Nintendo Didn’t Call It ‘Mario Kart 9’ Because “That wasn’t our approach this time”

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Nintendo Didn’t Call It ‘Mario Kart 9’ Because “That wasn’t our approach this time”

When Nintendo recently announced the Switch 2, there were a lot of debates as to what game would accompany the upcoming console’s launch. But when it was announced that it would be Mario Kart World, we all asked another question. Why isn’t it called Mario Kart 9? The last game of the series was Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, so what’s changed?

Well, a lot apparently. According to the development team, the name Mario Kart World wasn’t just for show, the game has gone through big changes to justify it. The biggest one is the new open world. This time, the devs haven’t just added onto what worked before; they’ve reinvented what Mario Kart could be for a new generation.

Nintendo is taking Mario Kart to a whole new direction

In the latest installment of Nintendo’s Ask the Developer

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, Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki shared some details regarding the upcoming game. He explained that calling it Mario Kart 9 would have been appropriate only if the game had followed the games that came before.

If the idea had just been to add more courses, then I think we would’ve called it Mario Kart 9. But, that wasn’t our approach this time. We wanted to take the series to the next level. So, we decided to drop the numbering this time and go with a completely new title, Mario Kart World.

The open-world concept was ambitious from the start. Yabuki noted that as far back as 2017, shortly after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe launched, the team began theorizing about the idea of interconnected tracks. They wanted a living world where every course would feel like part of a ******* map. This world would transition naturally from day to night, with weather patterns and terrain that changed in real time.

Of course, such ambition came with its fair share of headaches. Programming director Kenta Sato said that developing for the original Switch hardware made them constantly question what compromises they’d have to make. To properly implement their ideas, the devs considered reducing frame rates, lowering resolution, or cutting features.

Go wherever your heart desires in

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In Free Roam, you can drive virtually everywhere and explore to the very edge of the world. No roads? No problem!

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It was here that they thought having 60 fps and split-screen multiplayer, a staple of the series, seemed nearly impossible. A big part of what justifies the “World” in Mario Kart World is its focus on freeform. In addition to the usual lap-based races, we can now explore in Free Roam mode and explore regions, discover secrets, and even take on various challenges around the world.

Of course, this meant the entire structure of the game had to change

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Of course, the new scope of the game required a lot of changes in every department. One of the biggest technical changes was undoubtedly raising the player count from 12 to 24 in certain races, all within a seamless world. Art director Masaaki Ishikawa admitted the team was initially overwhelmed by the sheer volume of assets needed to depict an open world.

At one point, he said they almost considered scrapping the idea entirely. But with persistence and better hardware, they managed to bring the vision to life. As you’d expect, this also affected the game’s artistic direction. Ishikawa mentioned that a single word guided the team throughout development: playfulness. That idea became the foundation for how the world looks and feels.

Unfortunately, the biggest talking point for Mario Kart World so far has been its $80 price tag. The new direction that the game has taken doesn’t really justify the price increase, especially considering you have to add another $10 for a physical copy. But it’s what we’re getting, and from the looks of it, the developers have put a lot of thought into the game itself.

Mario Kart World launches on June 5 alongside the Nintendo Switch 2

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