The game has 36 racers, 18 are starter, while 18 are unlockable.Īll five of the game modes from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe return in Mario Kart 9, those being Balloon Battle, Coin Runners, Bob-omb Blast, Shine Thief, and Renegade Roundup.
The second one is Subterranean Racing allowing players to drive on the walls and ceiling of a tunnel, as well as drilling into the ground of the track to race under it. Most of the Nitro Tracks have the Anti-Gravity sections placed in the Subterranean sections of the tracks, while a few others are placed on the main parts of the tracks, like in Mario Kart 8. The main one is a Day and Night cycle, where the first lap starts at day time, then the second lap continues with night and then at the final lap, it changes to an eclipse. However three more mechanics are added to the game. Gliding and Anti-Gravity return from the two latest installments in the series, and they remain unchanged. The number of Karts on the track is added up to sixteen. Keeping the traditional gameplay from all Mario Kart games, players can pick characters that differ in weight classes and drive vehicles that have different stats around courses (some being rather simple courses while others are hazardous) in hopes of making it to the finish line in first place.
The gameplay of the game is very similar to past installments in the series, especially the two most recent installments and Double Dash!!.