Mario Kart 9 is long overdue, but it shouldn’t release on Switch

techradar.com:

Mario Kart 9 is apparently in active development, and as we’d expect from the series, the new game will supposedly bring with it a unique twist to help shake things up.

Even though it's only a rumor, news that Mario Kart 9 is in development is a pretty safe bet. After all, it’s been almost five years since the launch of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and eight since the game’s original Wii U release. And with a total of roughly 47 million copies sold (between both Switch and Wii U versions of Mario Kart 8), a ninth entry in the series is surely a case of “when,” and not one of “if.”

Yet as long overdue as Mario Kart 9 may be, it’s not a game I think we’ll be seeing anytime soon. Not in 2022 at the very least. In fact, I’m not entirely confident that it’ll be released on the Nintendo Switch at all and I honestly hope that it isn’t, as I think Mario Kart 9 can only truly shine brightest on brand new Nintendo hardware.

As much as I can’t wait to hear Charles Martinet scream “Mario Kart…9!!!” such an event would be so much more glorious on a brand new Nintendo console. Whether that be in the form of the Switch 2 or otherwise, Mario Kart 9 has the best chances of standing out on a platform of its own.

After all, the original Switch model is getting a bit long in the tooth. March 3, 2022 will mark five years of the console being on sale, so it’s relatively safe to imagine the hardware guys at the big N are already cooking up the Switch’s successor.

Mario Kart 9 would ultimately be served better on new hardware, then. And if you look back at the history of Mario Kart releases, it checks out. Since the SNES, exactly one Mario Kart title has launched on almost every major Nintendo console and handheld, excluding the Game Boy Color and