Categories: Switch 2

Nintendo Explains How The Cow Became A Playable Character In Mario Kart World

In the first developer interview for Mario Kart World, Nintendo developers shared how the Cow became a playable character in Mario Kart World.

When working on an early version of a course in the game, a sketch of a cow driving a kart came up. This led to character designer quickly putting together a prototype of Cow that could race, which didn’t feel out of place. Nintendo then later expanded the idea to other obstacle characters, such as Cheep Cheep and Pokey. Thanks to the addition of the obstacle drivers, the Kamek item was born, and more obstacle characters were turned into drivers as a result:

Now that you mention it, some of the new characters in this game seem like unlikely picks. I was surprised to see Cow as one of the playable characters.

Yabuki: That’s right. In previous games in the series, Cow was part of the scenery or an obstacle on one of the courses. But when we were working on an early version of a course in this game set on a ranch that players can drive through, this sketch came up. (Laughs)

Oh, I thought Cow was just on the back of the truck, but she’s actually driving it. (Laughs)

Ishikawa: Each new Mario Kart game features new characters to race with, but since we added so many to the previous game, we wondered where we could go from there. And then one of the designers came up with that silly sketch of Cow cruising along, and I thought to myself, “This is it!” (Laughs) So that’s when we realized the course surroundings actually contained a lot of untapped resources.

The character designer quickly put together a prototype of Cow that could race, and surprisingly it didn’t feel out of place at all. So we thought maybe we could include other obstacle characters, and decided to add Cheep Cheep and Pokey as racers. As a result, the idea of taking obstacle characters, usually found in courses in past games, and having them participate in races made sense to me in terms of an interconnected world.

Sato: We called these types of characters “NPC drivers.” In other words, non-player character drivers.

Yabuki: So it was like, “They’re NPCs, but they’re playable? Which is it?” (Laughs) It’s pretty funny to see a four-legged Cow holding onto motorcycle handlebars with her front hooves.

Ishikawa: But when she jumps, she strikes a proper quadrupedal pose. So I’m pretty sure Cow is still in touch with her animal nature. (Laughs)

Jikumaru: It was thanks to the introduction of various “NPC drivers” that the idea to have Kamek appear as an item was born. When Kamek casts a spell, the racers are transformed into playable NPCs, so one by one they might all turn into Cow mid-race. I think it turned out to be a unique item that has never been seen before. In fact, Cow is a character who’s inspired a lot of different ideas, including obstacle characters like Camel and Giraffe.

Ishikawa: Cow is actually a pivotal character in the Mario Kart series. (Laughs)

Asahi: On the other hand, when previously non-playable characters like Cow become playable, it means giving them new ways to express emotion, which must have been difficult for the voice lead. We were conscious of depicting the personalities and characteristics of “NPC drivers” in a way that doesn’t look inferior to classic characters like Mario. The voice team members went through a lot of trial and error in the pursuit of the ideal sound. In addition to more characters, this game also has a wider selection of vehicles for characters to drive, so it was a huge task to create engine sounds that matched the characteristics, such as the appearance and structure, of each vehicle. We tried out a lot of different sounds in our search for something ideal—we even used croaking frogs and beating drums. (Laughs)

Sato: There are a lot of vehicles in this game, too. Since the game is about racing around the world, we’ve included not only race karts, but also everyday vehicles. It must have been tough for the designers, as they had to not only design the body of the vehicle, but also consider how the tires would transform when drifting and how the vehicle would move when jumping.