All Mario Kart games are made from scratch

Here’s a little bit of trivia for you: all Mario Kart games are made from scratch. Nintendo doesn’t reuse its programming, assets, or other material across entries in the series.

We know this thanks to a Mario Kart 8 interview with director Kosuke Yabuki recently conducted by EDGE. The magazine mentioned that vehicles are easy to handle once acclimatized to, but wondered if Yabuki ever worried about the possibility of making the game less immediate.

He said in response:

This time around, we really did add in a lot of new elements, but we also aimed to do away with explanations or tutorials as much as possible. The Mario Kart series cherishes both depth and breadth of gameplay; it’s broadly accessible and anyone can pick up a controller and start playing, but at the same time the games are also deep enough that players can achieve greater results through practice. Each time we make a Mario Kart, we make everything from scratch: programming, graphics and even the audio. Even if we’re making something similar to what was used in a previous title, it will be different because of the person doing it. We think this subtle change is crucial.

Thanks to joclo for the tip.