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What are your hopes and dreams for Mario Kart 3DS? [roundtable]
 
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!

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03/09/11, 20:04  
 
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@-JKR-

Yeah maybe we could turn on full brightness, full volume, 3D, wifi, and voice chat at the same time, and the battery will last a whopping two and a half minutes. Maybe not the best idea, haha

Oh, AND use the gyroscope to do the turning. All while using touch screen gestures to use items.

Actually, since motion based driving has made its way into Mario Kart Wii and other iPhone games, I don't think that's out of the question. I mean, Nintendo's already using it to let you aim in OoT 3D.
03/10/11, 06:42   
I'm kinda burnt out on Mario Kart- I might skip this one if it's not super-different.

One thing that would be really neat would be if you could set up a tournament where Nintendo Points would automatically go to the winner.
03/10/11, 06:46   
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.
I don't understand...powersliding felt really good in Mario Kart Wii, best in the series IMO.
03/10/11, 07:03   
I just want it to be the zaniest MK ever. It's not really a game about skill for me, but craziness and fun.

Anyway, there's a Wuhu Island track so this is already a day 1 purchase for me.
03/10/11, 07:12   
I'd like for it NOT to look like ass.
03/10/11, 07:23   
@Phalanx

Hmm, this too. But it looks like Nintendo doesn't really care much about Mario Kart's graphics.
03/10/11, 07:25   
Hideki Konno (director, and producer of several Mario Karts) talked about the blue shell, and items in general in the Mario Kart series. Link

"I think in our next Mario Kart, we’ll be looking at the balance and I think we’ll come up with some answers and some solutions to make the game fresh and exciting as we move forward... I’m often asked, hey, in Mario Kart, could you please make a mode where there are no items. Let us race. But personally I think Mario Kart without items is not Mario Kart. Our goal, of course, is to keep the items in but just balance it well."
03/10/11, 20:00   
I don't like the sound of that. I guess because there's online there needs to be some balance, but my wife likes MK Wii BECAUSE of the luck factor. I imagine many other players do too.
03/10/11, 20:19   
Edited: 03/10/11, 20:20
Yeah, the power sliding in MKWii felt pretty great.

The problem with MKDS and snaking is that it's generally easy enough to do, but then it turns the game into a chore. You have to do such a tedious thing just to stay in the competition. It's really too bad because it is a GREAT title.

I actually went back and played the airship level again and it doesn't quite hold up. Maybe it was the nostalgia that got me at the time. Thing is, Mario Galaxy and NSMBWii have since taken that airship nostalgia and blasted us with it.

Waluigi Pinball is still awesome.
03/10/11, 20:31   
@casper884
Read the whole interview and your fears will be put to rest

Balance in terms of items, and characters/vehicles isn't a bad thing. It was pretty good in Mario Kart Wii all around and I expect the same in Mario Kart 3DS. Maybe just make certain items less frequent, like the blue shell.
03/10/11, 21:11   
@casper884 Which is why doing it like Smash and letting users choose their own item balance would be ideal!

You know, with [Mario Kart] Wii, at least you can avoid it... The timing is tough, but at least you can avoid it.... Fundamentally we’re always playing while we’re making adjustments [to the games,]... We usually have some sort of theme to direct what we’re looking at. With [2008's] Mario Kart Wii, it was to create a race where, up until the finish line, you didn’t know. We wanted to create a race where everyone was in it until the end.

The thing is, this is nice in theory, but I really want these games to reward skill a bit more.
03/10/11, 21:24   
Edited: 03/10/11, 21:34
@anon_mastermind

I read it. I just hope they don't go overboard with the balancing 'issues'. Having said that, Mario Kart Wii had options to change how balanced you wanted the races to be, and adjusted the items accordingly. Hopefully Mario Kart 3DS does something similar.

@Zero

Hmm, options are always good, but no items in Mario Kart would be incredibly pointless. At least Smash Bros stands on its own core mechanics WITHOUT items. What is Mario Kart without items? Nothing but a generic racer with familiar characters and locales.

Again, I'm not saying there should be no option for no items, but I do not see any fun in playing Mario Kart without them.
03/10/11, 21:31   
Edited: 03/10/11, 21:32
Well, I'm not saying I think it'd be as fun either, although I feel the same about Smash. The core mechanics aren't enough for me, and I despite when people want to play Fox only no items Final Destination.

I guess I wasn't necessarily thinking about "no items" versus "items" though. Just having them all on by default and players could turn off whatever they want. So they could turn them all off, sure, but that's just one option among many.
03/10/11, 21:35   
Edited: 03/10/11, 21:36
Oh, choosing which items to use in a race? That'd be awesome! Although, I'm not exactly excited about the prospects of a blue-shell fest. o.O
03/10/11, 21:47   
Could be nice for a drunken laugh.
03/10/11, 21:48   
Could you imagine how long the races would take? Just knowing your ass is going to get blown up any second, probably conveniently over a gaping pit or gorge, would be pretty intense and hilarious. Now that I think about it, I hope they do allow you to customize the item configuration.
03/10/11, 21:51   
@casper884

Just never get in front until the end. Problem solved!

Well, that's not really feasible, is it?
03/10/11, 21:59   
I love Mario Kart but the options seem so limited next to Smash. I wonder what Sakurai would do if he were in charge of Mario Kart?
03/10/11, 22:02   
@ludist210

I could see a good mixture of forward/reverse driving tactics being used as the main strategy. Everyone trying to get behind each other would be hilarious!

Zero said:
I love Mario Kart but the options seem so limited next to Smash. I wonder what Sakurai would do if he were in charge of Mario Kart?

He would change Mario Kart as we know it. It would probably be one of the most epic racing games ever created. We'd probably get characters from other galaxies of the Nintendo universe, like Link, or Kirby. Wait, this isn't sounding good, is it?
03/10/11, 22:16   
Actually that sounds pretty good to me. I've never seen the point of limiting the Mario spinoff games to just Mario. I'd kind of half see the point if there were more like... Metroid and Zelda and etc. spinoffs, but nah, it's mostly just a bunch of Mario games.

Racing with Andy from Advance Wars? Hell yeah!
03/10/11, 22:20   
Edited: 03/10/11, 22:20
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