Mario Kart World has a huge roster of characters. There are several pages of options when you begin a race, including some unique costumes for existing characters. Like many other games in the series, some of Mario’s most beloved characters are present. Unlike some games in the franchise however, there are some omissions also.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which precedes World, had a ton of Mario characters as well, but it also introduced iconic others from the pantheon of Nintendo. Link from The Legend of Zelda, inklings from Splatoon, and Animal Crossing’s Isabelle were added. You could also race with your Mii. In Mario Kart World, you can’t do that right now. You probably won’t ever be able to.
Other Nintendo Franchises Won’t Land in Mario Kart World
Racing as Link, Isabelle, or an inkling in Super Mario Kart 8D gave it a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate feel. It was like a culmination of Nintendo’s work over the last nearly 50 years put into one racing game. It made it hard to envision what they’d do with the next kart-racer. As it turns out, they’re not running it back.
Link, Isabelle, and others won’t be driving into Mario Kart World it seems. That was an intentional choice. Per IGN, producer Kosuke Yabuki said, “As developers, it would have seemed incongruous to us to add characters from other games to this universe. And it didn’t seem necessary to us, given everything we could already do with Mario.”
When pressed about his other game, Arms, Yabuki said he “absolutely” would not be adding characters from there to the racing game. “We inevitably wonder how the players will perceive this casting,” Yabuki added. “But there are so many characters and so many costumes that every player is sure to find what they are looking for.”
Fortunately, the producer is right. There are tons of characters and costumes to unlock. You can play as Cow, Mario, Peach, Bowser, Pauline, Donkey Kong, Birdo, Waluigi, Wario, Dolphin, King Boo, Lakitu, Cataquack, Conkdor, and Chargin’ Chuck.
Could More Mario Characters Be on the Way?
There is already a pretty expansive roster of Mario characters available in Mario Kart World. They’ve been there since launch, though some of them are a challenge to unlock. Could others be on the way in later DLC updates? It’s possible, but it’s not that likely given how many characters there already are.
The game has already dipped into random, seemingly unknown side characters for some of its rosters. Cataquack, Peepa, Fish Bone, Hammer Bro, Cow, and so many others are already there. The Mario universe is vast, but it’s not infinite. There just aren’t that many other characters that could be added.
Sure, characters such as Geno, Petey Piranha, Luma, Admiral Bobbery, Bob-omb, the Koopalings, Diddy Kong, Monty Mole, Ninji, and Boom Boom could be added. But those are really deep cuts, and they wouldn’t add much to the roster for the most part. Some would be welcomed, like Diddy Kong, but others would be met with questions. What’s far more likely is that more outfits are added along the way to keep things exciting.
Last Lap
Super Mario Kart World isn’t trying to be or outdo Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. If it was, it would’ve added Link, Zelda, Isabelle, Tom Nook, Ganondorf, K.K. Slider, the Inklings, Urbosa, Villagers, and more to the roster. There’s an expansive world out there of characters that could be added with ease, but that’s not the focus of the game. This game intends to be its own thing, unburdened by being bigger or grander than what came before it.
