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Alright, yes, let’s start out with the “big news of the day” the Nintendo Switch 2 has OFFICIALLY…been unveiled by Nintendo. We saw the console, we got the reconfirmation that it’ll be fully backward compatible outside of a few select titles, likely referring to LABO and other things of that nature, and that we’ll find out more about the console on April 2nd via a massive Nintendo Direct that people are already counting down the days for. However, one of the key announcements within the 2-minute video was the reveal of a new Mario Kart game, and it looks pretty good!
Obviously, we only got the smallest of teases about it. However, eagle-eyed viewers noted that there were some small details that teased what the game could be like. For example, one of the biggest things was the track everyone was racing on. It featured a restaurant called “Yoshi’s,” and that alone says a lot, as we’re likely getting plenty of new tracks for this new title.
Sticking with characters, many noticed that Donkey Kong looked a bit different than he had in the past. Specifically, he looks more like the movie version of the character from the animated film with Mario. Or, if you’re really old-school, the original DK arcade games. Perhaps Nintendo wanted to “spice things up a bit” with his look, which could imply that other characters might get a bit of an “upgrade,” too.
Easily, one of the most interesting teases is that if you count the “starting pads” for the racers, you’ll notice that the number of racers possible isn’t 12 like in most Mario Kart games, but 24! That speaks to the increased processing power of the Nintendo Switch 2 and how The Big N will push the competitive and online aspects of the game. Not only that, this definitively confirms that the game’s roster will have over 24 characters, as they don’t allow for duplicates within a single race. Undoubtedly, gamers will start speculating over what the other characters will be, not only from the “obvious side of things” like Mario, Luigi, DK, Yoshi, Wario, Peach, Daisy, and so on, but possibly the “unexpected, “like when the last entry had Link, the Inklings and Isabella.
All told, having this game be the launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2 is a good move, as it’ll bring in people instantly, get the online market rolling and set things up for a LONG set of sales, just like its predecessor before it.