Mario Kart Goes Open World?! You Won't Believe What They Changed!

Mario Kart World: A Deep Dive into its Open-World Revolution

The world of video games is buzzing with anticipation for Mario Kart World, the next evolution in the beloved franchise. But this isn't just another sequel; it's a complete reimagining of what Mario Kart can be. From its ambitious open-world design to doubling the number of racers, the development team at Nintendo had to rethink everything.

“We knew when we came up with this idea that it really would be a big change for the series,” says producer Kosuke Yabuki, “but we had no idea at the time how many people, how much time, and how much effort that would require to actually achieve it.”

A World Unlike Any Other

The most significant departure from previous titles is the creation of a massive, interconnected open world. Forget individual racetracks; in Mario Kart World, all courses exist within the same sprawling landmass.

Key features of this new world include:

• Seamless Connectivity: Courses are linked by routes, allowing for unprecedented freedom of exploration.
• Purpose-Built Design: This isn't a recreation of the Mushroom Kingdom, but a brand-new location designed specifically for racing.
• Familiar Elements: While new, the world is peppered with iconic Mario elements like question mark blocks and warp pipes.

“As you travel through this world, you will see things that remind you of the Mushroom Kingdom,” Yabuki explains. “Elements like the question mark blocks or warp pipes. In terms of world design, I would say this world was designed for Mario Kart World. If you look at the height of a mountain, or the length of a desert, those were all things that we decided specifically for this title.”

Yabuki emphasizes that the game's open world design prioritizes fun over realism: “We have to think about not simply recreating real-world patterns in terms of a town or an island. Rather, this world exists purely to make Mario Kart more fun.”

The Challenges of Open-World Design

Building a connected world presented unique challenges. Changes to one area could have a ripple effect throughout the entire map. According to Yabuki, "If you change the height of a mountain you have to think about whether you’ve diminished its usefulness in the surrounding areas as a landmark, for example. This means that in the end terrain design is actually quite a difficult task, because if you change one thing, you have to adjust many more.”

This also impacted course design. In previous Mario Kart games, developers had greater control over the player's view. Now, players can enter and exit courses from various points, demanding a completely new approach. “You used to be designing courses with the notion that people are going to drive and look in a very few fixed directions that we know ahead of time,” Yabuki says, “compared to Mario Kart World, where people might enter a course from anywhere, or leave that course from anywhere, and continue driving. So we have to think about those entry and exit points, and how they affect the player’s vantage. In that sense, Mario Kart World course design is quite a bit more work compared to previous games.”

New Modes and Gameplay Mechanics

The expansive world has inspired innovative gameplay mechanics, including:

• Knockout Tour: A battle royale-inspired mode where racers compete across the entire continent, with the field gradually dwindling.
• Evolved Grand Prix: Players now drive to their next race, adding a new layer of exploration and immersion.

Yabuki explains that the shift to driving between races was inspired by kishōtenketsu, a four-part story structure: “First you introduce an idea, you let it develop, then you have a turn, and then you have a conclusion. We tried to follow that kind of thinking...So when you’re driving from one course to the next, you have more freedom, there’s a little bit more latitude, and it’s purposefully not as difficult, to give some variation in that pace so that the feeling can develop.”

Double the Racers, Double the Fun?

Mario Kart World doubles the number of racers per race from 12 to 24! This change required a fundamental re-evaluation of game balance. The development team had to “reconsider all elements from their fundamentals” in order to accommodate everyone. "We had to consider as varied elements as the road width, the kart size, or even things like when a player is hit by a shell, how much speed do they lose? How much speed do they lose with other types of collisions? All of these things had to be considered from scratch to balance,” Yabuki explains.

Embracing the Weirdness

Despite the significant changes, Mario Kart World retains the series' trademark quirkiness. From racing as a cow to characters changing appearance after eating at a diner, the game embraces the surreal. Yabuki says, “We’ve always had some really interesting and weird precedents that we could draw from. When I was trying to explain the concept of eating something and having a costume change, sometimes in order to persuade them I would say ‘look, it’s the sort of thing we used to do.’”

Final Thoughts

Mario Kart World represents a bold and exciting step forward for the franchise. With its innovative open-world design, expanded roster of racers, and commitment to fun, it has the potential to redefine the kart racing genre. The challenges faced by the development team were substantial, but the promise of a truly revolutionary Mario Kart experience is undeniable. The anticipation is palpable, and we eagerly await the opportunity to explore this new world and experience the thrill of racing like never before.

Tags: Mario Kart World, Switch 2, Open world, Racing game, Kosuke Yabuki, Game development, New game, Mario Kart, Game news, Nintendo

Source: https://www.theverge.com/interview/678097/mario-kart-world-nintendo-switch-2-interview-kosuke-yabuki