Mario Kart pretty quickly became one of Nintendo's flagship franchises, to the point where Mario Kart World is now both the biggest launch title for Switch 2 and the subject of the publisher's first experiment with $80 games. The devs were feeling the pressure of that position as far back as 2003 with Mario Kart: Double Dash, and they were frightened enough of rocking the boat that they were developing two different versions of the game simultaneously.
In an interview with the Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, which was published ahead of Double Dash's release and recently translated by Shmuplations, producer Shinya Takahashi said that it was a "monumental challenge" to build an innovative take on the series "while not destroying what makes Mario Kart unique."
