I think it’s pretty well accepted among fans of the Mario Kart franchise that Mario Kart 7 on 3DS (nitpick mode activate: it’s actually not the seventh instalment, if you count arcade versions and assorted other miscellany) was a milquetoast entry. Sure, it was fun enough, and made some strides that ultimately would find their way into Mario Kart 8 – aka the best one in the series, and possibly one of the best kart racers ever conceived – like gliding and underwater bits; but a pervasive sense of blandness permeated the whole thing.
The courses were flat. The character roster, baffling (the Queen Bee? Seriously?). The graphics, washed out. The online, subpar. The single player content, practically nonexistent. Much like the burning rubber tires on a B Dasher, it all felt like the devs were going through the motions, round and round in circles. Except for its take on Rainbow Road. Now that’s an absolute all-timer. Nintendo, include it in the new season pass, per favore.
Well, turns out it’s not just us who might feel like Mario Kart 7 lacked a bit of lustre. This goes all the way to the top. Per a new report from NintendoLife, employees at Retro Studios – the Nintendo subsidiary of Donkey Kong Country and Metroid fame who assisted with the title – were less than enthused by it. According to “environment artist Ted Anderson, many weren’t too keen to work on [the] game,” and that “the team was initially brought in to help Nintendo get over the finish line, but ended up creating entire tracks,” for which they felt ill-prepared. This may go some way to explaining the basic nature of some of the tracks (looking at you, Toad Circuit), constrained by uncertain devs on their first foray into the genre.
Mr. Anderson tells all
Anderson’s full statement is as follows:
“Initially I think we were supposed to help them finish stuff out and help them get over the finish line. It ended up being where we ended up making more than that; we ended up making entire tracks from scratch. It was kind of funny, because I remember initially that a good deal of the team was kind of not super-duper excited about that, but I was stoked, I was thinking ‘this is gonna be awesome’. Everybody else was kinda like ‘ok, I guess we’re gonna have to do this’, and I’m like ‘what are you talking about, we’re gonna make a Mario Kart game for the 3DS’ – wow!“
Well, if nothing else, at least ol’ Ted was excited. Of course, the game was shipped on time, so something must eventually have clicked; the report notes that “what changed for the team is unclear, but it’s possible that given the scope of their involvement increased beyond the initial requirement, enthusiasm may have been given a much needed bump.” I imagine the prospect of a bigger paycheck probably helped with that, eh lads?
If you’re curious, you can have a gander at the interview with Anderson below:
What’s your opinion on this possible explanation as to why Mario Kart 7 felt so barebones? Are you actually a fan of the handheld classic? Let us know!
