As we wrote in our Mario Kart 7 review, the most recent game in the wonderful racing series is pure Nintendo magic all the way. But how could it be improved upon? Well, producer Hideki Konno has already said that he's like to create a Mario Kart game for Wii U that uses the consoles unique features. Well ONM reader Phillip Lickley has got some ideas for him. Here are seven things that he'd like to see in Mario Kart 8.
1. Mario Kart Wii U DLC
Imagine how great that would be. Instead of being limited to 16 retro courses per game, you could download updated versions of every single course from the preceding six games to your console plus loads of bonus characters.
How impressive would a Mario Kart game be with all the courses ever plus loads of extra characters, kart-customisations and more to keep everyone happy?
2. Augmented Reality
3. Single Player Story Mode
It would be good if Nintendo could expand the mission mode from earlier entries in the series, enabling you to drive around courses and fulfil certain aims?
One thing I enjoy in the game is firing shells at Goombas, so why not build on this? You could have Mario driving around in his kart, destroying enemies using power-ups before rescuing the Princess at the end? It's just an idea but I think a story mode would be great.
4. Custom Courses
With a library of different road surfaces you could create basic custom courses or battle arenas before throwing in dash panels, jumps and glider-activating ramps. Then you could save it and upload it for your friends to play.
The large screen of the Wii U combined with the touch screen capabilities would be perfect for it.
first
and another way they could utilize the wii u controller is by having the item screen on the controller then you flick forwards to make your character fire the item forwards and flick back to make your character fire the item back
Was that really necessary?
And I'd like to see mod support. Being able to download different skins and textures and things is normally horrid, but when done right can be glorious. Such as GTA IV mods on PC where everything looks real life or Skyrim where you can have a player mod and look like Link!
I think a "Coin to pieces" system would be good. I say, you obtain coins for winning and you recollect them from the circuit in your races. So then you buy pieces of karts to make your own custom kart. (Pieces that add more accel. resting velocity or something like this).
By other hand I think that 2 pj's in one kart were an awesome idea in Mario Kart Double Dash. I wonder why nintendo put that option off in Mario Kart Wii D:
free driving mode would be great, but the one thing i want is FREE dlc that includes new kart parts and characters, and a bike editor, mario kart wii style.
gamecube controller support or anything other than the wii u controller.
These ideas sound epic to me!
Rainbow cup. That is all. Oh no wait, All cup tour
All of those ideas sound great
I would love to see the return of missions or some sort of story tied into it all, winning x amount of races/coins to unlock the next part of the adventure and then maybe having a one-one showdown with a boss...similar to sm3dl...
Double dash or a spin off mode like the safari kart, shooting goomas one the other person drives, avoiding obstacles etc
Free drive would be awesome, maybe have an open hub world and the ability to customise your kart in a garage and get in and out of your kart, quests, npcs, photos/scenic pics...
Throw in some mini games like kart football/golf/skittles...
Some new, not overpowered items would be nice.
I was thinking that they should bring back the Freezie from Mario Bros.
You'd throw it like a green shell. Upon hitting a target, they are encased in an ice block. They can still move, but their traction decreases, and drifting becomes dangerous. Their acceleration also partially suffers.
It's nice, because it doesn't completely ruin the targets chance of success, like the blue shell, and the thrower needs skill and accuracy to hit the target.
MARIO KART WII U DLC
This could be used to great effect, not just small things like adding more parts. New courses added, proper new and remixed old, as well as more choice of karts, new gameplay modes, and new characters.
AUGMENTED REALITY
Just can't see how this would justifiably work. Unless it's meant to work like a remote controlled kart.
SINGLE PLAYER STORY MODE
I liked MODNATION RACERS story mode and with MK DOUBLE DASH I used to create my own stories. So BOWSER kidnaps PEACH, and MARIO heads on his way. GOOMBA's and KOOPA's try to stop him so MARIO recruits other racers, and eventually head to BOWSER'S CASTLE for the big showdown. This could be used to great effect.
CUSTOM COURSES
I have been an avid course creator of MARIO KART courses, so being able to create simple ones MODNATION RACERS-esque would be nice. Adding MUSHROOM KINGDOM effects could be easy. Obviously this could be a whole channel with the courses being added to a server.
REAL TIME WEATHER
Defeats the whole point of track creating really. LUIGI CIRCUIT GBA had rain, GCN MUSHROOM CITY and WII MOONVIEW HIGHWAY are both set at night. RAINBOW ROAD is obviously set in space. A real weather time system doesn't do MARIO KART any justice since it isn't real world anyway.
FREE DRIVING MODE
I've like the free drive modes of ROCKSTAR games and so driving around the MUSHROOM KINGDOM as MARIO or KOOPA, or even as a MII , and interacting with other characters. In fact, I'm sure you could base the whole of the single player campaign on this free drive system. Like CRASH TEAM RACING, but better.
WII U CONTROLLER IDEAS
The steering wheel gyro technique will obviously work well, normal control configurations should be included, but it shouldn't really be made too complicated. And why can't NINTENDO just add a GAMECUBE controller port onto the console or controller, as I'm sure a goodly amount of players use the GAMECUBE controller on MKWII .
As for other ideas, the competitions should really return, but make them more interesting. Four seamingly random courses, beefed up and made harder, either with longer lap count, restricted items, more obstacles, or other things like speed freaks , tiny turbos or strike charge
A DOUBLE DASH mode could be included or be brought back. Other modes could be included through DLC as well. It makes the game more interesting, but obviously unless they are made with online servers included, no one would be able to play online with them. So create theses new modes and add online support for them.
Going onto online, make it the best online experience ever. Instead of communities, a person has the chance to create a group or join a group, and the host can set all the items, lap count and other stuff after they have chosen to create a group. At the end of the tournement, the points everyone earns are added to their VR Score. And also make sure that if anyone but the host disconnects, that the player is replaced with a CPU to keep the points equal throughout.
Mario Kart Wii U?!? I`m still thinking about Mario Kart Seven!
I'd like the game to be more competitive, rather than having the same 2 or 3 racers always competing with you, how about making it so that everyone has a chance of winning from start to finish?
Also more racers, MK Wii was a step in the right direction with 12, and although 8 is still great for MK7, I want to see F-Zero numbers of racers, maybe 30 is pushing it, but 20 isn't too much to ask for, considering all the potential characters, maybe Magikoopa will finally make their debut after being scrapped.
They should have an option to race without items, then we'll see how skilled people really are!
That idea with the controller sounds awesome! To have your own view on the controller, third person or first person and details and map on the TV so people could watch what's going on if anyone would like to watch the players race!
maybe you could use AR features to place items around your house or wherever you are to make a in-game race track
Great Ideas Phillip!
Not too keen on the AR Idea, but the rest all sound awesome! I would love a Free Driving Mode, Main Story Mode, DLC and a Track Creator! That would be great!
Good ideas i reckon the weather one would be ace
super smash kart.
link boomerangs mario in the face while captain falcon goes laps ahead since his car does 700 mph.
thinking about it, it wouldn't be balanced...
What I would like is the ability to use your most recent item whilst still dangling an item you received previously, that way you can keep your three green shells or whatever and still be able to use a non-dangle item like a mushroom.
All superb ideas.Good job!
Um, they already do.
DLC is such a good and bad idea. If nintendo brought out a packed mario kart game then yeah DLC is welcome but if they bought out mario kart which was lacking in content then i would be miffed if then DLC was being used.
Missions need to be included, and characters/ vehicle parts should be unlocked through that, as well as the grand prix. Also, the rubbish characters (Honey Queen, Baby Daisy) needs to be taken out and replaced with many more better ones (Come on, we all want to see a Goomba in a kart xD) Weekly DLC and additional challenges are a must- maybe extra challenges could be downloaded and completed each week, with prizes at the end?
Nintendo really needs to work on preventing glitches from occuring. With every online Mario Kart, they seem to fail this (see, Mushroom Gorge, Grumble Volcano, Wuhu Mountain Loop). If a glitch is spotted, Nintendo need to remove it immediently, to prevent online play.
Lastly (sorry about the rant!), Nintendo should also add in the ability to watch Time Trails that others have set. This is a little specific, but it would help greatly in all. I find myself (because I don't have constant Wi-fi access) constantly attempting Time Trails, but find it annoying that I can't watch my own reply on how to improve, or a World Record holders, because I want to watch how they complete the track, what shortcuts they take, etc.
I think the next Mario Kart has the potential to be the best one yet- Nintendo just need to clean up the small (albiet annoying) flaws they made in Mario Kart 7.
its kindof a gameplay part my friend. imagine getting three red shells or bananas, and then roaring to the front with a bullet bill now invulnerable to everything because of your three red shells, and being able to rip up anyone who gets in front of you.
also, what button would you use? it would probably be a contortionist act and require two seperate item buttons.
i agree, it annoys me, especially when i have 3 bananas and a red shell and am in second, but i can appreciate everyone has the problem, so its balanced.
my only problem with the items was - where on earth did the fake item box go? not very useful protection but putting it behind a real one was awesome. everyone sees it coming and still runs into them.
I don't quite agree with being able to download all the tracks in the Mario Kart franchise, same case with downloading even more characters, as that would feel more like the end of the series, and not too good of one, either. I'm quite afraid that these games are leaving the basic formula.
Also, I want the return of the dashboard-style speed visor from the Beta Mario Kart DS.
I love the idea of Free Driving mode, but you can pretty much do that anyway in Time Trials and offline multiplayer.
Wrong idea of Free Drive, skyluigi.
Proper driving around in karts perfecting your skills in areas like WUHU ISLAND, the MUSHROOM KINGDOM, maybe a full version of BOWSER's CASTLE. GTA/MIDNIGHT CLUB style free-drive where you can explore the whole of an area and aren't just limited to the track.
I was thinking the same thing only a few days ago FREE MODE totally agree with all of this. Nintendo, Take note!
More races + the ideas you have = Mario Kart heaven.
Well.. if the Wii U has AR features, you could lay down a huge AR card and a track would generate on the AR card. Imagine racing around your house!
A RPG style single-player! I could imagine it now, a lush cutscene showing all the carts getting ready for mushroom kingdom annual cart race. The race starts, carts speeding around. WAIT! Bowser pops out of nowhere are with his evil and awesome cart speeds to peach and kidnaps her. Then a thrilling game starts of with boss fights, cutscenes, and more!
WHAT
AN
IDEA
they already do have that option in mario kart wii
I think it needs a complete revamp, i know that some people are becoming bored of the same sort of thing, but i know some still love it.
Maybe a free mode, just going around a city were you can join in the races, meet other people etc. Bit like on other games like Test Drive, but not with the fancy cars of course.
Maybe you can collect coins and you can buy the thing you want to upgrade your kart, maybe you could even start with one kart then as you collected coins you could pimp them up or buy another one to add to your collection.
I think Nintendo could do a lot of massing around with the new Mario kart to make it fresh.
