NintendObs Thinks: Mario Kart 9. August 26, 2022.
I'm calling it now 100% for Super Mario Kart’s 30th anniversary.
This is my biggest prediction for 2022. This is the one I am the most certain of. And this time I’ll fully explain why. Two weeks ago I concluded my previous NintendObs Thinks delving into reasons across the Mario franchise detailing how a brand-new Mario Kart game for Nintendo Switch could be a right fit for this year, mainly because let’s not forget the one and only upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated film scheduled for this holiday season. (You know, where Mario is voiced by Chris Pratt.) Now, I want to explore the greater reasons why the game would be happening this 2022 and what it would mean for Nintendo Switch, more than five years after its original launch.
But first, why Mario Kart 9? Why am I so sure about this specific name and not using “Mario Kart 9” as a tentative title? For starters, beginning with Mario Kart 7 on Nintendo 3DS up to current in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, recently every brand-new, mainline Mario Kart game on Nintendo hardware has been numbered, establishing a clear distinction between the core Mario Kart games and the series’s side projects such as Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart Home Circuit. This move effectively differentiated, in order of release, Super Mario Kart (MK1, SNES), Mario Kart 64 (MK2, N64), Mario Kart Super Circuit (MK3, GBA), Mario Kart Double Dash (MK4, NGC), Mario Kart DS (MK5, NDS) and Mario Kart Wii (MK6, Wii), along with Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8 and the latest Mario Kart 8 Deluxe from any other Mario Kart product not central to the series. Mario Kart 9 would be just that, the next quintessential Mario Kart game. Right here on Nintendo Switch.
And also, why August 26, 2022? Why am I predicting all the way to the exact release date with such an affirmed degree of confidence? The answer is self-evident. We’ve seen with the Super Mario Bros. 35th anniversary campaign how much Nintendo is able to celebrate when it comes to their indefectible mascot, Mario. This year, it’s Super Mario Kart which is celebrating its 30th anniversary since it launched in 1992. You are preemptively invited this August 27, a Saturday, hence why the previous Friday, just a day before, fits perfectly for the release of the next core title in the Mario Kart series. Right then in the summer.