Nintendo has premiered a new Mario Kart game for the Switch, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. The game was announced during the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary direct and the reveal for the game focused on special Mario and Luigi RC cars with cameras mounted to them, racing around a living room.
The company has been largely quiet when it comes to titles this year, but it seems the house of Mario has undoubtedly been hard at work behind the scenes. The relative quiet has given rise to rumors surrounding potential new titles and perhaps a new Nintendo Switch model, but nothing was concrete until today. Prior to today's announcement, the most recent Mario Kart console release was 2017's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which was an enhanced version of 2014's Mario Kart 8 that came with all previously released DLC and some slight gameplay tweaks.
With three (or six depending on how fans look at Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) years since the last Mario Kart console game, the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. proved to be the right time to announce a long-awaited new entry to the series. On its official YouTube channel, Nintendo posted a short video just under two minutes, showing gameplay of the new Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. The main focus of the reveal is the Mario and Luigi RC cars that are controlled by players, and function as a real-world version of their in-game car.
From the trailer, players will get four different gates that they can arrange any way they want to design their own tracks to race on. After placing the gates, it appears players will drive their RC car along the path they want, and that will become the augmented reality course that they race on in the game on the Switch.
Nintendo is no stranger to augmented reality gaming, Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection for the Switch, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is still a unique take on an almost-30-year-old franchise. Still, while the move is interesting and could theoretically provide countless different variations, there are a few questions left about the game – namely how realistic setting up these courses will be for those who do not have the large, open floor plan living rooms like the one in the trailer.
Theoretically, players with smaller homes could expand their courses to cover more rooms but realistically, things like furniture, pets, and roommates may not make that possible. There are other questions still, like can players save the courses they design and play them later? Are the courses shareable/able? Presumably, all these questions will be answered as the game's October 16th release date gets closer but even still, Nintendo's answers to these questions could affect whether or not fans buy Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit arrives exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 16, 2020.
Source: Nintendo - YouTube