Shack Chat: What gameplay mechanics or features do you want to see in Mario Kart 9?

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been officially unveiled and while the teaser focused on the console, it did give players a peek at the next Mario Kart title. The most recent game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, absolutely dominated the lifecycle of the Nintendo Switch, and in order for Nintendo to hit the same dizzying highs, new and exciting features might need to be introduced. We’ve got some ideas we’d like to share. Here are some mechanics and features we hope to see in Mario Kart 9 (or whatever it happens to be called!).

Question: What gameplay mechanics or features do you want to see in Mario Kart 9?

Double Dash Mode - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Mario Kart Double Dash Player

The Mario Kart series had a hot second where it got wacky and introduced the idea of doubles. The Double Dash concept didn't stick around, but ask people who grew up during the GameCube era and they'll express an appreciation for Nintendo going off the beaten path and trying something new. It encouraged players to be strategic with their pairings, manage who held which items, and play around with new karts that could support two racers. It was a cool concept and something that could work if Nintendo opted to introduce this as a separate mode. It's a long shot, but it sounds like a lot of fun.

Story Mode - TJ Denzer, Still chasing the high of Crash Team Racing

I love Mario Kart, I love playing with friends, I love the tracks, and I really love a lot of the features my colleagues have suggested, but I miss something that very few of these games have done up to this point: A proper Story Mode. Now my gold standard was Crash Team Racing, where the characters were split into villain and hero teams and you had to travel around different regions, winning races at tracks, completing challenges, and discovering secrets until you had enough currency to take on a boss in a special race.

There’s no reason, in my opinion, why Mario Kart 9 shouldn’t have that, too. We even have newish examples of how it could be done, thanks to the Forza Horizon series. Give me a fun story to take my favorite character on where I get to complete challenges and races, collect parts, build my dream machine, and maybe even take my progressed character and kart to online multiplayer and I would have plenty to do while I’m waiting for my friends to get online.

Spectator Mode - Asif Khan, CEO/EIC/EIEIO

While the Mario Kart franchise has always fallen into the casual party game category, many fans would like to see the game played in a competitive esports environment. While Nintendo did provide some great highlight creation tools in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, there has never been a proper Spectator Mode in the game. If the Big N wants to really boost the visibility and virality of the Mario Kart franchise, it’s time to add tools for tournament operators and streamers to showcase just how competitive this “kids game” can be.

Burnout-style Crash Mode - Sam Chandler, Destruction Derby Style

One of my favorite racing franchises is Burnout (RIP). It was all about smashing cars to pieces in style way before the likes of Wreckfest existed. But outside of racing, it had a unique puzzle game called Crash Mode. In this mode, you had to zoom your car into specifically designed traffic scenarios and, using the slow-mo after crashing, navigate your burning wreck into as many cars as possible all while collecting point multipliers and manually detonating your vehicle. Now, give me something like this with Mario Kart and I’ll be a happy chappy. Also, the next game is totally going to be called Mario Kart 99, isn’t it?

Custom tournaments - Donovan Erskine, Great Driver

The Mario Kart games already allow us to play with friends in private lobbies online, but I want to take it a step further. Let me fully customize a tournament: restricting characters, selecting vehicles, manipulating power-ups, etc. Bonus points if they add in wacky settings that let me alter gravity or make the characters look silly. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was damn near flawless, so we don’t need to overthink too much when it comes to MK9.

Full Grand Prix and more - Steve Tyminski, Best Kart Driver on staff!

What gameplay feature or mechanic do I want to see in Mario Kart 9? It felt like Mario Kart 9 would never come out with how successful Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been for Nintendo. That being said, during the trailer for Nintendo Switch 2, the first minor details were revealed about the system and game.

How could the game build off of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and what new things could they add? I think they need to go back to their roots slightly with gameplay features from past Mario Kart games. I would love to see a full Grand Prix mode again like in Double Dash where you can play all the courses in a row. I’d also love to see character-specific power ups again like the Chain Chomp or giant Yoshi Egg from Double Dash. Another feature I’d love to see come back is victory music for each character like the SNES game had.

Writing this Shack Chat got me thinking and I remembered one feature that has to come back: time. How else will I know how much I beat second place by if my lap times aren’t tracked? So many things you can bring into Mario Kart and I’m looking forward to the new game.

There you have it, Shackers. Those are the features we hope to see in Mario Kart 9. How about you, what mechanics are you hoping appear in the next Mario Kart title on the Nintendo Switch 2? Check out our Shack Chat page to join in on the previous discussions.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.