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While hovering over Yoshi or any of his outfit variations on the character select screen in any mode, there is a chance that he will hum Totaka's Song, a short melody written by veteran Nintendo composer and Yoshi voice actor Kazumi Totaka that has been inserted into most of the games he worked on. Although Totaka was not part of the music team for Mario Kart World, he is credited for reprising his role as Yoshi.
Totaka's Song Easter egg footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJSxuL3wmag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXOHWc9zKLc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj8lnvyOZRA
Mario Kart World credits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_I_O5M-XkQ#t=259s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJSxuL3wmag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXOHWc9zKLc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj8lnvyOZRA
Mario Kart World credits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_I_O5M-XkQ#t=259s
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Although the DK Spaceport course is primarily based on the original arcade version of Donkey Kong, there are also a few elements of the course taken from the Game & Watch version of the game. Specifically, the starting banner is modelled after the Donkey Kong Game & Watch unit, and iconography based on the directional pad can be seen throughout the course.
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The idea of Mario Kart characters eating various foods and transforming into different costumes originally started as two different ideas. According to Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8 director Kosuke Yabuki, the team almost considered having players buy costumes for specific characters using in-game coins (similar to the way players buy alternate-costumed characters in Mario Kart Tour), with players having to drive to a clothing store rather than the "Yoshi's" fast-food restaurant.
Additionally, the idea of characters eating food was already considered at the very beginning of development, but was nearly removed. According to general game designer Shintaro Jikumaru:
Additionally, the idea of characters eating food was already considered at the very beginning of development, but was nearly removed. According to general game designer Shintaro Jikumaru:
"[...] about two years after the idea came up, I thought to myself, 'You know what? I need food!' Unable to let it go, I asked the programmers to implement a hamburger model I'd created and make it so that the characters could eat it. It was well received within the team, and the designer started to churn out different kinds of food. Before we knew it, the number of variations had exploded."
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Development on Mario Kart World started as far back as when Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was just wrapping up production, and official work started at the end of 2017 as a title for the original Nintendo Switch. From the very beginning, the game started off as an open-world experience, which is why the game is called Mario Kart World instead of Mario Kart 9. Because of this, having 24 racers in a single game rather than 12, like in 8 Deluxe, was already in consideration.
Technical limitations of the original Nintendo Switch console made development very difficult, and the team shifted to the then-upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 in 2020. In the meantime, the team released the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass to fill the void while Nintendo was still working on Mario Kart World.
Because of this delay, Mario Kart World has the longest gap of any mainline Mario Kart game that exists thus far, spanning almost six years from Mario Kart Tour (not counting Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, or 8 Deluxe). The longest ever gap prior to this was the gap between Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, which spanned almost five years.
Technical limitations of the original Nintendo Switch console made development very difficult, and the team shifted to the then-upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 in 2020. In the meantime, the team released the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass to fill the void while Nintendo was still working on Mario Kart World.
Because of this delay, Mario Kart World has the longest gap of any mainline Mario Kart game that exists thus far, spanning almost six years from Mario Kart Tour (not counting Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, or 8 Deluxe). The longest ever gap prior to this was the gap between Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, which spanned almost five years.
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In the lead-up to the release of Mario Kart World, the official Mario Kart Facebook account made a post promoting it with the quote:
This is a reference to a stunt pulled in 2004 on the talk show "The Oprah Winfrey Show", in which Winfrey gave away new Pontiac G6 cars to her entire studio audience while repeatedly yelling "You get a car! You get a car! [...] Everybody gets a car!"
"You get new items, you get new items – everyone gets new items in Mario Kart World! They'll help in all kinds of ways so when you get 'em, use 'em!"
This is a reference to a stunt pulled in 2004 on the talk show "The Oprah Winfrey Show", in which Winfrey gave away new Pontiac G6 cars to her entire studio audience while repeatedly yelling "You get a car! You get a car! [...] Everybody gets a car!"
Mario Kart Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1105948494890182&id=100064251267091
The Oprah Winfrey Show clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CAscBCdaQg
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1105948494890182&id=100064251267091
The Oprah Winfrey Show clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CAscBCdaQg
subdirectory_arrow_right Mario Kart 8 (Game)
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Mario Kart 8 DK dab:
https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/10/14880388/donkey-kong-dab-mario-kart-8-deluxe-trailer
Mario Kart World DK dab screenshot:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/04/gallery-get-a-closer-look-at-mario-kart-world-in-these-fresh-switch-2-screenshots
Mario Kart World DK dab video:
https://www.reddit.com/r/donkeykong/comments/1jpzvk3/dk_dabbing_in_mario_kart_world/
https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/10/14880388/donkey-kong-dab-mario-kart-8-deluxe-trailer
Mario Kart World DK dab screenshot:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/04/gallery-get-a-closer-look-at-mario-kart-world-in-these-fresh-switch-2-screenshots
Mario Kart World DK dab video:
https://www.reddit.com/r/donkeykong/comments/1jpzvk3/dk_dabbing_in_mario_kart_world/
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