Mario Kart Joyride | |
Developer(s) | Blender Maximum Nintendo |
Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
Platform(s) | Nintendo Switch |
Genre(s) | Racing |
Were you looking for Mario Kart Joyride?
Mario Kart Joyride is an upcoming video game for the Nintendo Switch. It is slated to be the ninth mainline entry in the Mario Kart series (or tenth if including the Switch Mario Kart 8 Deluxe port of the original eighth installment). The game, like 8 Deluxe, provides a heavier emphasis on Battle Mode than past installments, but also returns DS's Mission Mode in a new fashion as well.
Gameplay[]
Joyride's gameplay is mostly unaltered from that of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Players can customize their karts using a selection of bodies, wheels, gliders, and propellors to their liking. Characters are split into five weight classes, each with their own stats. The player moves by holding the A or Right button on the JoyCon (or the JoyCon Grip), and drift with the ZR or SR button. Item Boxes, which give the player a randomly-selected item for his or her use, can be found on the game's tracks. These items are used with the ZL or SL buttons. The B or Down button can also be used to break. Hitting the drift button immediately after hitting the pinnacle of a ramp will allow players to perform a "trick" that provides a short speed boost for the player. Gliding and driving underwater are possible as in the past two iterations, and anti-gravity driving returns as well. If the player(s) do not want to fall off the course, there is also a driving assist mode that will allow that.
Battle Mode[]
There are six types of Battle Modes. The first is Balloon Battle. In this mode, each character starts out with five balloons attached to their karts. The goal in this mode is to use items to either steal others' balloons or hit other characters, gaining more points. If a character loses all of their balloons, however, they will disappear from the main game. Instead, the character will be able to get only Bob-Ombs from Item Boxes, of which they can hold five of at a time. Characters can use these Bob-Ombs to steal Bob-Ombs from other players out of the game or to take balloons away from players still in. Characters still in the game can use items on characters out of the game, causing them to lose all of their Bob-Ombs. If a character out of the game gets five hits on players in the game, they will receive three balloons and get back in the game, retaining their previous score.
The second type of Battle Mode is Shine Thief. At the start of each round in this mode, a Shine Sprite is placed in the middle of the course. Characters will battle to get the Shine Sprite, and the person to reach it first claims it. Characters can then use items against the person with the Shine Sprite in order to steal it. The person who has the Shine Sprite at the end of the match will win.
New to the series is the mode of Card Runners; while primarily similar to the Coin Runners mode of previous titles, Card Runners has players collecting cards scattered throughout the course. These cards allow for some changes to the mode; cards are more scarce than coins had been in the game's predecessors, and the cards have items on them. Regular Item Boxes do not appear in this mode, so the characters can use items on their cards to attack and steal cards from others.
The next new mode is Dye Match. Each player in this mode has a Blooper that will automatically give any item from a box an "inky" effect, like leaving trails of ink behind shells. Every character has a different color of ink, and the main goal is to cover the map with your ink. Unlike the main game, other players' ink will not spin you out, but it will make you move a little bit slower. This mode is inspired by the Turf Wars of Splatoon.
The fifth game mode returns from 8 Deluxe: Renegade Runners. This mode is the only game mode that is always split into two teams: Authorities and Renegades. The Authorities always have active Piranha Plants, but they can use other items as well. The goal of the Authorities is to catch all the Renegades, and the Renegades have to try to not get caught for the duration of the match. Caught Renegades will be transported to a jail somewhere on the map, and they can be freed by other Renegades who hit a button under the jail.
Characters[]
It has been announced that 54 characters in total will fill the game's roster, and at least two of these characters will not have originated from the Mario series.
Default[]
Mario Medium |
Luigi Medium |
Peach Medium |
Daisy Medium |
Yoshi Light |
Birdo Light |
Bowser Jr. Light |
Koopa Troopa Light |
Toad Feather |
Toadette Feather |
Baby Mario Feather |
Baby Luigi Feather |
Donkey Kong Cruiser |
King Boo Cruiser |
Bowser Heavy |
Wario Heavy |
Petey Piranha Heavy |
King Bob-Omb Heavy |
Unlockable[]
Shy Guy Feather |
Bob-omb Buddy Feather |
Ninji Feather |
Noki Feather |
Sprixie Princess Feather |
Virus Feather |
Diddy Kong Light |
Dixie Kong Light |
Dry Bones Light |
E. Gadd Light |
Motley Bossblob Light |
Mouser Light |
Waluigi Medium |
Kamek Medium |
Nabbit Medium |
Hammer Bro. Medium |
Tiny Kong Medium |
Koopa Kid Medium |
Rosalina Cruiser |
Pianta Cruiser |
Wiggler Cruiser |
Funky Kong Cruiser |
Kritter Cruiser |
Kamella Cruiser |
Dry Bowser Heavy |
King K. Rool Heavy |
Whomp Heavy |
Gooper Blooper Heavy |
Major Burrows Heavy |
Boss Brolder Heavy |
Robo Mario Metal |
Gold Mario Metal |
Pink Gold Peach Metal |
Super Team Metal |
R.O.B. Metal |
Monita Metal |
Tracks[]
Nitro Tracks[]
Mushroom Cup[]
Flower Cup[]
Star Cup[]
Egg Cup[]
Special Cup[]
Retro Tracks[]
Shell Cup[]
DS Figure-8 Circuit is one of the most altered tracks in the game. For one, the grass on the side of the track has been replaced with water that can be driven through (though the drivable water is mainly on the side of the track, and the fence that was previously on top of the grass has not been removed). The water is a stream that can make your character move at a faster speed, but it overall makes you go a little bit slower because ramps that you can do tricks off of have also been integrated into the track. The entire middle section of the figure-eight has been removed, replaced with two gliding areas on the higher and lower levels of the track. The last big addition is that there are now oil puddles at some spots. Aesthetic changes include the track taking place at night, the graphical upgrade, and two "finish line" flags decorating the start of the tunnel at the end.
Wii U Sweet Sweet Canyon returns from Mario Kart 8 and its remake. This course is almost, but not exactly, identical to its appearance in the previous game. Beside the slight graphical upgrade, the area after the gliding section at the track's beginning is now entirely underwater up until the split paths (though the water now has a pink color, resembling pink lemonade). The aforementioned split paths are also now recolored red and blue instead of green and pink. Additionally, all of the "chocolate" textures in the track have been changed to "strawberry" textures, with a more pink color.
GCN Mushroom City
SNES Donut Plains 2
Banana Cup[]
Leaf Cup[]
Bell Cup[]
Lightning Cup[]
Secret Tracks[]
Secret Cup A[]
Wii U Excitebike Arena is, like in both 8 and its remake, a randomly generated track. However, it is now more notably randomly generated than before, sometimes repeating obstacles and not just reusing specific sections for the random generation. Otherwise, the only change in this course is a graphical update.
Wuhu Skyline
Mario Circuit
GP Diamond City is the first of the two tracks to return from the Mario Kart Arcade GP games. However, this track actually combines two of the game's tracks, Diamond City and Snow Panic. This lengthens the course considerably, but not much else is changed about the course besides graphics and aesthetics. During the first lap, the course will take place at day, but the sun will begin to set when the player in first place gets to the second lap, and it will be nighttime in the track by the third lap.
Secret Cup B[]
Secret Cup C[]
Secret Cup D[]
Battle Mode Tracks[]
Joyride has more tracks in Battle Mode than in any previous Mario Kart game, with a total of 24 courses in all, half of which return.
* Wii Galaxy Colosseum was previously only available in online tournaments in Mario Kart Wii.
Crusade Mode[]
Crusade Mode is a new take on DS's Mission Mode, featuring a plot and more difficult missions. The story of this mode is centered around six "forgotten" Mario series villains who want revenge. Each of these villains has their own "world" of missions in-game, and defeating them in the boss mission at the end of their world will unlock them as playable characters.
Missions[]
Bosses[]
Items[]
* marks items that have not been in the Mario Kart series before this title.
** marks items that have been altered from previous titles.
Credits[]
- Bob-Omb Buddy artwork by Lance Beryl on DeviantArt.
- Smoke Bob-Omb artwork by Cortoony on DeviantArt.