Introduction to Mario Kart World

The upcoming Mario Kart World was initially intended to be released on the original Nintendo Switch console, as revealed in an interview. However, the development team soon realized that the console’s capabilities would not be sufficient to handle the game.

Challenges with the Original Switch

According to programming director Kenta Sato, "It was difficult for us to incorporate everything we wanted, so we were always conscious of what we were giving up in return.” One major issue was that the original Switch would have had to run the game at 30FPS, which is a significant departure from the 60FPS that Mario Kart games typically run at. This framerate is essential for simulating speed, making it a crucial aspect of the gaming experience.

Development and Decision to Move to Switch 2

The development team struggled with this "tough situation" until they decided to create more DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to buy themselves some time. Producer Kosuke Yabuki explained, "As we’d decided to release Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — Booster Course Pass, we thought that would give us a bit more time to continue development. That’s when the conversation of moving it to the Nintendo Switch 2 system came up, and this suddenly opened up a bunch of possibilities on what we could do. It was truly a ray of hope.”

Long Development Period

This interview also revealed that Mario Kart World has been in development since 2017, which is a considerable amount of time. However, given that the original Mario Kart 8 was released in 2014, it’s understandable that the development process has taken this long.

Game Features and Decisions

The game was always intended to feature an open world, and it was never going to be called Mario Kart 9. The developers aimed to "take the series to the next level" with this new installment. The large, connected world seems to achieve this goal. Yabuki explained, "I felt that in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, we were able to perfect the formula that we’d been following in the series up to that point, where players race on individual courses. That’s why, this time, we wanted the gameplay to involve players driving around a large world, and we began creating a world map like this.”

Conclusion and Release

In conclusion, delaying the game until the release of the Switch 2 was likely the right decision, considering the original console’s limitations. Recent first-party Switch titles have experienced significant framerate issues, and the original Switch would not have been able to handle races with 24 participants. With the game’s release scheduled for June 5, fans won’t have to wait much longer to experience Mario Kart World, especially if they’ve for the new console.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/mario-kart-world-was-initially-planned-for-the-original-switch-174704456.html?src=rss