We've seen Dry Bones and King Boo and Petey Piranha too. We saw a Koopa Paratroopa get paired with Normal Troopa for Double Dash. Prior to this we've seen a normal Koopa Troopa take the wheel, in the first SNES game and several times since. Hammer+BroThe addition of Shy Guy, Lakitu and Wiggler to Kart 7's playable cast means three more common Mario universe foes have been deemed recognizable enough to command their own karts. Anyone who remembers Wendy's classic attack pattern should be able to picture another possibility for her too – you know those red-and-white-striped bouncing rings she's always tossing around? They'd be perfect Kart wheels, wouldn't they? (Oh, and if Nintendo gives us Larry, Lemmy, Ludwig, Iggy, Roy or Morton Jr. Wii, making her modern and recognizable again to today's audience. and the rest of her brothers were recently brought back out of obscurity for a starring role in New Super Mario Bros. Nintendo could use more female characters, too – which the selection of Honey Queen seems to support. Koopa fits the bill perfectly, as she's the most distinctive design of the brood and the only girl among them. I can't imagine that Nintendo would make all seven of them playable, though – which is probably what's kept them out of the running for so long, since they're kind of a set – but how about just one representative? Wendy O.
#MARIO KART 7 ROSTER SERIES#
Wendy+O.+KoopaEven more deserving of representation in the Kart series playable roster than Bowser's Magikoopa caretaker are Bowser's own children, the original crop of seven Koopalings. It's the first image in IGN's Mario Kart 64 archives, published live to the Internet over 15 years ago! So could the cackling wizard Koopa finally get behind the wheel after waiting such a long time? I mean, seriously – check out the image of him on the character select screen below. There have been some hints recently that Kamek hasn't been entirely forgotten in the Kart franchise, too, since Mario Kart Wii included the "Magikruiser" motorcycle as an unlockable vehicle – a bike built to look just like Kamek riding his flying broomstick.
Wii restored him to prominence, as he appeared on-screen to lead off several of that game's boss battles by casting his magic spells to warp the room around Mario, Luigi and the Toad Bros. But he made a comeback! 2009's New Super Mario Bros. Kamek wasn't too likely to re-appear for several years afterward, then, because his time in the spotlight faded after Yoshi's Island. He got the axe, though, when Nintendo decided to put Donkey Kong in the game instead. The in-development version of Mario Kart 64, called "Super Mario Kart R," featured Kamek in its roster of eight drivers.
#MARIO KART 7 ROSTER DRIVER#
Kamek was already in a Kart game as a driver once before – he just got cut out of the final version. KamekFirst up is Kamek the Magikoopa, Bowser's personal caretaker and the primary antagonist from the SNES classic Yoshi's Island. Nintendo's choices for the Kart franchise are biased toward active Mario characters who've appeared in recent games, so I'm going to drive that direction and see who we encounter along the way.
2 more than anybody, for example, but you've got to admit that it's just not very likely that he'd be brought back after all these years. I'd love to see Wart from Super Mario Bros. I'm also going to try to back up my picks with a bit of logic, so that this list has some foundation to stand on and isn't just a random wishlist of characters I'd like to see. But today I'm going to focus on other characters like Lakitu or Wiggler, who, if they appeared, would be making their first-ever playable appearance in a Kart title.
#MARIO KART 7 ROSTER DRIVERS#
So today, just two weeks out from release, how about we do a final bit of speculation to try to predict who they'll be? There are plenty of old drivers in the series who have yet to be confirmed for a return appearance, like Waluigi and Dry Bones.
YES NO But that's not all! Nintendo Power's article also mentioned that there were still more secret characters yet to be revealed.