How Would YOU Do Mario Kart?

[Fawful Fan]

Note: This topic is not about the upcoming Mario Kart for the Nintendo 3DS.  It's a discussion on how YOU would handle an entry in the series.

Ever since I first played the SNES original I've fallen in love with the Mario Kart series.  That doesn't mean, however, I wouldn't change a few things if I was in charge of developing the latest game.  So if you had the power, what would YOU do differently?

I'll start with the roster.  One thing I'd try to do is have everyone in the so-called 'Big Eight' have one partner, one rival, and one rival's partner.  I'd also make sure there is only one version of each character; this means no baby characters or playable skeletons of other characters.  It's not that I have anything against those characters, but the Mario series has no many lovable faces that it just seems like such a waste to have any one character take more than one slot.  I'd also not include generic drones and random bosses and instead focus actual characters that are more 'significant' in the Mario series as a whole.  The only exception I'd make to this would be the Koopa Troopa (and his partner) since he's appeared so often he's almost become a character in himself (as in, the Mario Kart Koopa Troopa).  Also, one thing I enjoy about Mario Kart is that it's not just a celebration of the Marioverse, but also a celebration of the extended Marioverse.  So I'd include more characters from the Wario and DK series.  Without further ado, here's my list:

LIGHT
Toad
Toadette
Little Yoshi
Koopa Troopa
Koopa Paratroopa
Kamek
Kammy
Diddy Kong
Dixie Kong
Spitz

MEDIUM
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Daisy
Yoshi
Boshi
Bowser Jr.
Professor E. Gadd
Captain Syrup
Mona

HEAVY
Bowser
King Boo
Rosalina
Wario
Waluigi
Dribble
Donkey Kong
Kiddy Kong
Krunch
K. Rool (preferably in a racer outfit)

You probably noticed the lack of Birdo.  I just don't understand why Birdo is often paired as Yoshi's partner; as far as I recall I don't think Birdo is even described as a dinosaur in any official media!  I'd much rather see Little Yoshi from Tetris Attack paired with the dino rather than a random Super Mario Bros. 2 boss.  I was also considering putting in the Shroobs as rivals to the Toads, but I wasn't sure if they would be 'significant' enough.  And in a way the Koopa Troopas could be considered their rivals.  Well, enough blabbering from me.  What would YOU change about Mario Kart, from characters, items, tracks, or anything in particular?

[Deezer]

I just don't understand why Birdo is often paired as Yoshi's partner; as far as I recall I don't think Birdo is even described as a dinosaur in any official media!

Here's what GameCube's Mario Superstar Baseball says about Birdo: "A dinosaur that spits eggs from her huge mouth. Birdo is very particular when it comes to fashion, though her reliance on the color pink is a bit limiting. Her bow and ring are her pride and joy. Birdo's mouth has massive suction that can even catch a ball by sucking it in."

EDIT: Interestingly, Brawl's Japanese trophy description says "dinosaur(?)" with the question mark.

Source: http://themushroomkingdom.net/birdo.shtml

[Fawful Fan]

Oh wow, thanks Deezer!  The more you know, I guess.

[Fawful Fan]

You know what else I'd like to see?  User-generated content.  It'd be nice to create your own karts and bikes (with limitations, of course, to ensure that the game stays fair) as well as custom-made tracks.

[Weegee]

It'd be nice to create your own karts and bikes

Great idea. Penismobile, here I come!

[Ultima Shadow]

One thing I've always wanted to see in Mario Kart is an Adventure mode, akin to that of Diddy Kong Racing, or even Super Smash Bros Brawl. It probably wouldn't fit with the mindless fun of arcade racing so much, and Mario Kart doesn't need it, but it would be nice. The closest thing we have at the moment is Mission Mode, and that's fine, but maybe a small storyline to play through, unlocking more tracks and characters, battling and racing along the way, could add something new to the series.

[Alisbet]

I would like to create an ultimate Mario Kart game that challenges you to go through every Mario Kart track ever conceived from SNES to Wii (and 3ds probably). All of the tracks come at random order so that you never know what might come next. That would be cool.

[The Chef]

I want Mario Kart to have one of two things:

1. Boats.

2. Customizable karts. Meaning, you decide on the body, engine, tires, brakes, suspension, etc.

[Fawful Fan]

I would like to create an ultimate Mario Kart game that challenges you to go through every Mario Kart track ever conceived from SNES to Wii (and 3ds probably). All of the tracks come at random order so that you never know what might come next. That would be cool.

Yeah, it'd be nice to be able to have ALL the tracks in Mario Kart history in one game.  Probably accessible via DLC.

[penguinwizard]

SNES version's tracks and music (prettier-looking versions of the tracks without having Wii's style, remastered orchestrated music like the kind used in Smash Bros. Brawl) with N64's handling and mini-turbos (or better yet, an option to switch between SNES and N64 handling modes, with separate time trials for both). While I like SNES's momentum-based turning now, it took me a while to get used to it, and so I prefer the tighter control of the N64 version.

It wouldn't hurt to include a longer version of Rainbow Road. Keep the look and music of the SNES Rainbow Road, and the no-rails thing, but PLEASE make the track longer.

[Ultima Shadow]

It wouldn't hurt to include a longer version of Rainbow Road. Keep the look and music of the SNES Rainbow Road, and the no-rails thing, but PLEASE make the track longer.

This, and even if it's not based off of the SNES Rainbow Road, I miss the days where Rainbow Road was more than just a tricky track, but a battle with endurance and all of that. A mix between the Rainbow Roads of SNES, N64 and maybe a bit of DS/Wii would be good.

[Weegee]

Recent Rainbow Roads have relied too heavily on snazzy graphics and automated sequences. As such, I agree with Ultima.

[Glitchy]

As long as they keep making Mario Kart games I doubt that we'll ever see "every single track ever made" in a Mario Kart game. But if they ever do they should make it so that for example, if they made it for the 3DS, it has all of the handheld tracks, and vice versa for the console version so it makes sense.

I don't think it should get advanced to the point where you can tune karts like Forza, but they should add more stats and make it more realistic. For example, every character should have a different weight in their weight class. Like, if Bowser is 10 stars, they might put Wario at 8 and DK at 7. Plus, that stat combines with the weight of the kart. I think they did this with DD, I don't really remember. And they shouldn't try extremely hard to make it balanced. I know this isn't SSB, but that game is the farthest from balanced and that's what makes it fun because every character is different.

And when it comes to handling I'm probably going to go with Mario Kart DS. I know it's like the N64 tight handling but I'd say its better tweaked if there is an actual/much of a difference. The SNES handling isn't bad but it probably won't work for a 3D game. SC handling was probably the worst. And for mini-turbos, I doubt we'll see MKDS's again...and I don't really care honestly because snaking sucks the fun out of Mario Kart. I know I'm going to get shot for saying this but really, think about it. I used to do it myself. Okay, so you win one race, but then you're finger hurts insanely bad from moving it so much. It's stupid.
And penguinwizard said something about orchestra music...honestly that doesn't fit with Mario Kart...AT ALL. Unless they make it realistic-er and not as cartoony, which I doubt they will.

[penguinwizard]

And penguinwizard said something about orchestra music...honestly that doesn't fit with Mario Kart...AT ALL. Unless they make it realistic-er and not as cartoony, which I doubt they will.

Okay then, whatever you call Smash Bros. Brawl's music (remixes?). The Brawl version of Mario Circuit would work well in Mario Kart and you know it.

There's a careful balance that needs to be struck regarding visuals. Mario Kart 64 was too far in the realistic direction, Mario Kart for GameCube was too far in the cartoony bubbly direction.

*looks at Fawful's roster* I wholeheartedly support Spitz as part of the cast even though I don't think Warioware characters fit in the Mario universe.

[Ultima Shadow]

I think we'd need to be careful of character bloat; you wouldn't want too many characters.

The original eight (Mario, Luigi, DK, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Wario, Bowser) need to stay. That much is certain.
Your second-tier-ish characters (Daisy, Waluigi, Koopa Troopa, Diddy Kong) ought to be in as well.
No babies, excluding Bowser Junior. If you must, have the Baby Mario Bros sharing a kart, but having Baby Daisy WHEN SHE DIDN'T EVEN EXIST is nothing short of stupid.
Not too many common enemies, maybe a couple of bosses. King Boo and Birdo would do fine. Kamek would be win but we can't expect it. Dry Bowser is dumb. As is Petey.
Wouldn't want too many characters from other game series. Funky Kong is awesome but mightn't fit too well, though he'd be nice for rounding out the roster.
Rosalina. This much is certain.

That leaves us with 19 characters, add on the Mii and that's 20. That's more than enough for a good racing game and it doesn't overdo itself. You could probably change around a couple of the ones on the outer (King Boo, Kamek, Funky Kong, the babies, Rosalina, maybe the Mii) but after that many characters it just gets a bit stupid.

And, just as an afterthought, couldn't you see costumes, like in Sonic Adventure 2, being used? Maybe they could change to suit the kart the racer is driving, or whatever, but having some of the more terrible characters as suits of others could be useful for cutting down on the more moronic decisions made in-game.