Mario Kart 7 has now sped into player’s 3DS’ across the globe and many are left wondering, is the Mario Kart franchise stuck in the pits? With each game featuring only slight variation from it’s predecessor some have laid accusations against the series of spinning it’s wheels, without any forward momentum. While this is undeniably true, it does not necessarily constitute a bad thing.
For a series such as Mario Kart, it has long since reached the point of it’s gameplay’s peak. No one can deny that Mario Kart is at the best it can possibly be. So why is it a crime considered mortal sin, for Nintendo to simply reproduce that winning formula time and time again?
Well, that boils down to player fatigue. After so many iterations of the same essential game it is to be expected for fans to tire of the series. Does this fatigue mean that Nintendo need to change the series radically, to make it fresh? No, it certainly does not.
In fact, if Nintendo did change the game radically, it would garner similar results to what conspired with Metroid: The Other M. Fans would rebel against the change, good or not, as that is the very nature of Nintendo fans. They are instilled with a strong sense of hatred for any change to the series in which they hold in such high regard, positive or not.
While change is not a bad thing, it most certainly would be for the Mario Kart franchise. For a series that has simply reached the highest point it can possibly reach in terms of gameplay, there is simply no reason to alter the core gameplay of Mario Kart. People do not play Mario Kart for a revolutionary new experience, they play it because they want to play Mario Kart.
It is the chemicals that comprise Mario Kart, that draws people to it – that core at it’s center that makes it Mario Kart. So no, Mario Kart shouldn’t change, because the industry and those who consume it’s products, would be worse off without the Mario Kart experience. While there may not be any big innovations in Mario Kart’s future, there will always and I mean ALWAYS be a place for Mario Kart in the gaming world. Don’t change, Mario Kart, you’re fine just the way you are.
