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Nintendo just did something that shocked us all. It wised up and finally realized that its iconic characters are what sells its games. Why else would we see characters like Link from The Legend of Zelda in the upcoming downloadable content for Mario Kart 8? This amazingly awesome turn of events got me thinking about who else I’d want to see in the recent kart racer. These are my top options:
Captain Falcon
It’s a bit of an obvious choice since F-Zero is a racing franchise owned by Nintendo and the Blue Falcon ship is a new kart in the DLC packs, but picture this: The DLC starts out by showing a retired Captain Falcon taking it easy, resting up, and watching TV on an exotic island when Mario comes on the air bragging about how he’s the greatest racer to ever live. Captain Falcon yells, “Falcon Punch!” and destroys the television. He decides to come out of retirement for one last race, and now he’s a selectable character in Mario Kart 8.
It’s crazy and off the wall — two staples of any Nintendo idea these days. I mean, who would’ve thought we’d see a game like Hyrule Warriors? Or Link in a Mario Kart game for that matter.
The Ice Climbers
How awesome would it be to drive a motorcycle with Popo while Nana hangs out in a side car?! Nana could hold the items, and Popo could handle the driving.
Picture this, though: You’re about to get smashed by the blue shell, so you detach the side car from the main motorcycle and assume control of Nana while Popo stays back to take the hit for the team.
Fox McCloud
Fox McCloud racing in an Arwing-themed kart would be incredible. Make it a hover kart with the capability to do a barrel roll to deflect incoming projectiles and then add in a new item type that enables racers to target competitors with lasers. It would be such a rush to get the “red shell” incoming indicator and then time a barrel roll perfectly to shake it off.
I can practically hear Fox’s patented “Come on!” ringing out over the race track now.
Sonic the Hedgehog
OK, so he’s not a Nintendo character, but he has been in Super Smash Bros. before, and I have a killer idea. Get this: Sonic doesn’t use a kart — he just runs as fast as everyone else drives. Instead of various tires to switch him out with, you have access to several different types of shoes that all give you different abilities, like being able to run off-road better.
When Sonic gets the “star” item, he could turn into Super Sonic instead of having the multicolored glow the other characters get. How sweet would it be to go Super Sonic and speed by everyone, knocking people out of the way?
Samus Aran
We haven’t had any announcements about a new Metroid game, and Samus has been absent from Nintendo consoles for far too long. If we’re not going to get a proper Metroid title this year, then at least put her in Mario Kart.
Her kart could just be a miniature version of her ship that she sits on top of, or you could even have her just hop into her Morph Ball and take off down the course. Include alternate versions of her Zero Suit and throw in a Metroid-themed level, complete with a giant Ridley swooping down to knock players off course.
So there you have it — five characters that would make the already incredible Mario Kart 8 even better. Who do you think would be a good fit?