Switch 2’s Mario Kart 9 appears to be hiding a big series change

Nintendo seemingly revealed a new Switch 2 Mario Kart game on Thursday, and fans think it also signalled a big shake up for the series in one key way.

Footage of an unspecified Mario Kart title appeared on-screen during the first look at Switch 2, with no clarification on what it was showing. However, the track is unrecognisable, and some characters sport new designs.

However, perhaps the most significant change was hiding in plain sight. In the footage, 15 characters can be seen on screen at once, heavily suggesting that Mario Kart 9 could expand the number of simultaneous players per race to more than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s 12.

Significantly, the footage could suggest Nintendo will expand the player count even higher than that, because if you count the number of grid places shown at the start of the track, they have room for 24 racers.

The brief footage also appears to show a design change for Donkey Kong. Whereas his recent Mario Kart appearances match the typical Donkey Kong design seen in most recent Nintendo games, this new Mario Kart footage shows a more cartoonish Donkey Kong with a sillier face.

Nintendo has yet to officially confirm a release date or price for Switch 2, or indeed any software titles. However, a Nintendo Direct focusing on the Switch 2 has been confirmed for April 2.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is by far Switch’s best-selling game, with 64 million sales as of September 2024, so it makes sense that a successor would be present for the launch of its next console.