Mario Kart 8 uses the regular race courses instead of dedicated arenas for its battle mode, and it kind of sucks. However, it did make me think about what a racing-focused battle mode in Mario Kart should the series stick in that direction and I decided to type out the resulting brainfart because hey, why not.
The inspiration
Full Auto 2 is a launch PS3 title and a game I like to call "Dudebro Mario Kart", though its really more Twisted Metal meets Burnout. It's a racing game where the cars are weaponized - you can mount up to 2 weapons from an array of both offensive (machine guns, rockets, etc) and defensive (smoke engine, mines) option which can be used at will during the races. Scoring is purely based on your race placements (although a counter of opponents gunned down is kept) and competitors respawn immediately upon destruction. In addition to the racing mode, there's also a more traditional Twisted Metal-esque arena mode where the focus is purely on gunning down opponents in closed maps.
Full Auto 2 won't be used as a case study in game design for anything, but it is a damned fun car combat game that could provided some pointer should Mario Kart decide to stick with race tracks for battle mode. Like
Whatev, nerd. How would it work?
The battle mode would be similar to the regular race setup (including scoring being based on race placement), but with the following tweaks to encourage combat;
obviously this could use some fleshing out, but its a start. What do yall think?
The inspiration
Full Auto 2 won't be used as a case study in game design for anything, but it is a damned fun car combat game that could provided some pointer should Mario Kart decide to stick with race tracks for battle mode. Like
Whatev, nerd. How would it work?
The battle mode would be similar to the regular race setup (including scoring being based on race placement), but with the following tweaks to encourage combat;
- Instead of items randomly being awarded when picking up ? boxes, each player choose from two items among both offensives and defensive options before the racer start. Items like the crazy 8, blue shell and lightning do not appear in this mode.
- Weapons no longer stun - instead, each racer has an health bar, which is based on the Karts frame. When depleted, the kart is destroyed and the racer respawn. Weapon damage is balanced by their properties red shells do less damage than green shells to compensate for homing and fake item boxes do less damage than bob-ombs.
- The primary and secondary weapons have separate slots and use buttons. Each slots has differently-coloured ? boxes and the player can stock multiple uses of a weapon by driving through ? boxes (the number of uses that can be stocked depend on the individual weapon). Stacked, Double-Dash style ? boxes add one use to both slots.
- Mushrooms do not appear in this mode. The Starman is now a separate powerup that automatically activates once picked up.
- Course obstacles do damage and stun the player.
- Contact with other racers doesnt do damage in itself but pushing them into walls does.
obviously this could use some fleshing out, but its a start. What do yall think?
