I’ve been an enthusiastic Kart racer for most of my life. The Nintendo 64 was my first console, and I can’t even begin to estimate how much time I spent with Peach in the driver’s seat on 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mario Kart 64. I still play a few rounds of Deluxe online almost every night, unwinding after a long day with a white🐻-knuckle JoyCon grip as I careen into space on Rainbow Road.

Despite still owning my N64, GameCube, and Wii, having classic titles like Kart with all the old bells and whistles on my Switch is great. But as much as I love MK8 and plan to keep playing, Nintendo can’t possibly plan to bring this game into 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the next console generation, can they?

Mario Kart 8 has now spanned two entire home console generations, launching on the Wii U in 2014 and porting onto the Switch in early 2017 just after the console’s launch. Deluxe, the version that came to Switch, tried to differentiate itself by making changes to the battle games and a few other minor gameplay tweaks. The Switch title has enjoyed several waves of DLC to keep things like new tracks or races coming this long into its lengthy lifespan, with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the most recent in July 2023.

Underneath these additions though, it’s still been ten years now of the same game we had on the Wii U. There are plenty of tracks left from throughout the series’ life that Nintendo could add, sure, but that can’t possibly be its plan going into the next generation of consoles. With the Switch 2’s announcement as vaguely imminent as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:“within the fiscal year”, I can’t make myself believe they’re still planning for mor🦋e DLC.

The Future Of Mario Kart On The Next Console

Porting the same game onto a third console would be ridiculous. Plenty of fans were willing to forget and forgive when Deluxe hit the Switch, especially since the Wii U was one of Nintendo’s most lackluster consoles sales-wise, but I can’t see that same understanding applying to the exact same game being a close-to-launch title again.

I’m tepidly curious to see how they’ll make 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a new installment of the iconic game feel unique, like they did with Double Dash in 2003. There, you had a second rider in your vehicle and raced in carefully composed duos instead of as single racers. Different teams had different powers and names, making each choice before the race feel important. I don’t think they could do the same thing twice and have i𒉰t still feel unique, but there’s got to be a way to make the series feel fresh again.

Having so many old racers and tracks added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe almost makes it feel like something of a “d♒efinitive” Mario Kart, paying homage to the whole series in a way that previous games never really have. Nintendo seems to have doubled down on the greatest-hits vibes, too, with Mario Party Superstars being an amalgam of previous Mario Party boards and minigames, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate porting every fighter who’s ever been in a Smash game onto the Switch and then adding new ones to the roster with DLC.

But what album do you put out after the🌟 Greatest Hits sells well?

People Won’t Forget The Switch Right Away

If these mega-mashups of older titles have already been done, I’m curious what the approach to Mario Kart and similar legacy titles will be going into the next console. Nintendo will, of course, march proudly into the next generation with plenty of staple IPs to carry it forward, with or without new party titles like Mario Kart launching right off the bat. Myself and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:plenty of other folks believe a new installment of the game is all but guar🌸anteed for the n꧋ext console, given 8’s decade-long run, because I can’t fathom them putting out the same game for a third time.

Besides, the launch of a new console doesn’t mean people will immediately toss their Switch into the closet to collect dust with their other aging Nintendo consoles. Even if the Switch 2 doesn’t hit markets until well into 2025, unless something changes with the increasing global cost of living, most people can’t afford to drop several hun൲dred dollars on a new console, especially if it doesn’t launch with many promising titles.

The Switch is Nintendo’s second-best selling console ever made, not far behind the Nintendo DS and ahead of its home console predecessors by ten𝓡s of millions of sales. Nintendo would be foolish to leave something with legacy status like the Switch behind so soon. With so much TLC poured into Mario Kart’s growing legacy, I’m just sure not they’ll be able to capture lightning in a bottle twice without it feeling at least a little redundant.