Six Ways to Build a Better Mario Kart

By borrowing from their competition, Nintendo’s racer could go from staid to stellar.

By: Marty Sliva
December 6, 2011

If you’d like to find a title that best indicates Nintendo’s stubborn aversion towards adapting to the current gaming climate, look no further than Mario Kart 7. It presents itself boldly as a Nintendo product with no regard for changes or advancements that the competition may have employed; and while this pride has led to some of their greatest triumphs, it’s also contributed to many of their memorable missteps. As we pointed out in our staff review, there’s nothing inherently bad about MK7 — in fact, many of us still find ourselves playing the game even during this season’s deluge of titles. It’s just that we’ve grown weary of the creative rut that the franchise has found itself in over the past few installments.

In order to bring Mario Kart back to its former glory, Nintendo would be wise to take a look back at their competition; after all, it’s no secret that traces of Mario Kart DNA can be found in countless titles within the racing genre and beyond. There’s no denying that each of the following games took inspiration from the Mario Kart franchise in various amounts, but they did so while also bringing a few unique ideas to the table. Nintendo should take note that being in first place doesn’t mean you can’t learn a thing or two by checking your rear-view mirror.