kart DS. Such a shame they never brought that back.

@carlosrox

The music in Mario Kart 7 is pretty great. Music Park, anyone? Rock Rock Mountain? Neo Bowser City? And the always-great Rainbow Road....great stuff for the ears. Hopefully Mario Kart 8 follows suit and brings another great racing soundtrack. (and never go back to that terrible, grating, completely awful shlock they passed off as "music" in Double Dash!! - that was just...yuck. Do not want! Ever!)

@GameDadGrant
You. Are. Wrong.

@carlosrox

You like that?

Meh. To each his own. Pretty much the entire soundtrack for that game rubbed me the wrong way.

The one song I really enjoy from that game is the ending credits. It's too bad I had to suffer through the rest of the game's soundtrack to get to this one gem.

@Anand You're just lucky that I can't post roundtables! :P

I want what I always want; a wacky racer with a rollicking multiplayer element.

@Zero
I only really felt that fully with Super Mario Galaxy. Barring voice acting, they didn't cheap out anywhere. DKCR had some pretty awful music tracks. Like the pathetic Aquatic Ambience redo? That's dropping the ball so hard it knocks down the effort level for me.

@anon_mastermind

Your post is full of win.

@Zero You should be able to unlock everything in both modes - you shouldn't be locked into one or the other. That's all I'm saying.

GameDadGrant said:

@Smerd

Those options are available in multiplayer matches in Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 7's community races. That's gotta count for something, yeah?

Oh yes - they count for sure.. I just want to make sure that the next installments have these plus many more Yes I'm greedy.. However, to have these options in single player or local multiplayer grand prix would be sweet.

@anon_mastermind

Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with items and racing sims is by far my least favorite game genre. But it's the blue shell in particular that got my blood boiling (as well Snaking in Mario Kart DS, but that is another story). That is because while luck plays a part (like in any other competition), it seems that items like the blue shell, at least in the past, skewed the game towards the luck side of it a lot more than the skill.

With that said, after watching a couple of videos and your assurance that I can turn off items I might consider picking up the Wii U version if only for online play.

@PogueSquadron In Mario Kart Wii, you can unlock most characters and vehicles by playing a certain number of races in multiplayer, or by racking up wins over Wi-Fi. The numbers you need are pretty high though, so I don't know if anyone's checked how many you need and if you can get everything that way.

In Mario Kart VII, you still earn coins for playing online, which unlock the vehicle parts. Not sure if the same is true of local multiplayer as I've never done that, but it might be.

@Jargon
This. Always this. But only if it includes Double Dash.

First off the Blue shell was perfect in MK64. I did not fly, It drove along the ground. Thus taking out anyone who was foolish enough to get in its way(not just picking on the person in first). It also could be avoided by the person in first by cutting a corner tight enough on a course where there were walls. Also because the shell wasn't flying it took time to get to the person in first. I have had a blue shell take 3/4 of a lap to catch me in Mk64 cause my friend was so far behind. Also in MK64 the Blue shell was often only gotten if you hit a more harder to get item block. this made them rare and exciting. However the bullet bill and the other over the top items added latter I could defiantly live with out. SMK and MK64 were perfectly balanced item wise IMO.

Now for tracks I really did like the Point to Point tracks that Mk7 added, also love a mix of new and retro tracks. I have played every MK game and find the SNES and MK7 tracks to be the best in the series, though 64 had some classics. Baby park from DD is the worst track i have ever played and will never understand the love it got. Also would love some transforming track or even ones that transform by racer causing certain things. Like some one shooting a cracked pillar that could fall and make a new shortcut, or smashing a dam open and flooding some of the course

@anon_mastermind
Yep I rember SMK AI and driving the same path every time. I knew where to place items on every track to guarantee a hit. Hell even on 150 CC certain coarse I could double lap the NPC lol. Took me for ever to do thanks to how crazy hard 150cc on the original MK was. Mario and Luigi having only star as items and being ruthless. However I kept playing till one day I slowly made my way through all the cups on 150 CC and feeling so good and proud of my achievement.

Now for Battle mode I loved the N64 but that could a been a combination of my age and friends at the time. Relentless 4 way battles with 3 ballons ohh the great times. I hated DD Battle modes, hardly touched Wiiu so I cant comment but I wouldn't mind a Capture the flag mode mode with levels designed exactly for that. Really Nintendo needs to learn OPTION OPTION OPTIONS is what we need in MP. Hello even MS needs to learn this again. original xbox let me and my friends host match making games with options how we wanted it, non of the matchmaking bs that picks the map, mode for you. Halo 3 would have been 100 times better if you could make games you wanted and have randoms join.

As for Online MP I want improved communities back from MK7. I also want to be able to make game rooms my friends can join easily, customize, lap items..etc. Player made tournaments, league as well as Nintendo official tourneys.

Also for the love of god Nintendo DLC. I would not mind paying for a new set of maps every 2 months or so, or a expansion DLC that adds another 15-20 maps every 6 mths.

Other than the usual "More items, tracks, characters, karts" I'd like to see:
New modes: perhaps a kart obstacle course where you get certain items at certain spots and have to figure out when and where to use them to get to the finish line fastest.
Costumes. Outfits for your Mii to wear, voices to represent your Mii better, outfits for the Mario gang, just another layer of customizability really.
Stuff to do while you don't have an item and are going down a straightaway: Bike-stunts, Snaking, these kinds of things.

Oh, I'd love to see them bring back the mission mode or whatever it was called from the DS game. I actually enjoyed that! Riding through rings and collecting coins and boss fights and stuff!

Just keep it separate. I HATE when games like Burnout, Wipeout, etc. force you to do mission mode type stuff just to unlock more normal races.

Mario Kart Wii's "tournaments" were essentially the missions from Mission Mode, except you could do only two a month, and there were leaderboards.

@Mop it up

That was the stuff from the Mario Kart Channel, right?

@Mop it up Yeahhhhhhh but I don't like temporary online things ever. I think I did like one or two of those and then forgot they existed.