With over five years since the release of Mario Kart 8 and no new mainline Mario Kart game on the horizon, is Nintendo using Mario Kart Tour to replace Mario Kart 9? Mario Kart 8 was released in May 2014 - which means it’s been 5 years and 7 months since the last Mario Kart release.
While long delays aren’t unheard of in the franchise - the release dates between Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit equaled 4 years and 7 months - there has been a lack of talk regarding a Mario Kart 9 from Nintendo. The latest releases in the franchise have been Mario Kart GP VP, an arcade game exclusive to Japan, and the aforementioned Mario Kart Tour - a mobile game launching later this year. Is this mobile game supposed to take the place of the long-awaited ninth installment in the mainline Mario Kart franchise?
Every Console Gets One
Given everything we know about Mario Kart Tour, it’s entirely possible that it’s meant to replace a mainline game. For starters, Nintendo’s history with past Mario Kart releases suggests that they usually limit one Mario Kart game per console. Though the Switch never received a new Mario Kart entry, it did get an enhanced version of Mario Kart 8 (called Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) which remains the console’s best-selling game. If Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the Switch’s Mario Kart game, then perhaps mobile phones are the new console that Nintendo is using to release a Mario Kart game.
Additionally, while Tour features returning courses and characters from past Mario Kart titles, there are aspects unique to the game, such as new courses and karts; and, of course, brand new gameplay that involves players swiping their fingers on their phone screen to move their kart. Plus, given how profitable the Mario Kart franchise has continuously been, there’s no doubt that Tour will be a huge hit.
Is Tour Unique Enough?
However, despite suggestions that Tour is the long-awaited Mario Kart 9, maybe it is nothing more than a teaser of what’s to come in the franchise. Sure, driving through new courses inspired by Tokyo, New York City, and Paris sounds like fun - but wouldn’t they be more fun on a TV screen versus on your smartphone, while having the ability to drive using a controller versus your finger? And wouldn’t it be great to have even more city-inspired tracks to race through? Additionally, while 8 Deluxe had new features and was treated like a brand new game, it’s still a remastered edition of the 2014 release. Nintendo still has never officially launched a Mario Kart title for the Switch - and with its popularity still going strong, maybe we could see a title unique to the console within the next few years.
What Mario Kart 9 Could Bring To The Series
Whether Tour is meant to serve as a brand new entry or an appetizer for what’s to come, it’s undeniable that Mario Kart 9 has the potential to be huge and exciting. With all the advancements and features of recent Mario Kart entries and other Mario games, the possibilities of what a Mario Kart 9 could include are endless: Players have loved racing with other Nintendo characters outside of the Mario universe - like Link, Villagers, and Inklings - and Mario Kart 9 could add even more beloved friends and their universes to the character and course selection pools. The recent Super Mario Maker 2 gave players the ability to design their own playable courses, and 9 could feature this innovative ability for players to design their own tracks. And of course, who wouldn’t love even more challenging and creative courses to potentially look forward to?
The Mario Kart franchise has come a long way and accrued a large number of fans in the nearly 30 years since the first game was released - and it’s disappointing and concerning after so many steady releases to not have any updates about a ninth title in the works. One thing’s for sure - whether it’s a brand new mainline game or just a teaser of what’s to come, Mario Kart Tour is coming very soon to appease our starving appetites of a nearly six-year waiting period of a new Mario Kart game.
