Mario Kart World was nearly released for the original Switch. It's fortunate that it didn't.

      Nintendo of America via YouTube

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      We are just under two weeks away from the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 and, consequently, Mario Kart World. In anticipation of the launch, Nintendo has shared an in-depth developer interview about the game that reveals some intriguing details. For instance, the development team had initially intended to release MK World on the original Switch—seriously.

      In the latest edition of Nintendo’s “Ask the Developer” interview series, some of the game's key developers mentioned that it was established early in development that the sequel to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe would need to be a more expansive experience, rather than being limited to closed circuits. The team also aimed to increase the number of racers from 12 to 24. Given that MK8 had already pushed the original Switch to its limits, it was evident that compromises would be necessary to achieve this on the existing hardware.

      “When we were developing for Nintendo Switch, we often worried about finding the right balance between planning and performance,” said programming director Kenta Sato. “The Switch system’s performance is certainly adequate for developing various types of games, but if we had included everything we wished to in this vast world, it wouldn’t have run at 60 fps and would have experienced constant framerate drops. I think many team members were concerned about whether we could truly manage it.”

      Sato expressed his excitement when the decision was made in 2020 to transition the game to Switch 2, as it allowed him and his team to fully realize their vision for MK World without the performance and visual compromises that would have been necessary on the current platform. The game had been in prototyping since as early as 2017, meaning it has been in development for nearly the entire eight years of the Switch’s lifecycle.

      Five years ago, Sato and his team were still uncertain about the specifics of Switch 2's architecture, and it wasn’t until "a bit later" that they received functioning development kits. Nonetheless, the transition seemed to invigorate the team.

      “Of course, the graphics had to be enhanced,” commented art director Masaaki Ishikawa. “But like Sato-san, I felt that the relief outweighed the need for more detail. From the start, the designers wanted to enrich the artwork, so I felt we could achieve that now. For example, team members working on the terrain were thrilled because they could now add more trees, which are vital for creating a more natural looking environment.”

      Transitioning from MK8’s vibrant yet limited environments to a barren map lacking trees and other environmental features that lend depth to the game would have been quite striking. Adding to that a performance target of 30 fps would have negatively impacted the game’s smoothness, responsiveness, and overall sense of speed, indicating that MK World on the original Switch would have been unable to deliver the quality that has allowed MK8 to remain popular over a decade since its original release on the Wii U.

      If you’re looking forward to Mario Kart World, I strongly suggest checking out the rest of Nintendo’s interviews, which discuss everything from the challenges of crafting a soundtrack for a seamless open world to the complexities of the game’s new day/night cycle and weather system. It will undoubtedly be a challenge to surpass Mario Kart 8, but World certainly has the ambition to try.

      Yes, that’s a course inspired by the original Donkey Kong seen in the distance on the left. Nintendo of America via YouTube

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