Hi there, Mario Kart fans! The next game in the series is going to release on the 3DS, and has been semi-confirmed for a release in late 2011, so let's get to discussing what kind of a game we want or expect.

Here's what we know so far:

Confirmed characters:
- Mario
- Luigi

Tracks:
- Peach's Castle (part of the track goes through the inside)
- forest/mountain/cave track
- Wuhu Island

Features:
- Runs at 60 fps
- 3D effect enhances depth perception
- Ghost exchange and online multiplayer
- Characters will look at each other when they are close-by during the race, and even make faces

Ok, so we don't know much at all. My main question is, just how much will Mario Kart 3DS borrow from Mario Kart Wii? I think it's a given that you'll be able to choose from a variety of different karts, as that was a feature in Mario Kart DS. But will you be able to choose bikes as well? Will there be tricks, and 12-player races?

What other features/tracks/characters do you want to see implemented in this game?

Personally, I'd love for all the new stuff from Mario Kart Wii to make it into Mario Kart 3DS, but I'd like for battle mode to be reworked into something of an mixture of Double Dash and Mario Kart 64's multiplayer. I also want the graphics to be a bit nicer, in Mario Kart Wii there was too much bloom lighting which made the big characters look weird. And I want an even more robust online mode this time around, with more options for friend races. And I want Nintendo to ban online cheaters!

I'd like to see some new items, of course, and I'd like for the blue shell to be toned down in frequency, and perhaps for it to behave as it did in Mario Kart 64, hitting multiple people on its way to the front.

And a distant dream of mine would be to see a full-fledged single-player mode a la Diddy Kong Racing finally become part of the Mario Kart series.



Let's-a-discuss!

URL to share (right click and copy)

Hopefully this game has no snaking or any type or cheesy shit like it.

I just mainly hope for another great Mario Kart title. Mario Kart DS was outstanding. Solid online(until snaking), great new courses and it was an awesome idea to put in retro tracks.

Hopefully, this has battle mode online, 8 player or more racing online(Which I'm sure it will) and more great retro tracks.

This is one of my most anticipated titles for the 3DS, I just hope it comes out very soon!

Edit: Yea, I still can't get over how blandish MKWii looks. Some of the tracks look great and colorful, but a lot of the tracks looked lifeless, same with the characters. Also please make a good DK model for once. He's my character of choice and I always have to look at his ugly blocky back.

Well, Mario Kart DS is my favorite by far in recent years, so I hope it follows down that path. Tons of courses, tons of modes, etc.

Bring back bikes, they rocked.

More options for items would be nice. Like in Smash how you can turn specific items on and off. And it'd be nice if they balanced the items better overall, made you feel more like you had a chance to get some racing in, but... if not that, at least let me choose which items to use. "Strategic items" was a good start but I'd prefer even more control.

I'm kind of torn over what they should do with classic tracks... start reusing some, or keep trying to pick ones they haven't used yet, which means ignoring some of the best ones because they have already been used? Either way it should pull some from the Wii version, and I'd recommend the Koopa Cape. Best track in the game! As for going back to older games, has the Yoshi track from Double Dash been used yet? It was pretty wicked. And I'd like to see the airship track from DS.

DO BATTLE MODE RIGHT. Dear god. No forced teams, for one. And then put some real effort into balloon battle. The DS version had a pretty neat balloon battle, probably the best since the original, though a bit tougher to play skillfully with 8 battlers involved. Come up with new courses that can match the (best) 64 ones.

As for online well, don't gimp it. Even playing with strangers, there should be various types of rooms. Like a "strategic items" room, etc. And playing with friends you should definitely have full control over everything. Also, more clear leaderboads. Will this happen? Doubt it. But I'd like to see it happen.

I think I might be done with this series. I hate the motorcycles and that fact that you have to pick a certain character/vehicle combination to stand a chance in winning.

For me to buy another one, they have to balance the game better and fix the battle mode... also, a track editor would be nice.

@Zero

I'm all about the item options even when playing online matches. It might be hard to truly gauge leaderboards with those types of options but I'd love to have a green shell only match.

MK64 battle mode is my favorite mode out of all MK games. I'd love if they could tweek the handling of karts to fit that iteration of the franchise.

I really like the idea of street pass ghost challenges. That and maybe after you play against the ghost your data is sent back to the challenger via any online connection.

For me it boils down to "no snaking and ban online cheaters" and you'll have my money even if it's a complete rehash of Mario Kart 64, Double Dash, Mario Kart DS, or MK Wii.

Cherries on the cake, though, would include a better battle mode (like the N64 version) without forced teams and the "you can still play even when you lose all the balloons" (which I understand, but hate), the return of both Delphino Square and Maple Treeway (my two favorite courses of any MK games ever), awesome challenges like Mario Kart DS (those were SWEET distractions), and the ability for Luigi to marry Daisy in a special "Luigi marries Daisy" section which features an FMV of the wedding.

What? It needs to happen.

No snaking, ALL new tracks, more difficult tracks (over 50% are FAR to easy) and a return of the coins to gain speed.

Mario Kart Wii is my favourite version so far. I love tracks like Kooper Cape and Maple Treeway. I don't see any point in remaking any more tracks. The wifi needs to be great and I would love some guest racers too.

I just hope for all of the best courses from Mario Kart DS to make the cut...like, say, Waluigi Pinball. And let some Rainbow Road tracks make the retro cut.

@Abdooooo Well there could always be ranked and unranked matches, and ranked matches would take place under specific conditions, where unranked would be more option to messing with options. I even like the idea that in unranked matches one person could create a room with whatever options they wanted and strangers could choose to join it or not... but I don't see Nintendo going nearly that far.

@Zero

That would be heaven to me!

A Rainbow Cup that features every Rainbow Road from SNES to 3DS. That would be AWESOME.

Oh, and tricks should return (though they wouldn't feel as great as the Wii's waggle tricks).

@-JKR-
I love you. Your favourite tracks = mine. Though I am partial to the Airship one from DS as well.

My fears are it will be as random and unfair as the previous Mario Kart. They took out every gameplay feature (or dumbed down) that actually required skill rather than luck to win.

@Peppy-le-Fox
No, I think Nintendo learned their lesson with regards to snaking. It was a shame that it kinda ruined the competitive MK DS scene. The powerslide system in MK Wii is really great, and can't be abused.

Online battles would be great! It's also my most anticipated 3DS game, I'm holding out on the hardware until it comes out.

@Hinph
I don't think you need to pick a certain character/bike combo to win. Well, it was kinda like that in MK DS, but in MK Wii it's pretty balanced.

@Abdooooo
Yes! Street pass ghosts is so damn cool.

@-JKR-
I don't think we'll see Delfino Square again, it was in the last two games. Maple Treeway is indeed a great track and I hope to see it return. I also have to agree that the missions/challenges in Mario Kart DS were pretty sweet. The weekly challenges in Mario Kart Wii are still going on, and they're pretty fun too. though, I think the best times online are hacked.

@Cube191
Interesting! There hasn't been a Mario Kart that used the old coins system since Super Circuit (GBA). I dunno, I liked that system, but what we've gotten with MK DS and MK Wii works for me, too. It's more about proper powersliding and learning the tracks, not just coin placement. I still want to see some retro tracks, but I would agree with you in that we need more new tracks than retro ones.

@ludist210
Yep. Imagine a Rainbow Road cup!

@Zero
Yeah, more options is always a good thing. Mario Kart and Smash Bros could stand to learn a bit from eachother. I'd love to hand-pick which items are available. Bananas-only would be soooo fun. I think they'll definitely pull some "retro" tracks from MK Wii, and Koopa Cape's also one of my faves. Yoshi Circuit was a retro track in MK DS, but you're right in that it's awesome, and I'd love to see it back again.

Battle mode does indeed need a revamp. But you do know why they made it the way it is in MK Wii, right? It's because of the online mode. They make it so you can jump in on a team easily, and also they made it so you're never sitting around not playing. I think the online mode should stay this way, by default. BUT, friends battles and local multiplayer should be completely different, and similar to 64/Double Dash.

I thought the leaderboards were pretty well done in MK Wii.

@Marsh
Well, now you're opening a can of worms. If you've played the game enough you would know that the game still requires a huge amount of skill to be in the top tier online, and if you're good enough no blue shell or thunderbolt can take away your first place position.

@Zero
Ranked and unranked sounds like a good idea. But the way the rankings work, I think it would just be inherently more fun to play ranked matches. Seeing your score go up or down is a huge draw to Mario Kart's online, I think. It's a good motivator.

Nintendo doesn't have any other games where you choose between ranked and unranked, either. It's either all or nothing when playing with randoms, it would seem.

@ploot

For the life of me I can't remember the Airship level... Weird. Of course, I have to admit, I hardly remember much about Mario Kart DS except "I absolutely loved it and then the SNAKING SON OF BITCHES (and we all know I don't curse, so you KNOW how pissed I am) ruined it for me."

Sons of... GAH! I hate them so much! *fury*

I hope actual power-sliding makes a return. The fact that they took it out in the Wii version was pretty silly IMHO. I loved power-sliding in MKDS.

GameDadGrant said:

I hope actual power-sliding makes a return. The fact that they took it out in the Wii version was pretty silly IMHO. I loved power-sliding in MKDS.

If they implement a feature where you can't do it on straightaways, you bet. Otherwise snaking ruins the game completely.

Online voice chat with friends you're partied up with.

Though I've been out of the loop - that's not a system-wide feature is it?

I haven't heard anything about that feature, other than Pokemon has it when you play it on the 3DS.

I don't know if we'll see much voice chat on the 3DS, honestly. It wasn't used on the DS, even though available, right?

No snaking or cheating of any sorts.

With that said, Mario Kart for the DS was one of my favorite Mario Karts, but it sucked when I got up against someone cheating. And I didn't care for the snaking, probably cause I didnt know how to do it. Definatly though, I hope Nintendo makes it so no one can use any cheat codes of any kind and yea, if they do they should be banned from ever playing from that 3DS ever again.

Their 3DS should instantly brick with a message flashing on screen that says "SUCK ON THAT, CHEATER."

EDIT: Here, I did the work for them.