Mario Kart has been on a hot streak (Nintendo)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been Nintendo’s golden goose for the Switch generation, but what can a sequel do to reach the same heights?
When Mario Kart 8 launched in 2014 on the Wii U, few would have guessed we’d still be playing the same game over 10 years later. The Nintendo Switch has given countless neglected Wii U games a second wind, but with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – aslightly updated version with all the original DLC included – it felt as if Nintendo had achieved peak kart racer.
If you go by sales, it certainly is. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold over 64.27 million copies since it launched in April 2017; with the Wii U version added on the total is 72.73 million. It’s the best-selling Switch game by a considerable margin, with Animal Crossing: New Horizons well behind at 46.45 million.
Mario Kart is usually at the top when it comes to software sales for each Nintendo system, but even in the history of the series, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a towering anomaly. Its 3DS predecessor, Mario Kart 7, sold 18.99 million units, while Mario Kart Wii, the best selling game on the system if you don’t include Wii Sports, sold 37.38 million – just over half of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s numbers so far.
The Switch’s longevity is a key reason for these numbers, but it’s also reflective of Mario Kart 8’s quality. The crisp visuals are timeless, the rich orchestral soundtrack is exceptional, and now there are 96 tracks in total, thanks to new DLC – including some of the best courses from throughout the series’ history.
Its lengthy lifespan has turned it into Mario Kart’s greatest hits, but with such an all-encompassing package, where does that leave the inevitable sequel?
Nintendo hasn’t confirmed another Mario Kart is in development, but it is a certainty given the company’s history and the success of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The Switch is an outlier in that it’s the first Nintendo console, outside of the Game Boy, to go without a new Mario Kart game during its lifetime. So in that sense Mario Kart 9 is not only inevitable, it’s overdue.
Whatever Mario Kart 9 ends up being, the next console’s backwards compatibility means it will still have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe looming over it. Nintendo will need to provide some very clear reasons as to why anyone would want to buy a new Mario Kart when they can just play the old one they already have.
Leaked specs for the Switch 2 suggest it’ll be as or more powerful than the PlayStation 4, but at a time when visual upgrades have become little more than miniscule boosts in resolutions, it’s hard to see a future entry relying on graphical improvements as its main selling point.
So what can it offer? Mario Kart titles have historically differentiated themselves with gimmicks or additions based on the hardware’s …read more
Source:: Metro