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.

URL to share (right click and copy)

@GameDadGrant It was a part of it yeah. It isn't functioning anymore though since they shut down WiiConnect24. I'm pretty sure that the tournaments are all stored on the disc, and just "unlocked" when they were used, and if true, I think they should have just made them all playable after shutting it down.

I love Mario Kart 64, but I haven't gotten into the other Mario Kart games I've played. Battle mode was definitely a favorite of mine, but it sucked that I could only play it against other human players. I'd love a Mario Kart game that features a battle mode against A.I. bots.

@X-pert74 You can do that in Mario Kart Wii! But it forces teams, which you might not like.

I want carts, characters, tracks, etc to unlock in both single- and multi-player modes.

I want complete insanity. Tracks that go all over the place, with ridiculous obstacles, short cuts, detours, ramps, etc. I want new, weird, fun power ups. I want Smash Bros style customization on number of laps, power ups, number of CPU opponents, etc. I've got Need For Speed for my "realistic" racing, MK should be all about the crazy.

Just... options. Adjusting what items appear and how frequently they appear would go a long way. They are aware of how many of us despise the blue shell appearing in every single race yet they do nothing about it.

Koopa Troopa

...I want to *not* be pummelled ridiculously by items ala our NW Mario Kart nights.

That might have more to do with me than the game itself, but I don't care.

I actually think the next Mario Kart should look at the Sonic and Sega All Stars games as an example of how to do a good kart racer.

Doubled dash mode, thats faster and has pointer aiming

4 people can go online and play from one system

new power ups

Mario 2 characters

DLC

track creator

no blue shell for CPU

kart maker

Can race as yourself(Mii)

Super Mario Kart and MK64 included with online modes

Unlockable accessories for your Mii (bowser shell, mario hat, princess crown etc)

Camera used like Nintendo Land and MK arcade

@Wellsy529

IR aiming would be pretty sweet.

@Wellsy529
GameDadGrant said:

@Wellsy529

IR aiming would be pretty sweet.

..WOULD IT? That seems horribly frustrating.

Online mode still needs a tonne of work. These things are the absolute minimum the series still needs:

-Voice chat
-The ability to invite people even if they are racing singleplayer
-The ability for the group leader to adjust item by item what appears and how frequent they are.
-Option to have AI racers to fill spots up
-Different options for choosing the next course. The whole roulette thing is occasionally not suitable and can be annoying when people keep joining and choosing the course everyone just did and then that gets selected.

Once all that is in place I would like to see character specific items make a return (that could be switched on and off for MP), an option for the double dash co-op mode.

Next, this might be a bit unrealistic but I want them to radically change single player to something more akin to Diddy Kong Racing's story mode. Also, I think in the course of 8 games we have exhausted the Mario Kart track sensibilites. It's time to open it up to other franchises and bring the new settings, characters, and items in to the mix to really give it a fresh appeal.

@Mr_Mustache

double dash mode could be a sideways wiimote and when you switch to the back you simply point the controller at the tv.... or even if you have the tablet and you switch to the back you use the touch screen to aim your shots. If you're driving by yourself I can't imagine it being difficult if anything it could be very fast. Maybe it'd work better being nunchuck and wiimote that way driving might be easier

Stephen said:

Online mode still needs a tonne of work.

Pfft, whatever, IGN! If this was GTA Kart: 10.0!!

@Mr_Mustache

You don't think it does?

@Stephen

Eh, I think everyone has "good ideas" usually, but if you say "it doesn't have _________," that doesnt make it bad. I ran Mario Kart Tourneys here every week, twice, for 12 weeks at a time. It was pretty awesome. We had everything scheduled out though, so we knew which courses we were going to run.

Yeah, the roulette thing kinda stinks, but what is the alternative? COMPLETELY random? That gives a chance at doing a track that NOBODY wants to do. Majority Rules? Whats to stop a group of 3 from picking the same track over and over again and stopping everyone else? They'd have to guess which track would be NEXT most popular to pick them. I've gone online and people pick Rainbow Road right after Rainbow Road has been picked, and I'm sure you have, too. I don't want to do Rainbow Road every race -- HELL, I don't even want to do Rainbow Road every time I play. I'd be ok doing it once a month.


The problem with Mario Kart Online? People. People are always the problem.

@Mr_Mustache

It is the year 2013 (getting close to 2014). Xbox Live launched over 10 years ago. Games were played online on PC well before that. It is perfectly reasonable to expect a better online set-up than what Nintendo is currently providing. If they don't provide that then it is bad. Or at least, I would classify it as bad. These are basic, basic options.

As for the roulette stuff you could do it a couple of different ways. In a game where everyone joined on a leader (like say your tournaments) have the leader choose which track is next or queue up different tracks. In a public setting you could have the lobby vote between 4 different tracks and then when that race finishes have different options. Also maybe structure it in such a way that the choices that had the most votes last time show up again so there are plenty of opportunities to play the most liked tracks.

@Stephen

It is the year 2013 (getting close to 2014) yet: GTA stuff.

Mario Kart never lost anything of mine. In fact, when my Wii went down, my Mario Kart ONLINE stuff stuck.

@Mr_Mustache It it were like Double Dash with the two-character kart stuff, it'd work nicely for the item user.

@Stephen Xbox Live costs money, and starting with the PS4, Sony's network will too. I'll gladly take Nintendo's free service over paying for online any day of the century. I s'pose it'd be ideal if they offered a premium paid service for those who want more, but I'm fine with what's there.

@Mop it up

Paid or not, what Nintendo offers is behind the times. I'm glad you like what they offer. But for many people, myself included, it simply just isn't good enough any more. I would say though they need to significantly improve their online presence if they ever want to charge for it.