Topic: The Great Worldbuilding of Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart World

In the wake of the recently diminished reputation of Mario Kart World, a game I personally love, I'd like to take a moment to express my appreciation for an aspect of the game and its predecessor that I rarely see mentioned online.

The Mario Kart series has always had great gameplay, with plenty of exciting racetracks to burn some rubber on. However, for much of the franchise's lifespan, the gameplay has taken precedence over the aesthetics. The tracks in the older games looked nice and fun, but they definitely for the most part weren't intended to feel realistic, as if you could really be there. The world was obviously a video game world, with nothing needed to be known beyond what was directly shown in each individual track.

All of that started to change with Mario Kart 8. Thanks to that game's gorgeous art style, there was significantly more care put into all the little details of the universe the game takes place in. Many of the tracks have believably designed architecture and environments, such as the deluxe ski resort on Mount Wario, the airport at Sunshine Airport, and the little town with pit stops and restaurants added to Yoshi's foot on GCN Yoshi Circuit. Not to mention all the details on the amazingly redesigned GBA Ribbon Road, which now looks like a toy car racetrack set bought from Toad Harbor's toy store, obviously built by a kid in their room. A room that I should add has a movie poster for the amusingly named Kung Fu Lakitu.

Then there's all of the fake brands created by the developers peppering the tracks like they would in real life. And far from sounding immediately fake, these brands actually seem like they could reasonably exist as real companies and products in the Mario universe. Fuzzy Battery, Larry Lights, Morton Construction, Boomerang Bros. Airlines, Burning DK energy drinks, Peach cosmetics, the Rainbow Exploration Agency, plus many more lovingly showcased in the awesome credits for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass DLC. All of this, mixed with the introduction of the Mario Kart Television broadcasting company capturing it all, really makes it feel like Mario Kart is a massive televised event watched by millions around Mario's world. It's an aesthetic that's extremely appealing to me.

This aesthetic then reached fantastic new heights with Mario Kart World. Now, the various tracks are no longer separated by loading screens; they all exist together in a unified landscape with many different biomes. Such cohesiveness makes the believable architecture design even better. Things like the massive suspension bridge to Crown City allowing travel over the ocean. The Boo Cinema movie theater having a branch in Crown City. (Does Kung Fu Lakitu play there?) Billboards on buildings and along the highways advertising services. Big electric towers and telephone lines supplying power from place to place. The Yoshi's restaurant chain located everywhere. The luxurious hotel resort at Peach Beach. The dinosaur laboratory in Dino Dino Jungle. The ancient Mario-themed ruins at the Great ? Block Ruins. A DJ rave party at Koopa Troopa Beach. The Toad Manufacturing company making item blocks at Toad's Factory. The DK Spaceport building and launching rockets, one of which you later see in space on Rainbow Road. There's so much there. And speaking of Rainbow Road, the moments when you head back down to Earth and see the planet and all of the tracks below you from above, soon followed by the credits showcasing all the fun photos a traveler has taken during their road trip across the game, is when it truly sets in how well everything is tied together. More than any other game in not just Mario Kart but the entire Mario franchise, Mario Kart World really makes the Mushroom Kingdom not only feel like a believable place, but an inviting place that you'd want to visit and live in. It's all so perfectly crafted to me, and feels joyous to experience.

So yeah, just wanted to sing the praises of a game I adore. Kudos to the developers for what they've made, and if you got this far, thanks for reading! 😀