Entertainment Kart World: Producer reveals the challenges behind the new phase of the franchise

It’s been eight years since the last release of a game in the series Mario Kart for a console of Nintendobut the wait is almost in the end.

And though Mario Kart 8 Deluxe2017, did not arrive exactly with the release of the original Nintendo Switch, fans around the world will be able to speed up the starting line this time, as Mario Kart World will be released on the first day of the new Switch 2.

Different from the 2017 version (nicknamed Deluxe), Mario Kart World (arriving on June 5) is not just an update of a previous title, but a new entrance to the beloved racing franchise, developed from scratch to the Nintendo’s next generation console.

With high definition charts, races with up to 24 players and vast environments to explore, Mario Kart WorldHe intends to take the series to a new level in the modern age of games. But in the best style NintendoCreating a sequence for a video game classic goes beyond simply adding more content.

For the developers of Entertainment Planning and Development Division from the Nintendo (or Nintendo EPD), reformulate a concept such as Mario Kart It requires a delicate balance: one must remain true to the spirit of the franchise while betting on new ideas – many of which were actually existed, but had previously been discarded by technical limitations of past consoles.

THE Rolling Stone talked to the producer of Mario Kart World, Kosuke yabukito talk about the challenges of reinventing the series to a new generation of players, the design of the interconnected world of the game and how the concept of “balance” has become essential in more than one meaning.

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

Since entering the company in 2005, Yabuki He has become a company veteran, with experience in various generations of consoles. He started as a planner in Mario Kart Wii(2008), then directed Mario Kart 7 (2011) and Mario Kart 8 (2014). Now, as a producer of Worldit brings a valuable baggage to the process.

This knowledge made Yabuki And your team knew from an early age exactly what they wanted to differentiate the new game from a simple continuation (Mario Kart 9): Create an interconnected world and allow races with 24 players instead of the standard of 12.

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