Feature: Three Laps, Two Players, One Vegas Jumpsuit

Image: NintendoMario Kart World has been on the circuit for over a month now, and after a decade of its predecessor, it’s great to be playing something that feels fresh.

That’s not to say all of its innovations have gone down well, with a vocal contingent of players taking against Nintendo’s updates and approach to Grand Prix mode, with the ‘intermission’ routes drawing particular ire from people who prefer the traditional three-lap race-around-a-circuit.

Given the sales numbers, it’s safe to say that Nintendo will be supporting this one for a while. And given the furore around its eyewatering $80 price tag, we don’t imagine there’ll be paid DLC coming for a long while. We do imagine free updates that include not just minor tweaks but perhaps additional features, modes, costumes, and maybe even new characters.

Let’s take a look at what’s at the top of Team NL’s wishlist…

Waypoint the way – Ollie Reynolds, staff writer
Image: Nintendo
Given the recent controversy around the apparent lack of traditional three-lap races, I think it’s only sensible that Nintendo introduces a bit more customisation when it comes to choosing how we race. So yes, let’s see a ‘Classic Grand Prix’ mode that just allows us to jump from one track to the next for those familiar, comforting three-lap bouts.

Don’t stop there, though. Why not let us completely customise our own Knockout race by choosing any four tracks from the map? It could make for some truly unique races! If that’s not enough, I think it would be neat if you could select your own start and end waypoints from any point on the map, incorporating any track that happens to fall in between.

Ultimately, Mario Kart World holds massive potential that, at the moment, I feel is being held back somewhat. Nintendo needs to unshackle World from its Chain Chomp.

Put a pin in it – Alana Hagues, deputy editor
Image: Nintendo
If you’ve avidly read everything Mario Kart World on Nintendo Life, you probably know Jim and I have been responsible for putting most of the guides together. So, um, it won’t surprise you all that I really, really could’ve done with a map marker, Nintendo.

A mix of ways to track your collectibles or mark a location on the map would’ve been a godsend, but it also would’ve allowed me to remember places that are perfect for snapping photos or messing around with friends. I admittedly love stumbling across things on the map, but there were times when I was trying to do something else, like chase a Nabbit or attempt a P Switch.

On that subject, if you’re going to give us stickers, let us put more than one sticker on our vehicles. What’s the point in a cute little reward if they’re barely noticeable?

Lastly, for something a bit more left-field (and to echo Ollie), how about a design-your-own Knockout Tour? I am thinking waaaay out of the box here, I know, but imagine how cool it would be to actually choose your routes between courses.

You’ve got a friend in me – Jim Norman, staff writer
Image: Nintendo
I have been thoroughly enjoying MKW. My friends have also been enjoying it, from what I understand. So why, oh why, can it sometimes feel like such a headache trying to play with them?

Local multiplayer Free Roam feels like the lowest-hanging fruit here (it sure would have made finding all those P Switches a lot easier), and while there is some semblance of a workaround, it ain’t the full-fat experience I’m after.

Even if Free Roam is off the table, can we at least have it so I can add friends to pre-existing online lobbies? If I’m playing with one group and then the lovely Felix-from-Nintendo-Life-here pops up online, there’s currently no way for me to add him to my lobby so we can all play together. Oh no. Instead, I’ve got to clear everyone out and start all over again with a fresh room. God forbid I do all of that only for Zion-from-Nintendo-Life-here to come online after a race or two…

I’ll be willing to forget all of the above, however, if my beloved Koopalings were to rejoin the roster. I miss Roy.

New Kids on the (?) Block – Gavin Lane, editor
Image: Nintendo
As Jim has brought up the roster, Kid Pauline from the upcoming DK Bananza feels like a no-brainer addition to the roster. Both DK and his muse are light in the costume department, too, and given the multitude of unlockable get-ups in Bananza, slipping more outfits (and therefore more food?) into MKW makes eminent sense. Who doesn’t want Vegas Jumpsuit Waluigi?

Back on the subject of DKB, after reading the preview coverage and considering potential lore implications of a teenage Pauline on the hallowed and very much canonical Mario/DK timeline (you just know Nintendo’s got a doc somewhere), it’s got me thinking about teenage versions of other Mushroom Kingdom residents. We’ve had the babies, now it’s time for the t(w)eens. Yes, you heard it here first: this is the real reason Nintendo gave Charles Martinet his P45. He just wasn’t quite able to nail Squeaky-Voiced Teen Mario.

Am I 100% serious? Perhaps 50%, but I would enjoy seeing what Nintendo’s artists did with a ‘Waluigi-but-a-teenager’ brief. If they’re scraping the Mushroom Kingdom barrel (hey, I love Conkdor as much as the next man, but c’mon!) and they’re holding back the Links and Inklings and wider Nintendo universe characters for some reason, sure, give me Peach with a pimple. Give me edgy, emo Toad. Show me Wario before he went off the rails.

C’mon, don’t you want to see an official, safe-for-work teenage Bowser? — Image: Nintendo
Oh, and 200cc, I suppose. Preferably with an obscure unlock method involving rune symbols drawn in Mouse Mode and getting three-star golds in every online Knockout Tour by reversing over each checkpoint line.

There are some of our thoughts, but there are loads of other tweaks we’d make to items and other elements – let us know which proposals above you’d most like to see added in the poll, and share your ideas in the comments.