Mario Kart World dev talks about what went into the making of the game’s Photo Mode

What was it like working on Photo Mode for Mario Kart World? Planner Ayako Akaza recently provided some insight as part of a post on Nintendo’s Japanese recruitment site.

Photo Mode may seem like a straightforward feature, but actually implementing it wasn’t simple. According to Akaza, at one point, “we had crammed in a lot of features and it began to look very difficult to engage with and felt like maybe players would never actually use it”. It was also shared that Photo Mode was based on a prototype made by a programmer. After interesting tidbit is that after one of the developers wanted a vertical frame, that led to the creation of a magazine-style design.

Our full translation of the piece can be found below.

Making it Easy to Take Great Photos

In Mario Kart World there is a Photo Mode that allows photos of the drivers and scenery to be taken. This Photo Mode was based on a prototype made by a programmer, and using that as a base I thought about and planned the UI and sequence (the flow of screens and controls).

As for the UI, I thought a lot about the intricate parts, such as “How can I easily express this function in words?” and “Where should the buttons be placed and in what order?” At one stage we had crammed in a lot of features and it began to look very difficult to engage with and felt like maybe players would never actually use it, which would be a waste. So while considering a balance between ‘simplicity’ and ‘attention to detail’, and with continual discussion with UI designers and programmers, we removed features, added features, changed the wording little by little, and proceeded with repeated trial and error.

When planning the overall flow for a player who opens Photo Mode and takes a picture, it was necessary to consider how the mode should handle various situations in the game. Even when we thought we had considered everything in advance, once we actually implemented it, there were a lot of problems that kept appearing that we hadn’t imagined, and we were really troubled by it. In cases like that it is the job of a planner to take responsibility for decisions and decide “Let’s do this like this!” Having said that, when thinking about how to handle something well, we’ll also engage in trial and error while using the knowledge of the programmers and designers. At times like that, it is essential that everyone in the team collectively understands and places importance on the concept of ‘making it easy to take great photos’.

Nurturing Ideas as a Team

During development of Photo Mode, many members of the team were involved. At the stage when we were still finalizing the features, it was used to share information such as “I was able to take this!” and “This is how the look of this is shaping up!”

Looking at those communications we would think, “We made it so you can play like this”, “Therefore, maybe this functionality would be good like this”, and we were able to adjust the specifications accordingly. We also asked those who were really enjoying taking photos, “What kind of functionality would make you happy?”

It was important to think like that, for example with regards to photo frames, “Maybe if we had this frame, we could take this kind of photo”. Because of that, the way it was used and played with had a big effect on the design. Someone said “I want a vertical frame”, which led to a magazine-style one, and we made one styled after the food packing of Yoshi’s, (the in-game fast food chain store). Furthermore there were examples of frames that at first seemed a little odd, were actually being used surprisingly frequently, which led to their inclusion. Simply put, Photo Mode was not just made just by the person in charge, but was an idea nurtured by the whole team. I truly feel that an idea can not be thought and nurtured by a single person.

As a result, Photo Mode was used to create photos for various things, including the end credits, the game packaging, and Nintendo Today. Since release players have been able to take lots of wonderful pictures too!

Mario Kart is a racing game, so the game world is generally passed through at a very high speed. And it’s also not a game with a clear story. However, when players use Photo Mode to take a moment to look slowly, they will notice various intricate details scattered around and I hope that makes them happy. I’m very happy that Photo Mode allows players to, by taking photos, see and enjoy Mario Kart World from a different perspective.

Mario Kart World is currently available on Nintendo Switch 2. A notable 1.5.0 update came out last month, which you can read about here.

Translation provided by Simon Griffin and SatsumaFS on behalf of Nintendo Everything.