Inside Nintendo’s New Game for Switch 2

It’s been eight years since the last time a Mario Kart game was released for a Nintendo console, but the wait is nearly over. And while 2017’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe may have missed the exact launch of the original Nintendo Switch, fans worldwide can rev their engine’s right at the starting line this time around as Mario Kart World arrives day one for the upcoming Switch 2.

Unlike the 2017 iteration (dubbed Deluxe), Mario Kart World (out June 5) isn’t just an upgrade to a previous title, but an all-new entry in the beloved racing franchise built from the ground up for Nintendo’s next generation console. With high-definition graphics, 24-player races, and sprawling environments to explore, Mario Kart World aims to leap the series forward into the modern era of gaming.

But, in true Nintendo fashion, creating a sequel to a classic gaming staple doesn’t just boil down to adding more. For the developers at Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division (Nintendo EPD, for short), overhauling a concept like Mario Kart requires a delicate tightrope walk of staying true to the spirit of the franchise while making good on new ideas — many of which are also old ones that were once cut due to the technical limitations of previous hardware.

Rolling Stone caught up with Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki to discuss the challenges of reinventing the series for a new generation of players, designing its interconnected world, and how balance becomes a key phrase in more ways than one.

An “interconnected” (but not “open”) world

Since joining Nintendo in 2005, Yabuki has become a veteran at the company whose experience has spanned multiple console generations. He first worked as a planner on Mario Kart Wii (2008) before becoming the director of Mario Kart 7 (2011) and 8 (2014). Now serving as the producer of World, he brings a wealth of knowledge to the process.

That knowledge means that Yabuki and his team knew very early on exactly what they wanted to do to differentiate the new game as more than just Mario Kart 9: make it an interconnected world and allow for 24 players rather than the standard 12.

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Both concepts have been at the top of his list for years but could never be implemented due to hardware restrictions of earlier consoles. “What actually ends up being in the product itself is only that small tip of the iceberg,” Yabuki tells Rolling Stone via translator. “But we think of the rest of the iceberg as a future treasure that we’re storing for later use.”

In Free Roam, players can drive around at their own pace getting to know the different geographical regions of the map, which are broken down into areas Mario fans will find familiar, from the grasslands and rolling hills of the Mushroom Kingdom to the fiery volcanic mountains around Bowser’s Castle. Each of the games’ few dozen courses (the exact number is a secret) are scattered around the map and can be driven through stop-by-stop and dissected outside the trials of a race before diving into a prix.

The term interconnected is important to Yabuki, who doesn’t view the game as being the same as other open-ended games like Breath of the Wild or Microsoft’s racing sim Forza Horizon. “When it comes to Mario Kart World, we naturally didn’t use the phrase ‘open world,’ because, for me, sometimes that definition can be a little bit unclear, ambiguous, and we want it to stay very specific,” Yabuki says.

“The beginning of this project really was thinking about that vast interconnected world, and how do we layer on top of that all of the experiences that you’re accustomed to having in a Mario Kart game,” he says. “[There was] a lot that we had to think about in terms of changing away from what been, up to that point, traditional elements of the Mario Kart series.”

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Whereas traditional open world games might lack a distinct focus on any one distinct region or town, the creators of Mario Kart World view their environment more like a series of elaborate locales that branch out across its overworld map. That design choice demanded that the developers think methodically about every course’s placement.

“When you’re creating a vast interconnected world where you can drive anywhere, there first thing that we had to think about was how to build in all of these racing routes all over that world like a network that overlays it,” Yabuki says. “In thinking of that network of all these connected routes, we had to consider them one by one and make sure that each one was pleasurable and interesting, and that it would offer a lot of value and fun for the player no matter which way they went.”

In the Grand Prix and Knockout Tour modes, players will travel to their next destination in between races, making each circuit feel less like a sequential series of levels and more like one larger gauntlet comprised of smaller legs. In Versus mode, users can select the tracks they want to play by choosing courses geographically adjacent to each other to chart a path around the overworld.

Balancing the chaos

But it’s not just the game’s world that’s expanded in size, but the number of active racers too. Doubling the number of participants in each race doesn’t just require making stages larger or widening the roads; it demands a total rethinking of how each of the game’s systems work in harmony to keep the action from becoming overwhelming.

“[In terms of balancing], we had to think not of this in terms of just the linear increase up to 24 players because, if we didn’t adjust anything else, you’d be receiving too many attacks and it would be too stressful of a gameplay experience,” Yabuki says. “So, because of this kind of balance, we had to think about redesigning all elements from the ground up. When we think about a crash or a spin or a collision, for example, each of those is going to have a different amount of speed that the racer loses. And these have to be adjusted very carefully to make sure that it matches all of these new conditions of the game.”

But as any player knows, the inherent stress of a Mario Kart match is also part of the core appeal. In practice, the 24-player races may not feel entire untenable, but there’s definitely another layer of insanity. Whereas races once felt like candy-colored relays and juiced up soap box derbies, the increased scope and potential for unforeseen upsets is more potent than ever, feeling closer to the nail biting climax of a Mad Max movie. For the designers, the surprises remain essential to the spirit of the franchise.

“We have to think about the chaos element, as well. Sometimes, a free-for-all is a really fun experience, too,” Yabuki says. “So, we need to make sure that’s coming across as a fun element where it feels like anything could happen at any time.”

The surprises don’t just include the moment-to-moment action, but who is doing the action, too. While it initially launched with 42 playable characters, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe now has 50 racers to choose from including those added in downloadable expansions. Based on pre-release previews, Mario Kart World looks to be rivaling that base number (although, like the course count, the final tally remains unknown), on top of tons of different unlockable outfits that change the look of each racer.

But among the pack, some noticeable favorites have already emerged. After the game’s full reveal earlier this year, fans were instantly enamored by the inclusion of previous side characters like Pokey, Pianta, and Penguin (the last one most older fans fondly remember throwing off mountainsides in 1996’s Super Mario 64). The most viral hit, however, was a nameless cow (simply called Cow) who previously served as an obstacle in Mario Kart levels like Moo Moo Meadows.

Yabuki himself is amused by the fervor around the new character, although he hadn’t expected the veracity of the fan response. “Yes, that was a very big reaction to the cow. We were certainly surprised,” he says. “The reaction really went beyond our imagination in terms of how happy people were and how excited.”

It took some convincing, however, to get the character added to the roster. “I have to say that, in previous Mario Kart titles, we [had] to consider whether or not that character would be able to drive,” Yabuki says. “Perhaps my old way of thinking was, ‘Well, surely they would need to have hands and feet to be able to drive.’ But I’ll say that’s come a long way for me, and maybe I’ve changed my thinking. So, now even characters like Goomba or Pokey, I think, ‘Okay, sure. They can drive.’”

Breaking down the guardrails

When it comes to evolving the gameplay of Mario Kart for a new era, the team has been careful not to change too much, while still adding new layers of depth to the base mechanics. Part of that comes from the lack of restrictions the new interconnected world provides, but it can also be felt in how the game controls in action. Yabuki and the developers were adamant that new systems be woven into the game’s design, with the caveat that they’re not mandatory for everyone to learn — especially newcomers.

“Mario Kart, as a series, is one of those games where you do expect that the player will play the game quite a lot, so we have to think about all of the different kinds of play styles that players will bring to the game, and also their chance to learn as they see other people doing interesting things,” Yabuki says. “Some people might learn even from doing random actions themselves. They may have jumped at just the right moment to avoid a shell and suddenly, for the first time, realize that’s a technique.”

The new abilities in question mostly stem from a move called the Charge Jump. By holding the right shoulder button (normally used for drifting around curves) during a straight away, the player character will crouch into their karts and, upon release, can jump straight up into the air, or flip in whatever direction the joystick is held. This opens up a few options: players can flip into a rail grind or drive along walls — or, as teased by Nintendo staff at preview events, the move can be used to deflect items when mastered (think: blue shell).

It’s the mastery bit that’s key. Although the game is intended to be readily accessible to anyone, the seasoned developer knows that it’s going to become a major time sink for more dedicated fans. “I think there’s a great opportunity for the way they view the world itself to change, Yabuki says. “They may see a guardrail as an obstacle in the beginning, but as they play more and they become more experienced and learn different moves, they will learn that they can use it to rail slide and all of the things that they can do using those obstacles in new ways.”

As with most Nintendo games, the Mario Kart series offers an open-ended experience that often belies its difficulty. To gauge how best to create new challenges, Yabuki says that he looks to the franchise’s past as a frame of reference rather than what else is being created in the gaming landscape (“I don’t really look to other games for ideas”). For Mario Kart, specifically, that means pinpointing what the game’s purest form is and making it easier from there for newcomers, rather than starting easy and ratcheting it up from there.

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“With the original Super Mario Kart, the idea of having 50cc, 100cc, 150cc [engines], for us, was sort having different difficulty levels,” Yabuki explains. “During development, the way that we developers approach the game is we try to think of 150cc as being the standard. We try to use 150cc to experience these newly designed courses first and make sure that they work at that engine size.”

When asked whether he plans to implement a higher, 200cc difficulty like the one previously added to Mario Kart 8 post-launch, Yabuki stays mum. “Some players are really happy with the addition of high difficulty modes likes this,” he says coyly. “However, does that mean we’re going to consider adding engine sizes that are larger than 150cc to Mario Kart World? I’m afraid I can’t say just yet.”