Mario Kart World doesn't feature Nintendo icons from Zelda and Animal Crossing because its developers say "it didn't seem necessary to us, given everything we could already do with Mario"

Mario Kart World screenshot showing a Goomba happily jumping out of a kart.

Mario Kart World's producer has explained why characters from the wider Nintendo universe haven't returned from Mario Kart 8, and it's down to how big Mario's roster is.

During the 10-year wait (although fans would've had you believe 40 years) between Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart World, one of the prevailing bits of fanfiction in the Mario Kart community is that the next game would take inspiration from Super Smash Bros. Since Nintendo included The Legend of Zelda's Link, Villager and Isabelle from Animal Crossing, Inklings from Splatoon, and crossover tracks with the likes of F-Zero and Excitebike, Super Smash Kart being Mario Kart 9 felt like the natural progression to some. But as we know now, Nintendo went even harder on Mario, with all manner of little cretins that only the most sicko of Mario fans knew the name of (present company included) making up a large chunk of the roster.