5 Details Fans Noticed In The New Mario Kart Trailer (original) (raw)

Screenshot: Nintendo / Kotaku

Right now we only know about one game for the newly announced Nintendo Switch 2: the next Mario Kart. Nintendo didn’t reveal a title, but fans are already calling the kart racer Mario Kart 9 and scanning every frame of footage we got from the announcement trailer. We’ve gathered a few of those observations fans have made about elements that stick out in the brief glimpse we’ve gotten of the new game. Here are some of the details you might’ve missed in the new Mario Kart trailer.

We didn’t get a great look at all the characters, as much of the trailer focuses on the fireball-slinging plumber himself, but what we can see makes it look like some of Mario’s friends have gotten a makeover. Donkey Kong is the most immediate example, as he now looks closer to his Super Mario Bros. Movie incarnation than to his Mario Kart 8 model. Meanwhile, everyone seems a little bit more squished, like they appear in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

There’s a shot in the trailer of what looks like 24 total starting points on a race track. This implies the next Mario Kart may include races of up to 24 players at a time. This is double the 12-player races of Mario Kart 8, and probably accounts for some of the larger tracks players have noticed. However, some also speculate the game might have some kind of open-world exploration element similar to games like Crash Team Racing.

Rosalina is returning as a playable character this time around, and her kart looks a little bit different than everyone else’s. Fans pointed out her ride looks like a snowmobile rather than the wheel-sporting vehicles of most other characters. This isn’t a first for the series, but many fans probably haven’t played the mobile game Mario Kart Tour where they were introduced.

At one point in the trailer you can see a burger stand that is seemingly run by Yoshi? Or is Yoshi the meat? I’m suddenly left with more questions than answers about this establishment. But fans realized the burger joint is actually shaped like Yoshi. Its windows are his eyes and the top bun covering the entrance is his snout. It’s cute!

Yoshi has a burger stand of some kind, but in keeping with a long series tradition, there’s also branding seen in the trailer that references other characters and entities. There’s a brief shot where you can see the logo for Morton’s Construction, a reference to one of the Koopalings, and you can see logos for sponsors on the tracks like Luigi Tires, Mario Motors, Mario Kart TV, and 1-Up Fuel.

Those are just a few of the details folks are pointing out, and there will no doubt be more discoveries as Mario sickos comb through the trailer. Beyond that, we’ll more than likely hear more about the next Mario Kart in April when Nintendo holds its Switch 2 Direct on April 2.