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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The karts would spin out randomly.

Zing!

Zero said:

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!

I don't know...I just can't picture Link riding around in a go kart. Well, MAYBE Toon Link, but that's a stretch. And Samus? Really?! No, just no. I'll eat a hat if Nintendo can make it work.

-JKR- said:

The karts would spin out randomly.

Zing!

That would be a welcomed addition.

Hey, tripping worked out alright for Brawl, right?...

casper884 said:

And Samus? Really?!

Heck yeah!

Yeah, pixel Samus works. Not realistic 3D model Samus. Hell no.

I would like to see a return to Double Dash's weapon experimentation, along with the challenges of MKDS, the Battle Mode of MK64, the racing of SMK, the Time Trials of MKWii, no snaking, and smooth online with options for player matching (who cares about ranking?). In 3D. I really hope the series gets back on track. MKWii was pretty disappointing, to be honest.

For crazy people like you and Wes, maybe.

Duuuude, the local multi sucked. Everything was compromised for online, and online wasn't flexible enough to be fair or rewarding. The additions and changes to the game were largely nonessential or even detrimental. The single-player was unbelievably frustrating, and Battle Mode was a travesty. Bleah.

I loved the single player in Mario Kart Wii. Super exciting, because you kept muttering under your breath about "wheres the blue shell I know the blue shell is coming it's coming where is it it's coming" like a CRAZY PERSON. Ha ha, awesome.

I dunno, man. 50cc and 100cc were okay, but 150cc just infuriated me. It's kind of funny when you get totally screwed by other players, but it's no so amusing when you get screwed by the CPU. One blue shell is fine (not really, in single-player), but when you just continuously tumble for 30 seconds due to a barrage of items and drop from 1st to 12th right at the end of the race... and then blow the whole cup because of it...

I wish they would just do something completely different with the single-player, something more fair and repeatable and rewarding. Like the original Super Mario Kart. It didn't even have the same rules and items as multiplayer.

Originally, I thought it would be cool if the single-player were a collection of challenges, time trials, no-item races, etc. But Blur did that, and it kind of sucked. (Fantastic multi, though.)

I would like to also add less rubber-banding and taking out a few pointless items.

@anandxxx

Yeah, but Super Mario Kart was WAY easy. I mean, the most difficult part was getting used to all the tracks and then hitting mirror mode so you turned the wrong way out of habit.

Honestly you HAVE to "cheat" if you're the AI, or it won't be a challenge at all in the later parts. Granted the Wii version was much more luck that the others, but I thought it was amusing screaming at the TV. I dunno, different perspective I guess, since we were playing the same game.

I'd like to be able to play against people on Wii, maybe have a separate mode that has all wii tracks/battle tracks.
Unlockable characters
Voice chat
maybe a 3d item that blocks most of the screen so the other people can't see
A VR mode where you can race a couple tracks where ever your camera is pointed would have set boarders of course
An item that lets you scan in one of those cards that has an awesome item
Track editor
DKR mode with all special flying tracks. Mario would use his SML plane
be able to race with your face in the game like the arcade game but people who aren't friends with you you could turn it off (nintendo safe!!)
Adventure mode

Anand has a point, the local multiplayer was compromised in MK Wii, for some reason. I can't believe they couldn't get 3 or 4 player splitscreen running at 60 fps. Anyways, that's not an issue on the 3DS.

I didn't think the rubber banding was that bad in MK Wii, but the item barrage could get yucky at times.

Yes, even a single-player mode like Blur's would be an improvement for the series. Keep the Grand Prix mode, and throw that in for good measure. Though, the challenge mode in MK DS is kind of the same thing. Kind of.

IMO, my wishlist is one item, and that is to get rid of the rubber banding that was horrid in MK Wii. I sold that game because IMO it was a total let down.

I remember on Rainbow Road in a close race. I was about to win when I got blue shelled and I fell to third last because of it.

@MightyOwned
Hey, that happens to the best (unluckiest) of us. Tis the nature of Mario Kart. If you were just a bit faster you'd have a voided it

@anon_mastermindI couldn't get faster because I kept getting hit by items along the way!

I don't know, it just seems that MK Wii relied to much on luck. I mean, it is Mario Kart, and sometimes you need to luck to win, but MK Wii was just overkill. The person who won the race was not the person who was the best-it was the worst in most cases. (as in last place you get the best items).

Super Mario Kart is still my favorite

only thing I seemed to enjoy in double dash was ramming side to side...and the item selection was sort of cool. Double Dash could have been way better on Wii if the back character had 360 degrees of aiming with the IR...and if I remember correctly it just felt really slow

Simbabbad said:

Mario Kart Wii had three problems:

- Online cheaters (thanks homebrew!)

- Some tracks looked horrible - visually, not track design, which is by far the best in the series

- Battle modes

Other than that it was pretty much perfect. And the worst ever was, of course, Double Dash.

I agree with all of this. 100%

@-JKR-
There are better ways to handle difficulty than an incredibly high degree of chance, though.

@Wellsy529
I think it was quicker than MKWii. The Mario Kart series could use a 250cc, anyway, though. Even without weapons.

Super Mario Kart still might be the best single-/multi-player package. Mario Kart DS was consistent, but kind of uninspired.