Mario Kart could be missing out on a major opportunity by not following up on the best idea from F-Zero X. Although F-Zero has not received much attention from Nintendo for a long time, the series still has plenty of merit, as well as some good ideas. With Mario Kart still going strong, and its latest entry being one of the Switch's biggest games, it would be the best choice to revive one of the best ideas that F-Zero ever introduced. Not only could it help the next Mario Kart, it could be a great innovation for the whole genre.
Thanks to the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, the latest game in the series has continued to steadily grow. Thanks to a wide array of extra tracks combined and a small selection of new drivers, the game is seeing a renaissance years after its release. That combined with the game's other newer features, such as vehicle customization and auto-steering, has helped to establish Mario Kart as a series that just keeps growing. After the Booster Course pass, it only seems fair to ask where the series is going next. After all, it may be the Super Mario series' most famous spinoff.
F-Zero X's X-Cup Would Thrive In a Mario Kart Game
Even though nothing has come from the rumors of an F-Zero comeback, F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64 had one feature worth revisiting. The last cup that players could unlock was the X Cup, which unlike the other cups, featured a series of randomly generated tracks. Depending on how they ended up, they could range from astonishingly easy to among the hardest in the game. Because the X Cup tracks were different every time, players would always have a new challenge to face. It's disappointing that the X Cup didn't return for F-Zero GX, and the mechanic doesn't seem to have been picked up elsewhere.
While one good idea for the series' future would be a course creator in Mario Kart 9, a revival of the X Cup would also be a solid plan for similar reasons. In fact, a variation of the X Cup in a Mario Kart game has the potential to be an even wilder experience. While racers in F-Zero can bump each other off the track, Mario Kart has its long list of items ranging from the simple Bananas to the feared Blue Shell. Adding that level of danger to the already treacherous randomized courses could make a Mario Kart version of the X Cup even more exciting.
Another point worth mentioning is the rising art of random levels. Between Starfield's procedurally generated planets and the increasing relevance of roguelike games, elements of randomness in gaming are getting more commonplace. In a sense, F-Zero GX may have been ahead of its time in that regard. Mario Kart could pick up on the idea of randomly generated racetracks and be the game that brings that idea to the genre in the current generation. Randomly generated racetracks is a good idea in general. It's unfortunate that F-Zero X is one of the few games to try it thus far.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has taken the series to a new level with its incredible amount of content. Even so, Mario Kart 9 can learn from other racers, and F-Zero X's X Cup is one of the best sources that it could take information from. It would provide a twist on gameplay that the series hasn't seen before, and its randomized nature could provide plenty of replay value. F-Zero X's X Cup is an underused idea with a lot of potential, and hopefully the next Mario Kart game can put the ideas behind it to good use.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is available now for the Nintendo Switch.
