Last time, I talked about characters, and said that since
crossover content would take up more than just characters, it would be
separate. Now I’m here to talk about all that content.
Characters make up the largest part of this crossover
content, as what came before will almost certainly be included in a new game
and added to. Remembering from the Future of Mario Kart post on characters last
month, I’d left light characters at 15, with both medium and heavy at 14. If we
now add in the crossover characters, Isabelle brings the light total to 16, Villager
and Inkling bring the medium total to 16, and Link brings the heavy total to
15.
Now, Kirby is easy pickings for a new light character, as
is Pikachu. I don’t question how a Pokémon learnt to drive, as technically
Toads can’t and Baby characters shouldn’t. Captain Falcon I am putting into the
heavy class, along with Samus. R.O.B. – the Robotic Operating Buddy who starred
in Mario Kart DS – is technically a crossover character, and is the final heavy
for the list. As for medium characters, Fox and Ness fill the two remaining
spaces. Miis – if this next Mario Kart game came to Switch – would fill out a
slot in each class.
Away from characters, the second largest part are the
karts they race in, and I think it would be a bad move to remove the wealth of
parts that have grown throughout the years. One thing I’m not so sure on
though, is that customisability needs to remain on the selection screen.
Instead, that moves to a garage section where you can mix and match parts that
get unlocked.
As for the crossover content in karts, there’s the Blue
Falcon and Streetle. For bikes, there’s the City Tripper and the Master Cycle (and
the Zero equivalent). For ATVs, there’s the Splat Buggy and Inkstriker. There’s
Triforce, Leaf, and Ancient wheels, with Hylian Kite, Paper Glider, and
Paraglider in gliders. The Triforce Wheels and Hylian Kite go with the Master
Cycle. The Leaf Wheels and Paper Glider go with both the Streetle and City
Tripper. Ancient Wheels and Paraglider go with the Master Cycle Zero.
That leaves the two Splatoon ATVs and the Blue Falcon for
vehicles without wheels or gliders, and I’m going to give them that. The
Splatoon ATVs get curling bombs for wheels and a Splat Brella as a glider. The
Blue Falcon gets a Falcon Wing glider – which is the logo from the Captain’s helmet.
Wheels don’t really matter with this kart, as they aren’t visible, but just to have
a full set of F-Zero gear I’m taking the colour scheme of another veteran
F-Zero racer and making the Wild Goose Wheels.
For the new franchises coming in, it would be easy to say
that Kirby uses his warp star as a vehicle, but that becomes a glider, with the
dragoon air ride machine being the vehicle with the Wheelie enemy becoming the
wheels. For Pikachu, and you might think it a tad unoriginal, a kart based on
Ivysaur with the wheels based on Squirtle’s shell and a glider based on Charizard.
There is some room to change that around, but that set-up is the one I’m using.
Fox gets an Arwing glider with an ATV based on the Walker
configuration and wheels from the Assault Landmaster. I’m less familiar with
the Metroid and Earthbound series, so I’m not going to try creating a vehicle
set for either of those. Having a Metroid as a glider would be fun, though. As
for R.O.B., it’s robots unite, as a vehicle set would consist of Custom Robo
and Chibi-Robo gear.
As for tracks, it’s easy to say that those who never had
a track get one. Kirby, Pokémon, Metroid, and Earthbound tracks make up one cup.
For Star Fox, I’m basing the track on Corneria – however predictable that may
be. It’s the flagship of the Starfox series, so it makes sense to use. Now, away
from the featured franchises, there’s three that can be combined into a marathon
track such as N64 Rainbow Road or Big Blue. It starts on a mountain styled
after the 1080 series, then launched into the air for a section similar to
Pilotwings, though a short one as a Wave Race-inspired section is up next.
For the last two crossover races, since Splatoon had a
battle arena last time, I’m putting in an actual race track for a new game.
There’s plenty of opportunities to create a wild track from various solo campaign
levels, or even create a winding track through one of the multiplayer arenas –
perhaps even while a fight is going on. The last one would be a new Animal
Crossing track based on the new game if it has released by the time a new Mario
Kart is ready to release. Using more of the area would be good, such as a
multi-tiered village to include a gliding section which would lead to the river
which would wind to the beach allowing access back to land.
As for battle stages, I was thinking of one based on
either the Wars or Fire Emblem series. For Wars, I was thinking of a recreation
of a small map from Advance Wars in the style of Battalion Wars. It would have
a small beach area with an underwater section, a small collection of buildings
and a small forest on the opposite side. Surrounding all this would be
mountains to mark the battle arena. As for Fire Emblem, roughly the same thing
but styled after the new game Three Houses.
I don’t think crossover items need to be added, and as
such will leave it here. Next time will be the last of these, and as such the
topic won’t be revealed yet.
Future of Mario Kart Series
Retro
Tracks Next in Line / Refresh
of the Grand Prix / Refreshing
Additions of the Feature Base / Characters
Come Together for Chaotic Crashes / Crossing
Over for Crossovers / Casting
in the Wilds for New Locations