Mario Kart of the Future

[Unknown Beta User]

So, as a huge Mario Kart fan, I've been thinking about what would be nice to see in the next installment in the series.

While playing Super Circuit the other day, I realized it would be great if more courses had some gimmick like the time of day changing every lap on Sunset Wilds.

I like courses that have gameplay revolving around the theme of the course, so the environment doesn't feel so hollow and fake. For example, lots of Super Circuit courses are just the same course over and over with not a lot of unique aspects, while one of my favorite courses in Mario Kart Wii, Coconut Mall, implements escalators and fountains. It's sad really, because Super Circuit has some really interesting course locations like Cheese Land or Ribbon Road.

I actually liked the bikes in Mario Kart Wii, so I'd like to see those return. Maybe there could be different modes where the player can choose what kind of vehicles everyone will use. I also really enjoyed the different kart parts from Mario Kart 7, so I'd like to see those return too!

I'll put a wish list of what I'd like to see as far as Retro courses, and you guys can also post your wish lists, or anything you'd like to see in the next Mario Kart!

Dry Dry Ruins
Frappe Snowland
Mushroom City
Music Park
Piranha Plant Slide
Choco Mountain
Royal Raceway
Shy Guy Bazaar
Sunset Wilds
Tick Tock Clock
Toad's Turnpike
Wario Colosseum
Yoshi Valley

As far as new course ideas, I would love to see more stuff from past Mario games like Toad Town or something to that effect. If the course is going to be a new location, it's cool to have ones like Dino Dino Jungle where there are references to past Mario games like the multicolored Dorries in the water.

I'd also like a hidden unlockable cup with courses from the Arcade GP games, which I have never played.

[Indigo]

Yay, game ideas! My favorite. :3

I know what you mean about a track's theme being incorporated into its gameplay; I felt the same way about Super Circuit because levels like Cheese Land and Ribbon Road, while awesome in concept, weren't fully realized because they simply featured neat backgrounds.

Anyway, I've been toying around with a certain Mario Kart gameplay idea for a while. What if there were alternate, unlockable versions of certain courses? I'll give an example: let's say that, as usual, Bowser's Castle is the third course of the Special Cup. Later, you fulfill enough conditions to unlock a "Dry Bowser's Castle," which is a much darker, much more treacherous trek through the castle, and features such obstacles as crumbling bone bridges and collapsing skeletal arches. Another idea I had was for a "Superstar City" course, which would be a 1-lap adventure through a bustling city at the end of the Mushroom Cup. Its unlockable "Plus" version - let's call it - would take place in the same city, but through a far different route, giving you a tour through the city's crazy nighttime festivities and vistas.

Or something like that. I'm not sure exactly how it would work - like, would the Plus courses be put in their own cups, or would they just be accessible from the original course's Cup? And would every single course get their own Plus version, or only a select few? I think it's an idea with potential, though. What do you guys think, and what are your own ideas?

As for retro courses... I'm a bit odd in that I don't think retro courses should come preset with the game. I think more could be done with them; maybe Nintendo could hold a vote every once in a while to have a number of retro courses made available online as DLC; eventually, every MK course ever would be available on the server. It'd also be cool if retro courses were redesigned to better fit the mechanics of the new game (Royal Raceway with a glider, for example, would be crazy awesome).

[Unknown Beta User]

Thank you for your reply!

I really like the idea of having alternate versions of courses that are harder. Maybe it could be like a separate mode where you get different difficulty levels for each course and a reward for each. I just got Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed and I like that they have easy, normal and hard missions for each course, and it would've even better if they were somehow visually different (although, since I just got that game, I've only played like 2 courses' missions so maybe they differ later on).

Anyway, I also really like the idea of more 1-lap courses. I find these are a nice change every once in a while, and the city idea sounds really awesome! I think it would be cool to have the regular cups with some 1-lap courses sprinkled in, and maybe a mission mode where you get all the harder versions of each course.

It would make each game so much better to just have all courses from previous games somehow unlockable, but with each new game, there would be even more courses in the game overall! I'm not sure how much work that would be for the developers and if that's reasonably possible...