Mario Kart 9 Should Only Have New Tracks

Mario Kart 9, which is allegedly in development according to new industry reports, should only have new tracks. Unlike other Mario Kart games, including the best-selling Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Nintendo Switch, Mario Kart 9 should take a step back and focus on innovation in the series, not nostalgic trips to the past. Considering the reports say that Mario Kart 9 will involve a new twist, it’s not out of the question that the game goes in a different direction than expected.

Historically, in recent Mario Kart entries, each game has new tracks, as well as tracks that were featured in previous games. While it’s fun to have a little bit of a throwback, the number of retro racing tracks compared to the number of brand new courses has become a bit uneven. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, for example, there are 48 courses and about half of them are tracks that fans already played in prior games.

Especially since Mario Kart 9 will come out on Nintendo Switch, unless Nintendo decides to announce a new console between now and the game’s release, players will already have access to the retro tracks available in Mario Kart 8. Now, more than ever, it doesn’t make sense to have a new game full of already released material. Instead, it’s time for Nintendo to release a Mario Kart different than other entries with only brand new tracks for the first time in years.

Why Mario Kart 9 Shouldn’t Have Retro Courses

Even though the retro courses in Mario Kart are fun, playing and replaying the same tracks over and over again feels tedious. Since the repeated courses were introduced to the series, a good majority of the selection for players has been the same for the past two decades. It’s not necessarily bad to have some familiar territory, but it’s time that the franchise progressed and added in new content, and now is a perfect opportunity.

While a Mario Kart game with completely new tracks may not be the twist that developers are envisioning, it still would be a fresh take on the series and it could allow for more crossovers, which fans have been requesting. Freeing up space to add in more courses means that Nintendo could add in more content inspired by other Nintendo series, like The Legend of Zelda and AnimalCrossing in Mario Kart 9. It’s great that Mario Kart 8 has so many tracks, but at this point in the franchise’s life, it’s time to get a revamped experience in Mario Kart 9 with a bunch of brand new courses, even if that means there may not be as much content as last time.

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