Mario Kart World is set to release on June 5, the same day the Nintendo Switch 2 arrives in Mexico and other markets. As the follow-up to the best-selling game on the original Switch, it’s easily the most hyped launch title for this new console. Still, its exclusivity has left some fans frustrated.
That reaction is understandable: most players will have to wait until they upgrade their hardware to join the race. But according to Nintendo, there’s a good reason the game isn’t coming to the first Switch.
After all, much has been said about the technical capabilities of the Nintendo Switch 2. While it might not pack as much raw power as the latest Xbox or PlayStation, it’s a huge leap over the 2017 original. And Mario Kart World is built to prove it.
Mario Kart World faced technical hurdles
Nintendo recently published an interview in which designers, directors, and producers of the game spoke at length and shared previously unreleased details about the newest installment in the popular Super Mario Bros. spin-off.
Producer Kosuke Yabuki confirmed that development began in March 2017, but the project was never envisioned as Mario Kart 9. The team wanted to create something innovative that would take the franchise “to the next level,” which led to the idea of an open world with interconnected tracks.
“If the idea had just been to add more courses, then I think we would’ve called it Mario Kart 9,” Yabuki explained. “But that wasn’t our approach this time.”
And while the concept was exciting, it quickly ran into trouble. Technical constraints on the original Nintendo Switch quickly became a major obstacle, and implementing 24-player races and other features pushed the hardware to its limits. At one point, the team even considered scaling back their vision.
“When we were developing for the Nintendo Switch system, it was difficult for us to incorporate everything we wanted, so we were always conscious of what we were giving up in return,” programming director Kenta Sato said. “We discussed things like toning down the visuals, lowering the resolution, and we even considered dropping the frame rate to 30 fps in some cases. It was a tough situation.”
Given how beloved Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had become, the team feared disappointing fans with a compromised experience. Yabuki admitted that things became even more complicated as they kept postponing these problems.
Originally meant for the first Switch
The team wanted Mario Kart World to offer more immersive gameplay and the freedom of open-world driving. But the technical limitations of the original Switch made it clear that the console couldn’t handle the load.
According to Yabuki, the release of the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe gave them more time. Eventually, though, a radical idea emerged: abandon the 2017 console version and focus entirely on the Switch 2.
The decision, made around 2020, “opened up a world of possibilities and truly felt like a ray of hope” even though the new console’s specs were still unknown. The team had to work based on rough estimates of the console, but focusing on a single one allowed them to bring their ideas to life, and even go beyond what they had initially imagined.
“Once we decided to release this game on Switch 2, we expected our worries to evaporate all at once. I remember being overjoyed when I discovered we could express even more than we’d originally set out to,” Sato noted.
But what about you? Would you have played a limited version of the game if it meant having it on the original Switch? Let us know in the comments.