Mario Kart 8 director on the game’s DLC
IGN passed along a few questions to Mario Kart 8 director Yasuke Kabuki as part of a new interview. Kabuki talked all about the racer’s DLC, and a tiny bit about amiibo.
Read on below for IGN’s full Q&A. Be sure to check out the site’s full article here.
On how the team approached making the DLC…
Kabuki: Our goal here was to have people play Mario Kart 8 for a long time to come. Releasing DLC is a very effective way of achieving this, and we figured going with that would make a lot of gamers happy. However, building an ample amount of volume for the retail version was our first priority, so we began developing the DLC only after work on the retail package was finished.
On why elements from outside the Mario universe were added…
Kabuki: We figured that, if we’re going to make DLC, we wanted it to be something fresh and special. That’s what brought us to the idea to borrow characters, vehicles and courses from sources outside of the Mario universe.
I think we’ve succeeded in creating some special DLC here – content that retains the gameplay balance and fun racing feel of Mario Kart while bringing in worlds and conventions from other franchises.
On how the team approached the Mute City track…
Kabuki: Given that we implemented anti-gravity racing in Mario Kart 8, we figured that a lot of people would love it if we made an F-Zero course.
The two key elements of Mute City are “speed” and “anti-gravity”. You have this twisty race course with lots of dash plates placed on it, leading to races that run at supersonic speeds. Some of the dash plates are set up to change position every time you race. The gravity also isn’t as heavy as in other courses, leading to longer jumps and a unique kind of floating feeling.
Sound was another element we focused on. The battle between the sax and guitar really makes for a theme song filled with passion. I also hope you check out the special F-Zero piece that plays after the race is over.
On how many different configurations there are for Excitebike Circuit…
Kabuki: The jumps and dirt patches change in the Excitebike Arena every time you race. There are actually over 200 patterns. Still, I think it’s best to not worry too much about it and just enjoy zooming around the course, taking jumps when you can. I think the course lends itself well to new race situations unfolding as you play, something not seen in previous Mario Kart games.
Also, the original Excitebike doesn’t have any in-game music, but we couldn’t have a Mario Kart race proceed in silence just because of that. So we put together assorted sounds and music passages from the game to create a new song.
On whether elements from outside of Mario Kart will be in future entries of the series…
Kabuki: The DLC for this game is really unique and special in the way it transcends and expands the boundaries of the Mario Kart series. For now, I’m hoping that people around the world will enjoy our efforts on this DLC.
On whether the team will add more racing suits to coincide with future waves of amiibo figures…
Kabuki: For the moment, there isn’t much we can talk about. The racing suits you can pick up from amiibo figures were another way we challenged ourselves with this project. Re-interpreting the unique traits of each character to create all 10 racing suits resulted in some really refined designs. I hope you’ll give them a try.
