Mario Kart World is the headlining first-party launch title for the Switch 2. Being bundled with the console in a deal many will go for, I imagine that the attachment rate of this one will be astronomical. But I digress; you are here for the Mario Kart World review.
Coming out over a decade after the last home console version was released (not counting Tour on mobile or Live Home Circuit), Mario Kart World looks to replace Mario Kart 8 as the king of karting.
Thanks to the bundle, most early Switch 2 adopters will likely play Mario Kart World first on the new system. So, is this new Nintendo racer better than the almighty Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Or will this open-world kart racer fail to cross the finish line?
Let's dive in.
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+ 6Mario Kart World Review
I wasn't ready for Mario Kart World. I've been content playing Mario Kart 8 since its launch on Wii U in 2014. I also bought the Deluxe version of MK8 on the original Switch when it launched in 2017, so you would expect me to have been eager for a new iteration after over a decade of MK8, but I wasn't.
See, the problem is that Nintendo pretty much perfected the formula when they made MK8. The graphics, tracks, racers, and multiplayer were all highly polished and amazing; I didn't need another Mario Kart game ever again. I even fully expected the game to be ported over to Switch 2 as an Ultimate or Complete edition (same for Smash Bros. Ultimate), but they not only decided to go all in with a brand new game, they went and changed everything.
From the outset, it is clear how much things have changed. Sure, we still have Grand Prix as the meat of the dish, along with a few sides, but the new attraction here is Free Roam Mode.
click to enlarge+ 6On paper, having Mario Kart in a Forza Horizon-like open world is fantastic; however, in execution, it is relatively empty. It lacks a reason to play it besides collecting new costumes and practicing courses outside of a fixed race setting.
There are small P switches that you can hit to activate mini missions, which are fun distractions. However, besides the novelty of driving around the open world, I found this mode rather lacking. If they took all the game modes off the main menu and spread them within Free Roam, then this mode would feel a little beefier. I hope Nintendo uses this as a platform to add to in the future, as there is a lot of potential here.
Anyway, back to the main course: Grand Prix mode. This is everyone's favorite staple of the franchise, where you compete against varying levels of competition to win each cup at the end of four races. They haven't broken the wheel here with this one, and the setup works nicely once again.
Is Mario Kart World Better Than Mario Kart 8?
No. However, that is an unfair comparison for the new game.
click to enlarge+ 6Nintendo, having spent the last 10-plus years working on MK8, bringing additions and improvements over time, has left that game in a complete state. As I said above, I was fine with 8. I even expected a second port this generation, with maybe new tracks and racers to build upon what is already there. So, to compare that to Mario Kart World is somewhat unfair.
I know 8's tracks like the back of my hand, where to hit corners, and when to head off track to hit a shortcut. It flows and has a blend of original tracks and others added from throughout the franchise's history. The same is true here with the mix of old and new. However, Mario Kart World did not instantly grab my attention with the track layouts and vibes; it didn't measure up to its predecessor. That said, Mario Bros. Circuit, Crown City, and Starview Peak are some of the newly added tracks that stand out and may grow on me.
Perhaps my opinion will change over the next few years as I start to become familiar with the new tracks on offer here, but at the moment, 8 wins for track selection.
click to enlarge+ 6Then we have the characters, and World uses a bit of an illusion regarding the amount on offer. At first glance, there is an astronomical number of racers here to choose from, but at closer inspection, these are filled with costumes/alt attires for riders rather than individual characters. Sadly, my go-to in 8 since the DLC on Wii U, Link, has been omitted from the launch lineup. However, the new characters added in Mario Kart World did make me smile.
The penguin from Mario 64 is here, and I never knew he/she was the missing racer from my Mario Kart career until now. While not quite the caliber of the characters added to 8 over the years, the penguin will be fine for me until they add Link and Diddy Kong. While most new characters are decentish, I hate the cow; I blame it for Moo Moo Meadows returning.
There are also various bikes and karts on offer for your chosen character to drive around in. Here, the options have been simplified a lot as the customisation of wheels, gliders, etc has all been removed. Some may hate this, but sometimes I just want to pick a kart and not worry about how the wheels change the handling.
Talking of handling. I am so used to the sturdy feeling of the drift in 8, which grips the track vice-like, that the drift in World definitely feels much looser, like you could roll the kart at any moment. Many times, I have found myself drifting to try to overtake, but it has gone too wide, and I have crashed into oncoming traffic, losing my place. This is not a massive complaint; it is more of a learning curve for veterans to overcome.
click to enlarge+ 6Another new feature added is the rail grind and wall ride moves. These are tricky to pull off and usually require you to load up the new Charge Jump ability that works by holding the drift button down, but heading straight instead of turning into a drift. I never found the grinding usable when I tried to make it happen, as the jump is still very low. When a grind occurred naturally during a race, it was fine. It was not really an addition I felt Mario Kart was missing, but it's here now.
Outside Grand Prix, we have a few side dishes complementing the main course. Knockout Tour is the newcomer and the standout. In this mode, you must finish in a specific placing before the checkpoint or face elimination. For online play, Knockout Tour is my preferred mode; it brings much more tension to the races over standard ones. You can have up to four players on one console in split-screen mode or up to 8 online. It's really fun and one to try out for sure.
You can also race a whopping 24 other players in a race online. The disappointing yet understandable thing is the inability to use the mic to chat with players outside your friend list. For the safety of kids playing, this is probably for the best and is actually a feature in Game Chat as a whole, not just here. VR ranking returns for better or worse to matchmake with players of a similar level when playing online; time will tell how fans react to this. For me? I have never really worried about my ranking in Mario Kart (call me a scrub if you like).
click to enlarge+ 6Rounding off the package are the usual Time Trials mode for setting lap records, VS Race, where you can use custom rules, and Battle, which, for me, was only ever fun in Diddy Kong Racing. Most players coming to Mario Kart World will be heading for Grand Prix and Free Roam mode. I would still recommend trying out the really fun Knockout Mode over standard online racing just for the sheer tension in those races.
It's tough to judge a game like Mario Kart, which is always an instant buy that you keep to the end of the console's life, as improvements and additions will inevitably come. It looks fantastic and leans into Nintendo's new looks for the characters, seemingly inspired by the Mario movie. But the subtle things like snow landing on your character's head in the cold areas, or getting a wave back from drivers on the road when you beep your horn at them, shine through here.
The unlockables are fun, as is the allure of open-world driving in free roam, but a lack of substance makes that mode a touch disappointing. The music and sound effects are both on point, as expected. Each tune seemed to fit the area I was in or the race I was competing in. Grand Prix is as solid as ever, and the new Knockout Tour is a compelling mode for online fun with friends.
Mario Kart World is wholesome, well-made, and stunning, but its lack of attention-grabbing tracks at launch lets it down. It is a tragedy that Mario Kart World is in the unfortunate position of trying to follow up the legacy of Mario Kart 8, as following borderline perfection is an insurmountable task.
If you are looking for the best Nintendo game at launch for Switch 2, look no further, but for fans of 8, you may need to wait for Mario Kart World to make the podium.
That concludes our Mario Kart World Review. If you are interested in finding out Switch 2 stock availability, click here to access our stock checker for stock in the USA, and click here for Switch 2 UK stock availability.
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