PixlBit

Just give us Super Smash Kart/Super Kart Bros already

Yesterday Nintendo announced it was bringing other Nintendo characters for the first time in a Mario Kart game. This idea isn't new actually since Mario Kart DS had R.O.B. but obviously Link and Animal Crossing characters is a much bigger thing than an often forgotten Nintendo peripheral. For years fans have been clamoring for Nintendo characters to appear in a Mario Kart game, or make a Nintendo racing game. Like the Sonic All-Stars series and that game has the right idea cause of all the franchises in one racing game. I guess you can say this is a good start for Nintendo but is this foreshadowing a possible Nintendo racing crossover for the future? I hope so. I personally think that this is a way for Nintendo to test out to see if we really like the idea of other characters showing up in Mario Kart or in a future crossover title. Right now we have Link, the Villager, and Anabelle as new characters for the franchise, but what if there's more dlc to come afterwards? I mean Nintendo intends to keep you interested in Mario Kart 8 for a long time, hence why the dlc packs are too far spread out.

This is what got me thinking, what other characters could fit better in Mario Kart? It really wasn't hard to think of the characters that would fit in Mario Kart, I always assumed we would have gotten something similar to Mario like Kirby, but now that Link is in Mario Kart then I suppose anything is possible. But with Smash Bros adding an All-Star cast of characters in the game, both from first and third-party properties, I will focus on which franchises would fit in a Mario Kart title, not which characters would be in a Nintendo crossover racer, cause if that was the case, then let's add the entire Smash Cast. I'll be choosing characters based on if they fit in Mario Kart and ofcourse driving skills and whatnot, but that last point is pointless with Link. So let's see which characters should be behind the wheel.

Fox: Did you know Fox from the Star Fox series was going to be a character for Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed? It's true, or he was. Sumo Digital, the developer behind the incredible Sonic ASRT were thinking of adding guest characters for each version depending on the platform. I don't remember too much about it but one of the developers that I talked to a while back said that they originally had Fox planned for the game. I imagine he would drive a Landmaster, pilot an Arwing in the flying sections, and a Blue Marine for the water segments.

That alone sounded great and a neat incensitive to buy the Wii U version, but sadly it never came to pass. Some players said that the sound effect for the laser is still in the game with further hints the credibility of Fox being in the game. Heck the guy who I talked to said that for the PS3 version, they planned having Sackboy, and Master Chief or Banjo for the 360 version. That never happened too, heck they even wanted Megaman but Capcom refused like everyone else.

But back to the topic at hand, Fox is a great pilot, but can he drive? Of course he can if one of Star Fox Command's endings are to be believed. Get him a Landmaster tank for his vehicle, I guess a Blue Marine properller for the water portions, and an Arwing glider. I imagine he'll be a medium or heavy character with balanced stats or something cause Fox isn't too big.

 

Samus: Everyone's favorite intergalactic bounty hunter would be neat to have in the game. The question is, can Samus drive? Well she can pilot her Starship/Gunship so I suppose it's possible, but I think that the ship pilots itself. In Metroid Prime 3, you got to see how the ship looked like fromt he inside. All Samus did was input the commands for where you needed to go and the ship did the rest so it may be a bit more complicated than it sounds. But it shouldn't be a problem for Samus since she's been in tougher situations. But here's where we can get a bit creative, if she drives a car, she can have her Varia Suit, but if she's in a bike, she can be in ther Zero Suit. Why? Well Samus only has one free hand in her Varia/Power suit and you can drive a car with only one hand. On a bike, you'll need both hands on the handles at all times. See we're using logic in a video game while have 2 different uses for one character. She'll most likely be a heavy class character. 

 

Captain Falcon: Nintendo just loves teasing and trolling people with F-Zero and now with the Blue Falcon in Luigi's hands and Mute City as a track, we may never see a new F-Zero. So the only locigal step is to add Captain Falcon in Mario Kart. But can he drive? Well besides being a bounty hunter and having an attack that can end the universe, of course he can drive. He's probably the most qualified racer from this list and every character from Mario Kart. We'll probably never see a new F-Zero game because Mario Kart 8's gameplay is actually similar to F-Zero's so at least add him to Mario Kart 8. He will most likely be a heavy class character.

Bonus: Sonic, Pac-man, Megaman, and Snake: Yes I know I'm crazy, but it can work, sort of. Did you know that Mario was considered to be a playable character in the first Sonic All-Stars Racing game? Yep, it almost happened but he was cut out. Not because Nintendo said no, but rather because Mario was already in a crossover title with Sonic on the Olympic games. I would have rather taken Mario in a racing game with Sonic, but atleast Nintendo didn't say no. 3/4 of the characters on this paragraph have had a racing spin-off. Sonic has had 5 I think, but the most well known are the All-Stars Racing games, Pac-man had a really good racing game called Pac-man World Rally, even Megaman had one, I don't remember the name but you can unlock it in the Megaman X Collection. Snake doesn't have a spin-off title of this calibre, but wouldn't it be hilarious to see him in a kart? Heck even Banjo had one called Banjo Pilot and depending on your opinion, Nut's and Bolts. Alot of great franchises get racing spin-off titles, Crash got one, Jak and Daxter got one, but I'm still waiting on my Uncharted kart (Unkarted) racing game Naughty Dog.

 

Olimar: Yes the main character from the Pikmin games. He could fit in with the Mario Kart crowd because he looks like he came out from a Mario game. Actually Olimar's design was inspired by Mario's heck even Olimar's name is Mario, it's just a mish-mash of the name, minus the L. But can he drive? Well yes and no. Yes because he's a pilot for the Hocotate Freight company in his home planet and he's piloted 2 different ships, so he's experienced. But that still doesn't change the fact that he's crash landed on the Distant Planet (Earth) not once, not twice, but three times. Okay he didn't exactly crash landed on the planet, the first was an accident but you'd think he'd be prepared by now? So for now we'll just mark his driving skills as dubious. He may be a medium character though.

 

Kirby: When the dlc was first leaked/announced one of my first thoughts was that Kirby would fit so well in this game. Well dlc pack 2 was announced and my brother got angry. He said how dare they choose Animal Crossing over Kirby?! Well that was his opinion but I do think that Kirby would of been neat as a character for the game. I've touched on this subject before but Kirby was originally going to be a playable character on the 3DS version of Sonic ASRT. Sumo Digital had the character model for Kirby and his vehicle. But Nintendo didn't want him in the game because Sonic ASRT wasn't a Nintendo idea and they said that Mii's were good enough. Well now that we have Mario Kart 8 and new non-Mario dlc so the question is, why isn't Kirby on this since this is a Nintendo idea? 

 Kirby is the most versatile character out of Nintendo's repitoire of characters. There has never been a bad Kirby game to my knowledge, or I've never played a bad one. He would fit in so well with the cast of Mario Kart 8. But can he drive? He most certainly can. Kirby's been a driver for a long time now, he's been behind a wheel on Kirby's Tilt and Tumble's Kirby's Chicken Race and in Kirby's Air Ride. He is experienced, plus if we want to get into non-canon, Kirby also competed in a race against King Dedede in the Kirby Anime Kirby Right Back at Ya. And he won. One might argue that his hands wont even reach the wheel, well Shy Guy has the same hands as Kirby and he's doing just fine. Possble kart might be something from Kirby, like a Wheelie Bike or a star shapped car. Kirby will most likely be a light character.

Well there you have it, characters I want as dlc. Remember this is characters I want to see, not which franchises would fit into the Mario Kart universe. Because that became pointless when they added Link into Mario Kart. So which Nintendo characters would you like to see as possible Mario Kart 8 dlc? I know I left some out so it's up to you to tell me, plus if I listed the ones I left out, then there wouldn't be any fun in the comments. So thanks for reading and later.