Mario Kart World producer: ‘It didn’t seem necessary’ to add characters from other Nintendo games
Kosuke Yabuki also revealed who his favourite Mario Kart World racer is
The producer of the Mario Kart series says there are no crossover characters in Mario Kart World because it was decided they weren’t necessary this time.
The previous main entry in the series, Mario Kart 8 (and its subsequent Deluxe port on Switch), eventually added characters from other Nintendo series, including Link from The Legend of Zelda, Isabelle and Villagers from Animal Crossing, and the Inklings from Splatoon. It also added themed karts and tracks based on these IPs and others including F-Zero and Excitebike.
At release, however, Mario Kart World is exclusively focused on the Super Mario universe, with no characters from other franchises making an appearance, and most of the new characters consisting of enemies and NPCs from previous Mario games.
In an interview with Ouest France, Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki was asked if he had ever considered adding anyone from Arms – another game he produced – as a playable racer in a Mario Kart game.
“Absolutely not,” he reportedly replied, laughing.
Yabuki was then asked about the lack of any characters from other games in Mario Kart World, to which he explained that the development team felt that adding non-Mario characters to a game built heavily around the idea of a Mario-themed world would have felt out of place.
“As developers, it would have seemed incongruous to us to add characters from other games into this universe,” Yabuki said (via machine translation). “And it didn’t seem necessary, given everything we could already do with Mario.
“We inevitably wonder how players will perceive this cast. But there are so many characters and so many costumes that every player is sure to find something they like.”
Yabuki was also asked about the numerous new racers who have been added to Mario Kart World, including the Cow, which quickly became popular online.
“We were obviously hoping that the addition of these new racers would be a pleasant surprise for players,” he replied. “But the reception was so warm that it surprised even us. It clearly exceeded our expectations.”
Asked who his favourite new racer was, Yabuki conceded that he agreed with the online community. “First of all, I want to say that having a favourite doesn’t mean that they have been given the best statistics,” he clarified, “but just for the reception they have received, I have to admit it’s the Cow.”
VGC’s Mario Kart World review said that while the game’s open world feels somewhat undercooked, the core Mario Kart racing remains as entertaining as ever.
“Despite its new open world gimmickry, Mario Kart World is at its best when it’s doing what the series has always done,” we wrote.
“Choose Grand Prix, VS Race or online multiplayer and the game is up there with the very best in the series’ history, and while the highway racing and wider tracks may not be to everybody’s tastes, the move to 24 racers only adds to the carnage that the Mario Kart series is loved for.”
