Even though Nintendo has yet to confirm the game's existence, Mario Kart 9 rumors are abundant. According to leakers, an upcoming Mario Kart game could feature anything from reworked item boxes to a long list of Nintendo crossover characters. Mario Kart 9 likely isn't coming out anytime soon, since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be received DLC well into 2023 thanks to the Booster Course Pass, but it's still exciting to hear that an experimental Mario Kart game could come to Switch in the future. If Nintendo really is trying lots of new things in the next game, then it should consider adding a course creator.
The Mario Kart franchise has always offered a rich roster of courses, both new ones and retro courses pulled from past Mario Kart games. Nevertheless, it's hard to match the kind of variety that can be generated when players can make their own courses. Mario Kart is simple enough to enable course creation, as long as Nintendo supplies fans with plenty of parts to do so. Nintendo has gained lots of experience in player-driven game design in recent years, too, so it has the right kind of knowledge to make a Mario Kart course editor work. It's just a matter of taking the leap.
Imagining a Mario Kart Course Editor
Assembling a Mario Kart course editor would certainly be a little more complicated than Nintendo's previous experiments, since it's in 3D, but the groundwork would be fairly simple. Nintendo could provide players with Super Mario Maker-esque lists of parts to choose from, including road segments, obstacles, ramps, and special terrain to assemble as they choose. If players can choose Super Mario-inspired course themes, edges of the track, Item Box locations, and so on as they assemble the road itself, a Mario Kart course maker could be pretty simple.
Custom levels would really help diversify the local Mario Kart experience, but the value of adding a Mario Kart course editor would go well beyond playing at home. If players can upload and download each other's levels, leave ratings, and compete online on custom courses, then Mario Kart 9 could generate a lot of hype for the franchise through player creativity. Mario Kart fans would undoubtedly start creating highly challenging racecourses for each other with Mario Kart 9's help, encouraging players of all kinds to keep playing, improve their skills, and try out all the hardest custom courses available. Custom courses seem like they could improve all sides of Mario Kart.
Nintendo's Level Editor Skills
A theoretical Mario Kart 9 level editor is bound to succeed thanks to Nintendo's own level editing expertise. The Super Mario Maker games were both smash hits that resulted in all kinds of clever fan creations; Super Mario Maker 2's improvements on its predecessor show how Nintendo has learned to optimize the level editing experience too. These are far from Nintendo's only level making games either. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate brought back a stage creator, and Game Builder Garage allows the wholesale creation of video games. Nintendo has developed some serious skills in designing level editors, and that shouldn't go to waste.
Odds of Mario Kart 9 actually featuring a level editor are low, unfortunately, since the Mario Kart franchise is generally averse to such drastic changes. What's more, if the new game really does feature so many Nintendo crossover character, Nintendo will probably put its energy into getting those characters and their courses right. If those rumors aren't true, though, a course editor seems like the perfect way to set Mario Kart 9 apart from previous games. Hopefully Nintendo is willing to take some risks when it's settling on core features to build into the next Mario Kart game.
Mario Kart 9 is rumored to be in development.