Nintendo fans have been asking for Mario Kart 9 for a long time now, so it's great to suddenly hear from multiple leakers that the next step for the racing franchise is in development. Various sources claim that a new Mario Kart "with a twist" is on the way, and some of those sources say that the game is a crossover-focused title, potentially called Mario Kart Crossroads. In this game, Nintendo properties like Star Fox and Pikmin will join the roster, resulting in a racing game that brings Nintendo's biggest properties together under the roof of one multiplayer game, much like Super Smash Bros.
A Nintendo crossover racing game using the Mario Kart banner sounds like tons of fun, and it makes sense too. Recent Mario Kart games have already featured guests from other Nintendo properties like The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing. If Nintendo intends to ramp up its number of guests, however, it should be careful not to scrap too many known Mario Kart characters to make room for other faces of Nintendo. As great as a crossover game could be, Mario Kart is also inherently a Super Mario game, and so it'd be a shame to see niche but well-loved Mario characters lose their place in Mario Kart in order to produce a crossover.
Preserving the Faces of Mario Kart
If Mario Kart Crossroads is the future of the franchise, then Nintendo has two choices: Follow Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's lead with an "everyone is here" approach, or cut several Super Mario characters to make room for other Nintendo franchises. The latter option could be practical, just so that Mario Kart Crossroads doesn't swell to unmanageable proportions, but it would be pretty tragic. After all, there's quite a few characters who rely on Super Mario party games to get representation in the series.
For instance, Rosalina has become a mainstay of Mario Kart, Mario Party, and so on, even though she's only been in a handful of core Mario games. That limited importance could see Rosalina get cut in Mario Kart Crossroads in favor of more important Nintendo characters. Toadette is similarly reliant on Mario spin-offs; even though she first appeared in Mario Kart: Double Dash, a crossover game might not have room for her.
Even the fan-favorite Waluigi might not make the cut, depending on the scale of the crossover. Even if these characters and other like them have limited Super Mario presences, they all have dedicated fans who would be sad to see them go. They've been in Mario Kart for so long that the next game wouldn't feel the same without them.
A Vast Mario Kart Game
With that in mind, Mario Kart Crossroads will probably have to lean into the Smash Ultimate approach of expanding its roster. While that could be a little overwhelming for fans at first, there's certainly ways that Nintendo could streamline the experience without cutting characters. For instance, playable drivers might be organized in folders based on the game they're from for ease of access. Mario Kart Crossroads could also condense some characters by making them share stats in the same way as Smash; for instance, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings might all be one playable character separated by cosmetic choices.
The bottom line is that, even if the next Mario Kart game invites more guests than usual, it is fundamentally a Super Mario spin-off. Super Smash Bros. is a crossover game by design, not stemming from any one franchise in particular, but Mario Kart will always be a Mario game at its heart. That means Super Mario's representatives shouldn't have to step back in droves to make room for other Nintendo characters. Unless the rumored Mario Kart Crossroads is just a new Nintendo racing game that's specifically meant to tie franchises together, Super Mario characters deserve to keep their priority in the roster.
Mario Kart 9 is rumored to be in development.
