Not all tracks were made with anti-gravity in mind, but here are a few that might just work!
Mario Kart DS still plays a fine game of handheld Mario Kart more than 20 years after its initial release.
I really liked the Mission Mode. They had you doing crazy stuff like driving backwards, or collecting all the collectibles as quick as you can between a litter of enemies.
They should add it to Mario Kart 9 for sure, along w online leaderboards for the mission stuff. That's how they could expand on the already excellent Mario Kart 8, bc track quality it's hard to imagine them getting much better beyond slightly tighter graphics and 4k on the Switch 2. Maybe more Diddy Kong Racing-esque adventure layout w more emphasis on boats and planes.
It's hard to say that Mario Kart DS is the best "handheld Mario Kart" though, bc Mario Kart 8 is handheld. It's definitely got some uniqueness that I appreciated. The 2 merged together would be amazing.
Mario Kart Double Dash, MKDS and Super Mario Kart are the only three that are actually fun to play. Sure MK8 is pretty but its just that. It lacks the soul of double dash. the DS one controls really really well and the orignial with the feather power up is cool.
Nintendo has recently restored Wii U Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon online after five months of being offline.
Mario Kart 8 has been out for nine years now if you include the Wii U version. Despite the Switch port continuing to sell insane numbers since it came out in 2017, many people believed that a new installment was way past due. When the Booster Course Pass was announced instead, it was a bit controversial, with one side of people stating that it was time for a new game, and the other side believing that this was the best course of action and that there's nothing else Nintendo can do to innovate the franchise.
There's nothing wrong with the games, but after most of them being very samey, I got a bit bored. I liked MKDS because it added a mission mode, yeah it didn't have maybe as many as I'd like but it was decent for variety.
I really prefer the new Mario Party for the different types of games in it.
Mario Kart doesn't really feel fresh because you know what to expect for every new game pretty much. The single player mode of DKR was far more in depth a game vs Mario Kart IMO, MK is probably better for multiplayer though.
It needs a campaign mode like Crash Team Racing with open hubs, driving around the Mushroom Kingdom, selecting your races and the like. Have a system like the CTR tokens within the races that then unlock secret racing cups later on or the time relics to unlock other things.
There's nothing wrong with the games but when you've had the same set up for so many games it just gets a bit samey after a while.
They could even have something like a track creator like Modnation Racers or something.
After starting with the first game on SNES, I think the last one I bought was on the DS.
I think the next gimmick should be interactive tracks with obstacles and traps such as maybe throwing a shell ahead to make something fall on another player Also have water and mud parts that effect handling more also fire parts that can cause you to over heat if you stay in it to long etc...
I don’t think it needs ‘a gimmick’ so much, because gameplay is pretty much perfect right now, but I would like the next Mario Kart to do either a ‘track-builder’ thing, so you just get access to the tools and make your own tracks (think Modnation Racers or LBP Karting), and/or expand upon ‘Mario’ Kart and open it up to the rest of Nintendo IPs, and just do a ‘Nintendo Kart’, so we’d see more of Zelda, but also Starfox, Kirby, Metroid, Valkyria Chronicles*, etc.
* I know, technically not ‘Nintendo’.