Highlights
- Mario Kart 9 needs to live up to high expectations as the series continues to expand and innovate, becoming a big event for Nintendo.
- Mario Kart has become a landmark series for Nintendo, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 's impressive sales showcasing its popularity and growth.
- Mario Kart 9 faces the challenge of delivering something even better than its predecessors, needing impressive features and mechanics to avoid disappointing fans.
The expectations for Mario Kart 9 continue to be raised higher as it becomes more clear how big the series can get. After the leaps and bounds that the last few installments have made, Mario Kart 9 will have a lot to live up to when it finally gets released. While fans will obviously be seeking the same classic gameplay that the series has thrived on, simply being a solid racer may not be enough anymore. Mario Kart is such a behemoth of a series that a new installment needs to be a big event for Nintendo.
Mario Kart is a landmark for Nintendo, as shown by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's impressive sales. It started with a simple idea of having Mario and friends race in Super Mario Kart, and the series has done nothing but expand since then. From taking the jump to 3D in Mario Kart 64 to finding a place on mobile devices with Mario Kart Tour, it seems that the series is always one of the first in Nintendo's library to find a new innovation. At this point, it may be second only to the main Super Mario platformers in terms of games expected to be on every Nintendo console.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Has Greatly Raised Expectations For the Sequel
The Booster Course pass has been a game changer for the series. After the last expansion for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is released, the game will have 96 courses and 48 characters, making it the biggest console game in the series by far. Granted, most of that content came out after the game's initial release, but that doesn't diminish the sheer size of the game. That combined with its large fanbase and online scene, and the Mario Kart name is riding high at the moment. At the same time, it creates a monolithic shadow for Mario Kart 9 to fight its way out of.
While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the biggest feather in the series' cap, it's far from the only one. The widely-downloaded Mario Kart Tour has been running concurrently with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and features a lot of exclusive content of its own. Mario Kart Tour has tracks, characters, and items that have yet to appear outside of the mobile spinoff. However, with some tracks and even Kamek crossing over to console thanks to the Mobile Course Pass, Tour's exclusives are fair game for future installments. That could include Mario Kart 9, as the series always needs new features and retro tracks.
The big worry for Mario Kart 9 is failing to deliver in comparison to its predecessors. Sequels are expected to be bigger and better than what came before, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass made it a difficult game to follow. In order to compete, Mario Kart 9 is going to need an impressive slate of features of its own. That could mean some entirely new mechanics, bringing back some underrated favorites, or even bringing in more non-Mario Nintendo characters, now that Link and the Inklings have proven that as a viable option for the series going forward.
It feels like Mario Kart has hit a peak, which is a double-edged sword when one realizes that Mario Kart 9 now has a massive hurdle that it needs to clear upon release. Mario Kart 9 will need to experiment in order to keep up with its predecessors, because after the last game was so huge, it will automatically be compared to it no matter what. Even from the start, it will need to do something revolutionary to avoid disappointing by comparison. At this point in the series, Mario Kart 9 doesn't have to be good; it needs to be amazing.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is available now for Nintendo Switch.
