Mario Kart World | Review

Mario Kart has proven to be one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises for quite some time, so it makes sense that Nintendo would want to get a title out on the Nintendo Switch 2 as soon as possible. The game offers some new ideas on top of already established elements that fans have come to know and love. How does this shake out with Mario Kart World? Let’s get into it. 

Gameplay

Many elements from the past few Mario Kart titles have made their return. Of course, things like power sliding and jump boosts are here, however a few new additions have been introduced in World. The rail and wall grind is another way to get boosts and, in turn, advantages throughout races. These can’t be done on every rail in the game. Most of the rails or ropes that you can perform this on are pretty easy to spot as they typically have a lip of sorts to drive up to initiate the move. Once grinding, you are able to jump around to other rails or off of one entirely. On top of that, if you are near walls from rails or other high places, you can grind off of the them for a boost. These can be a bit tricky at first, but once you get the hang of these moves, you’ll be grinding around the game in no time. 

Races boast 24 racers, the most ever for the series. This results in a bit more chaos simply given the number of bodies on the track. To compensate for the increase in racers, most of the tracks are also quit a bit wider than ones found in previous games. Another difference can be found in Grand Prix when it comes to races. In World, players will tackle tracks a bit differently as the mode offers races on the tracks themselves and the areas in between. I found this quite refreshing, but some might be disappointed about the lack of traditional racing here. Even with that said, traditional lap based racing is still available outside of Grand Prix.

Modes

Mario Kart World packs several modes to tackle. The main screen presents ways to play with Single Player, Multiplayer, Online Play and Wireless Play for two systems. Grand Prix is one of the main modes to tackle with single or multiplayer locally, but Knockout Tour (more on that later), Time Trials, VS Race and Battle are also available. Somewhat hidden and not included in the “modes” per se, Free Roam can be accessed with the press of the + button from the start screen. We’ll dive into that mode soon. 

Grand Prix will be the place where a lot of people start, and it’s honestly a great place to do so to get the general layout of the tracks. Not only this, but racing through this mode will unlock some extra characters. Speaking of characters, there are quite a few to unlock in World. Unlike Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, these characters are all from the Super Mario Bros. series in some form or another. Many of these side characters can be unlocked by being transformed by the Kamek item while playing. 

Placed along the road in every area of the game are shops ran by Yoshi. Aptly dubbed Yoshi’s, these offer a power-up food item that can allow select characters to change costumes. While I think these generally look great, I am a bit disappointed that outside of aesthetics, they don’t provide anything else other than a literal change of clothes. On top of this, each outfit change represents a new character on the character select screen. It makes things a bit cluttered, but visiting the different areas and tracking down all of these will be fun for some.

Outside of the single player, Mario Kart World absolute shines when it comes to multiplayer. Similar to Deluxe on the Switch, World includes the ability to adjust CPU assist for driving, item usage and more. If you’re playing with younger gamers or a lapsed or less experienced player, these additions are great. With the amount of crazy situations that can happen in general, it’s even more fun to tackle the game with friends. Even if you can’t play with friends locally, online is also a viable way to play. In my time with the game, I ran into little to no issues with online performance. Of course, your experience with this may vary, but I feel that Nintendo has crafted a pretty solid online experience here.

Free Roam

Free Roam allows players to explore not only the courses, but all of the areas in between. Referred to as an “interconnected world” by the development team (Mario Kart World Ask The Developer Part 3), this is about as close to an open world Mario Kart as you are going to get. While you get a taste of this in the races themselves, Free Roam takes it to another level. You can go pretty much anywhere on the map to search for question mark panels, P Switch missions, Peach Medallions, scenic views or just drive around for fun. You can also just check out the tracks in a no-pressure kind of way to take in the intricate details that they offer. It’s great to be able to check these kind of things out in a very passive kind of way. 

For the most part, the denizens won’t do too much, typically just walking around certain areas, or even walking along the roads. I did come across an interesting occurrence while cursing around Crown City. I was pulled off to the side of the a somewhat busy road in a parking lot when I saw a car pull up. I just assumed it would pull in and then go back out on the road and be on its way. I was surprised to see the car park, and the Toad driver get out and go for a walk in that particular area. I’m not sure how common this kind of thing is, but it was a fun, cute touch.

Although it’s great to see such a vast world opened up for exploration, things do feel a little bit barren. Sure, there are tons of pathways, shops and a lot of minute details, but this mode feels aimless. And to counter that, maybe that’s the point. Still, my main gripe with the mode is the lack of access to a full sized map (there is a small, circular one in the corner), which would have made this a bit more enjoyable and perhaps provided a bit more structure. If you just want to see the sights in a very carefree kind of way, you’re going to enjoy this. If your goal is to track down all of the collectibles scattered throughout the world, you might feel a bit annoyed.

Update

Well, you CAN access the map while in Free Roam Mode with the press of the Y button. Even with that said, the map itself is a bit lacking. A few tweaks that I would love to see would be for the collectibles to be laid out as some kind of list so it’s easier to see what you’re missing. Currently, you have hover the cursor over the areas or characters for more details. For other hidden items, unless you consult some kind of guide, you have no idea what you are missing or what you have already done.

Knockout Tour

I’m usually not super interested in competitive play, but I did give World a spin online against random players with Knockout Tour. This mode (which you can also tackle offline) is a 24-player race that gradually thins down the number of racers over six tracks. Essentially, this is a racing survival mode where only the top players can keep racing. The first leg of the race will eliminate anyone who doesn’t finish in the top 20, while the numbers go down from there. It’s incredibly fun and quite challenging. I somehow managed to get a first place finish, but that might have been because I was (seemingly) teamed up with some bots. If you’ve grown tired of the Grand Prix or Free Roam, this is a fun mode that is Nintendo’s take on a racing battle royal. Sure, F-Zero 99 might have done it first, but it is great to see this mode included here.

Visuals, Audio & Performance

World sports a clean look that will appear familiar to fans of Mario and the Mario Kart series. Character models themselves feature numerous animations that really bring them to life, perhaps more so than the titles that have come before. Lighting, especially in instances that showcase the new day and night cycle, is awesome and shows each of the areas in a different light, both literally and figuratively. The increased resolution is also a nice plus here. Even with all of this said, the jump from the Switch to Switch 2 in terms of character models isn’t as drastic as some may have liked. Regardless, World is still a good looking game on the TV and in handheld.

World runs at a very consistent framerate. During my time so far with the game, I have not noticed any dips or instances that saw the game struggling in terms of performance. I won’t go as far to say that World looks leagues better than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but the vast world and how it is presented trump the former. 

On top of the pretty good visuals, the audio in the game is fantastic. All of the familiar sound effects are here and sound great. Even better than these are the multitude of music tracks that are featured in the game. The development team spent quite a bit of time crafting tracks for each area of the game, including variations depending on the time of day when it comes to the Free Roam areas. It’s a great soundtrack and one that you’ll want to check out via headphones or a nice sound setup on your TV. 

Conclusion

Mario Kart World feels familiar but offers a bit extra to make the series fresh. Although the Free Roam mode in the game isn’t as expansive or involved as I would have hoped, its addition is a great step forward for the series and gives fans more to do than just pure racing. Even with that said, if you’re going into this purely for a single player experience, you might find yourself disappointed. As with titles in the past, playing with friends either locally or online is where the most fun can be had. Given the level of support that Nintendo gave Mario Kart 8 Deluxe last generation, it’s safe to say that we can expect the same here. Mario Kart World isn’t perfect, but it’s still fun and a great addition to your Switch 2 library.

Final Score: 8.5

by Danny Bivens