9 new characters we want to see in Mario Kart 8 on Nintendo Switch

So it turns out those 10 mystery new characters rumoured to be coming to the Nintendo Switch version of Mario Kart 8 was a hoax. For shame!

Surely Nintendo will have a few surprises up its sleeves for the Switch version though. It would be a tad uncool to release an unchanged version of a Mario Kart we've all been playing for almost three years now, after all.

I say all. I'm only referring to the two people who bought a Wii U.

Anyway, all these rumours got us thinking - which Nintendo characters do we desperately want to see in Mario Kart anyway? We settled on these nine.

Captain Falcon

This is the most obvious option for a number of reasons: F-Zero tracks and the Blue Falcon featured in Mario Kart 8, we've been without a new F-Zero since the GameCube(!), and it's bloody Captain Falcon!

Who doesn't want to play as Nintendo's finest racer?

Fox McCloud

Fox is a bit of a selfish choice given the surname but he's got plenty of applicable experience. He's used to speeding, dodging various missiles, and firing off a few of his own to boot.

He'd be a natural kart racer and I, for one, want to play as him.

Kirby

This little pink ball of adorableness would be an excellent addition - though he'd have to be closely monitored for cheating. We can't have him absorbing that notorious blue shell and using it infinitely - imagine that!

He can inflate himself to glide but that's where we draw the line.

Olimar

Olimar relies on his Pikmin chums to achieve anything, so it's quite likely he'd do the same in Mario Kart. Can you imagine a kart made entirely of the little plant aliens?

He probably wouldn't even use the power-ups himself, the lazy so-and-so, but he'd take all the glory from victory. I think I've talked myself out of this now.

Samus Aran

Good old Samus feels like the natural next inclusion in Mario Kart. She's been here from the very beginning, along with our hero plumber himself and the sword-swinging elf-like Link - both of whom feature in Mario Kart already.

We'd also get some cool kart designs. Imagine one based on Samus's ship in Metroid Prime?

Sold.

Pit

Everyone likes Pit, don't they? It's just a shame he's been criminally underused since his inception on the NES back in 1986.

But this can be rectified somewhat with the inclusion of the kid himself on Mario Kart Switch.

Ike

It's tough to choose which Fire Emblem character to include in Mario Kart first. Ultimately, we want a fair few of them, but I'm picking fan-favourite Ike.

My reasoning? Well, GameCube games are going on the eShop for the first time ever on the Switch, and it makes sense for the hero of the likely Path of Radiance port to be the man to lead Fire Emblem onto Mario Kart.

Ness

I can't wait to dig into EarthBound on the inevitable SNES Mini, but in the meantime I'd quite like to get acquainted with Ness on Mario Kart.

They say you learn a lot about a person from how they ride.

Pikachu

No Pokemon in Mario Kart yet? Why bother, eh? It's only Nintendo's biggest property outside of that one with the blue dungaree-wearing bloke in it, after all.

Just do the right thing Nintendo, and make it happen in 2017. And start with Pikachu for crying out loud.