Mario Kart World is the next entry in the long-running arcade racing series, and it’s also the big launch game for the Nintendo Switch 2, which is just two weeks away. Though it looks new and shiny on Switch 2, it didn’t always look this way, as Nintendo originally planned for the game to be Switch title. Doing so would’ve required lowering the resolution and frame rate, which, amongst other things, is what prompted Nintendo to shift development to the Switch 2.
This news comes from a new four-part interview series with some of the leads behind Mario Kart World, including producer Kosuke Yabuki, programming director Kenta Sato, art director Masaaki Ishikawa, general gameplay design lead Shintaro Jikumaru, and music lead Atsuko Asahi. In the interview, the team discusses an assortment of topics, including the new character designs, the interconnected world, and how the game began development on Switch.
“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,” Sato said in Part 1 of the interview series. “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.”
Sato said Yabuki first suggested developing the game for Switch 2 instead of Switch around 2020, but the team had to work on provisional estimated specs as the console’s insides weren’t yet finalized. He also said that while developing for Switch, the team “often worried” whether it could find the right balance between planning and performance, and with everything happening in Mario Kart World, it struggled to get it running at 60 frames per second.
Yabuki added, “We worked on it while kicking the can down the road in terms of deciding what to give up on, so at some point, we knew it was going to get messy. But as we’d decided to release Mario Kart 8 – Booster Course Pass, we thought that would give us more time to continue development. That’s when the conversation of moving it to the Nintendo Switch 2 system came up, and this suddenly opened up a bunch of possibilities on what we could do. It was truly a ray of hope.”
In the interview, Ishikawa explained that migrating to Switch 2 encouraged the team to make the art richer and explore what it wanted to achieve in Mario Kart World. And thus, the Mario Kart World we’ll be playing on June 5 became what we’ve seen in trailers and screenshots.
Speaking of which, check out this massive batch of Mario Kart World screenshots, and then read Game Informer’s hands-on preview of Mario Kart World. After that, read about why Nintendo feels Mario Kart World’s $80 price point is justified.
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