The value of a gaming franchise can often be seen in more than just sales figures. Often, you can tell just how vital a brand is to a developer or publisher by how many spin-off titles it produces, where a lead character is placed in a situation different to the one gamers are used to seeing them in.
Of course, the king of the spin-off is undoubtedly Mario, who has found himself in many different situations throughout the years. Starting off with Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo (which itself has spawned 5 sequels and an arcade game), the platforming plumber has also tried his hand at Pinball, Baseball, Basketball and Soccer over the years, as well as having a regular sideline in board games (Mario Party) and fighting (Super Smash Bros).
Mario Kart DS still plays a fine game of handheld Mario Kart more than 20 years after its initial release.
I really liked the Mission Mode. They had you doing crazy stuff like driving backwards, or collecting all the collectibles as quick as you can between a litter of enemies.
They should add it to Mario Kart 9 for sure, along w online leaderboards for the mission stuff. That's how they could expand on the already excellent Mario Kart 8, bc track quality it's hard to imagine them getting much better beyond slightly tighter graphics and 4k on the Switch 2. Maybe more Diddy Kong Racing-esque adventure layout w more emphasis on boats and planes.
It's hard to say that Mario Kart DS is the best "handheld Mario Kart" though, bc Mario Kart 8 is handheld. It's definitely got some uniqueness that I appreciated. The 2 merged together would be amazing.
I don't think Mario Kart 8 (and Deluxe) rank too highly for me, personally. There's just not as much life in them.
Mario Kart Double Dash, MKDS and Super Mario Kart are the only three that are actually fun to play. Sure MK8 is pretty but its just that. It lacks the soul of double dash. the DS one controls really really well and the orignial with the feather power up is cool.
Hard to disagree with that, really how can all the other games (especially after it) have less single player content?
DKR managed a better game on the 64 and Mario Kart gets away with literally the bare minimum all the time.
Shaz from GL writes: “Though things haven’t looked the best for the ‘Blue Blur’ in recent years, here’s hoping ‘Sonic Superstars’ can keep up with ‘Mario Wonder’.”
Yes most people will just buy both it's not 1992 anymore.
Retro fans will buy both, families will probably end up with both eventually fans of specifically those two out of nostalgia have careers and enough income to buy both
I don't see a problem
Hardly competing. It's releasing on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series and Xbox One, Wonder isn't.
Absolutely, but it certainly won't be because the 2 games released around the same time. Mario is more popular and typically the games are better.
Nintendo's beloved racing series has been around for more than three decades, but which are the best Mario Kart games?
