Mario Kart 8 Deluxe producer on the creation of Rainbow Road
Nintendo UK recently held a Twitter poll to determine the best track in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It was ultimately Rainbow Road which was selected first, followed by Hyrule Circuit, Mount Wario, and Bowser’s Castle.
Following the results, Nintendo UK spoke with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe producer Kosuke Yabuki. The developer talked about how the team went about creation the course,
First, when asked about what he’s most proud about in terms of the design, Yabuki said:
“My favorite part is how the two routes form an intertwined spiral, before heading into the final corner. The design allows for lots of different tactical gameplay depending on your items and the situation around you, such as changing your route, or taking a shortcut between the two paths of the spiral.
However, this is also the part where drivers from all over the world are most likely to fall off the track… If you keep falling off no matter what you do, then in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe you can try turning on Smart Steering. This option now gives anyone the opportunity to have fun driving around.”
Yabuki also commented on how the team went about making the course feel new and special:
“We have been making Rainbow Road courses as a way of marking the end of each Mario Kart game. Since we’d decided that Mario Kart 8 would also include a remake of a past Rainbow Road, we worked to create new Rainbow Road visuals and audio making use of near-future technology, such as anti-gravity, in order to contrast with that.
Around the edge of the course you’ll see Toads wearing spacesuits and cheering you on. These are actually a symbol of the online mode of this game and appear in places like the matchmaking screen too, so keep an eye out for them.”
