Mario Kart 9: Nova

Mario Kart 9: Nova, Mario Kart 9 or Mario Kart Nova is a racing game for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. The game was developed by Nintendo and Bandai Namco, and published by Nintendo. It’s the ninth entry in the mainline Mario Kart series, and the eleventh entry overall.
Nova introduces new features such as the Nova Star, vehicles that can transform, a track creator, and an Adventure Mode, while also adding back features from previous Mario Kart games such as half-pipes, two characters sharing a kart, special items for each character, and more.
==Gameplay==
The gameplay of the game is very similar to Mario Kart 8, as both games use the same engine. Players can pick from a wide array of characters from the Mario universe, new and old, that differ in weight classes and, returning from Mario Kart: Double Dash, special items and karts. Players can obtain items and special items through Item Boxes; the items vary depending on their racing position.
Returning gimmicks from previous installments include anti-gravity and half-pipes from Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart Wii respectively; players can also choose a Double-Dash mode that allows two racers to drive on one kart. This game introduces the ability to Transform the vehicle, allowing racers to fly, float on water, or even swim underwater; this was introduced because the developers felt that gliding and the underwater gimmicks from previous games were boring, and didn’t change much in the grand scheme of things. Another new addition is the ability to switch items, as two item slots return in this game. Another new feature is an uncapped coin count, which is added to your total coin count at the end of a race. Coins act as a currency to buy new characters, Skins, Event passes, kart parts, track creator parts, music, trophies and sponsors. A returning feature from Mario Kart Tour is the ability to see which player hit you or which racer the player hit.
One feature from the recent installments that has been overhauled is kart customisation. Players can now edit the Kart completely, allowing them to create a custom emblem, different Kart Bodies, wings, propellers or even a new kart for the several transformations that can be taken. Different horns, paint jobs and spoilers can also be applied to karts. If players are overwhelmed by this, they can choose a simple mode, which simplifies kart customisation to be more akin to the previous games. The Trick system has also been slightly changed, being more akin to Mario Kart Wii of having different types of boosts and animations for each type of trick.
The biggest addition in gameplay is the new Nova meter, players can fill up through preforming tricks, hitting other racers with items and collecting coins. The Nova meter has two uses depending on player position; any position before 5th place will become extremely fast and boost through the track and would also gain a frenzy mode like Mario Kart Tour of any Item of choosing, and any position above 6th will gain a shield that protects them from nearly every item in the game, or at least mitigates the damage done to the player by them. However, the Nova meter will go down if the player performs poorly in the race.
Another major addition is Sponsors, which are similar to Spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; players are able to use up to 3 sponsors in Grand Prix races, online races, Adventure Mode and VS Mode. Sponsors will boost the player’s performance in a certain stat, although they may hinder another stat in return.
==Modes==
There is a variety of Modes in Mario Kart 9: Nova, some returning and some new.
===Grand Prix===
This Game includes a Grand Prix modem which is identical to Mario Kart 8's version. The speed classes include:
*50cc (Unlocked by default)
*100cc (Unlocked by default)
*150cc (Unlocked by default)
*200cc (Unlocked by beating 150cc)
*Mirror Mode (Unlocked by beating 150cc)
**Unlike previous entries, you can choose which CC Mirror Mode will use.
*Reverse Mode (Unlocked after beating any CC in Mirror Mode)
Reverse Mode is inspired by Mario Kart Tour’s R tracks; this mode revolves around racers beating the track in reverse, with some being retooled with this in mind while playing Reverse Mode.
===Time Trials===
Like previous installments, players can race by themselves in any track that they have unlocked to compete for the fastest time possible. Players also have the option to record their time as a “ghost”. Players can exchange and download ghosts so that they can compare their times with them.
===VS Mode===
VS Mode is the same as in Mario Kart 8, with a few new additions to be more customisable.
*Players can choose from a preset of which items will appear in the track or create their own preset for which items that the player wants, they can also customise the frequency of theses items. These include:
**Normal
**Skilled
**Frenzy
**Mushrooms
**Shells
**Bananas
**None
**Custom
*Players can choose the CPU difficulty, these include
**Very Easy
**Easy
**Normal
**Hard
**Very Hard
*Players can choose how fast the karts will be from 50cc to 250cc
*Players can choose how many CPUs appear in the stage and what characters can appear as the CPUs, the minimum amount of a 2 and a maximum of 20 CPUs
*Players can choose from either Team Racing (which involves the player and their team to gain as many points as possible), Solo racing, Double Dash Mode or Elimination Mode (which involves a set amount of players being eliminated after a player reach’s another lap or due to not enough points in a certain part of the track)
*Players can choose how many laps, they can set it from 1 all the way too 99
*Players can choose which vehicles can appear or not such as Karts, Bikes, ATVS or all.
*Players can choose how many races they’ll do
*Players can choose how the game determines track selection these include:
**Choice
**Random
**In Order
**Winner’s Choice
**Loser’s Choice
===Battle Mode===
Battle is similar to that of Mario Kart 8, however the mechanics have changed, when a racer is killed, they turn into a Bomb like Mario Kart 64, if players don’t like this, they can revert back to how Mario Kart 8 handled players being killed and would turn invisible. Players also choose from a variety of modes. Most Vs Mode options reprise their roles.
Game Mode	Description
Balloon Battle	Balloon Battle follows players trying to pop every balloon from their opponents, Each player spawns with 3 Balloons and can gain more Balloons by stealing them from via the Mushrooms or the Super Feather or collecting an extra balloon in a level. Once the player lost the ballon (depending on the setting) they’ll either transform into a Movable Bomb, A Ghost or will respawn. Players can also either have the game end when all people loss all their Balloon or through a Time Limit
Coin Runners	Coin Runners follows players trying to collect as many coins as possible. Players can also steal coins through Mushrooms and Super Feathers. Once the game ends, the played with the Most coins win. There’s also an elimination variant where a racers need to obtain a certain amount of coins to pass before they’re eliminated.
Shine Thief	Shine Thief follows a racer holding a shine for a few seconds depending on the players settings, the other racers must get the shine before the time runs out, using the wide arsenal of items in their disposal. If it goes a set amount of time without a racer collecting a shine, the game will end.
Bob-omb Blast	Bob-omb Blast is similar to Balloon Battle, except that all the Items are replaced by Bob-omb items. Players can get a set amount Bob-ombs from an item box, a remote Bob-omb or even a giant Bob-omb depending on their position. Players can hold a maximum of 10 Bob-ombs, however unlike Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, players will physically hold on the Bombs and if any substantial contact is made with them, they’ll explode and loss a Balloon. If a racer loses every balloon, they’ll become a Bob-omb Kart, except that it won’t go away when they have Bomb’d 3 players
Renegade Round-Up	Renegade Round is straight from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, The Game mode follows 2 Teams, Cops and Robbers. Cops have to chase and capture the robbers, and the robbers who have the evade the cops for a set amount time. 2 New Variants are introduced in the game, one where the robbers have to collect a set amount of shines to win or the other variant which follows the robbers collecting a set amount of coins to win. The original Variant is also available.
Boo Tag 	Boo Tag is a new mode introduced in this game, 3 Played are possessed with Boos and must possess the other racers. Racers must evade the boos or else they become a Boo themselves. The Team with the most points win.
Capture the Moon	This mode focuses on 2 Teams trying to collect either one moon from their base or multiple moons. Racers must try to defend their Base from invaders trying to collect the Moons. The game will end depending on the version of Capture the Moon you play, either when you collect the opposition moon and take it to your Team’s Base, another version being the same but restarting the game having the racer try to collect the Moon once again for a set amount of rounds, or Multi-Moon where multiple moons are in the base and the Team with the most moons in their base win.
Taxi Turmoil	In the final new mode in the Base Game, this mode has larger exclusive courses which revolves around the player being Taxi Drivers, having to collect NPC's and place them in their destination, depending on how far the place is the more coins you’ll get. The Racer with the most coins wins, however, if the player gets hit by items, the Taxi Fare will be lowered until the customer will leave, the Taxi will also be lowered if the player takes too long or fall off a ledge. The Taxi Fare can be higher if the player performs any Tricks, hitting other players or how fast they reach the destination. Another Variant of this mode has a player using a Bus, collecting multiple taxi fares meaning rising and lowering the Taxi Fare will be increased.
===Adventure Mode===
A New mode which acts as a story driven campaign for Mario Kart 9: Nova, it follows both Heroes and Villains teaming up to stop a common threat, Robo Mario, for once last time, with the help of E
.gadd, they use the new Nova technology to beat Robo Mario and his minions.
The player is able to explore 8 open world stages to enter Tracks, Battle Arenas, Time Trial stages, Missions and Bosses. Some Tracks are exclusive to the Adventure Mode, once the player has raced in them, they’ll be available to purchase in the shop. Tracks & Bosses are locked by Power Moons, which are earned from Missions, Once the player has obtained enough Power Moons, they’ll be able to battle the Boss. Once they have beaten the Boss in that world, they’ll be able to proceed to the next world. Players in each mission are also ranked by 3 Stars depending on how well they have performed.
There are 3 Difficulty settings, Easy takes away Moon Counts, makes missions, Hub World Traversal, CPUs, and Bosses significantly easier. In some cases, it will remove certain missions and replace them with easier ones. However, easy mode does not allow the player to beat the final Boss and will have to replay the Adventure Mode again on Normal. Normal mode makes the missions have a balanced difficulty curve throughout, adds Moon Counts and has all of the Missions intended in the game. Hard Mode makes Missions, CPUs, Bosses and Hub World Traversal harder, it also significantly increases Moon Counts.
Power Moons are earned depending on how well the Player does in a certain mission, Multiple Power Moons can be earned in each mission. One will be automatically be earned once the player has completed one mission, another can be unlocked by winning first place, one can be unlocked by obtaining all 5 Stars. Others include not getting hit, collecting a certain amount of coins, hitting a certain racer and more. However, as a compromise in each difficulty higher than Easy will lock levels with high moon counts.
====Worlds====
There are 8 Worlds in the Adventure Mode, these include:
*Chain-Chomp Valley: A Grassy World populated by Chain-Chomps
*Tostarena Desert: Based on the Sand Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey, populated by Dry Bones
*Artic Seaside: A Ice world mixed with some Beach world elements
*The Lost Jungle: Based on the Lost Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey 
*Metro City: Based on a multitude of City environments from Mario’s History, specifically New Donk City
*Autumn Village: Based on Maple Treeway from Mario Kart Wii, The Village includes a Mineshaft
*Ruined Castle: Based on the Lost Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey, the castle is haunted
*Rainbow Paradise: Based on the Rainbow series of Tracks from Mario Kart Arcade. It also includes references to the Luncheon Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey,
====Mission Types====
There’s a variety of Mission types included in the game these include:
*Race to the Finish: A Normal Race with no other attributes
*Time Trials:
**Normal Time Trial
**Ghost Time Trial
*Coin Runners: Collecting a set amount of Coins before the Track or the Lap ends
**Track or Battle Arenas
*Collect 3 Star Coins: The Player needs to collect 3 Star Coins and finish in at least 3rd Place
**Track or Battle Arenas
*Purple Coin Chaos: Collecting all of the Purple Coins before the time limit runs out 
**Track or Battle Arenas
*Drift King: Drifting a set amount of Times
*Item Box Mania: Destroying a set amount of Item Boxes
**Track or Battle Arenas
====Bosses====
Boss	World 	Difficulty
Madame Broode	Chain-Chomp Valley	Easy
Knucklotec	Tostarena Desert 	Easy
Mollusque-Lanceur	Artic Seaside 	Normal
Torkdrift	The Lost Jungle 	Normal
Mecha Wiggler	Metro City 	Hard
Cookatiel	Autumn Village 	Hard
Ruined Dragon	Ruined Castle 	Hard
Robo Mario	Rainbow Paradise 	Very Hard
===Track Creator===
A New mode which allows players to create a total of 16 Tracks, track parts can be bought in the shop and used while making a track. Once the player is done making their track they can make missions and Time Trail ghosts for their track. Once the player at least has 4 Tracks created they’ll be able to create a custom Grand Prix, players can also send their tracks, Grand Prixs, Missions and Time Trials online.
===Shop===
This is where the player can purchase new characters, Skins, Event passes, kart parts, track creator parts, music, trophies, Tracks from the Adventure Mode and sponsors.
===Online===
This is where players can race online, 4 players locally on one console can play online races. The modes you can play online include:
*Worldwide
**Normal
**Ranked
*Regional 
**Normal
**Ranked
*Tournaments
*Events 
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