Mario Kart World doesn’t just represent a brand new game for Nintendo; it is headlining as a first-party launch title for the Switch 2, marking the start of a fresh, exciting chapter for both the Mario Kart franchise and its developers.
From the days of playing Mario Kart Wii using the Wii Wheel, to experiencing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the original Switch, I have many fond memories with this series, so I was incredibly excited to see what the next installment had in store on Nintendo’s latest console.
As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. The question is, has Mario Kart World succeeded in kicking off the Switch 2 with a bang? Let’s take a look!
Mario Kart World Review
The Mario Kart series has grown so much over the years, and to Nintendo’s credit, it’s been one hell of an enjoyable ride. To continue evolving a game into something bigger and better isn’t easy, especially for a title that, on paper, follows such a simple concept.
That was one aspect I couldn’t stop thinking about as I loaded up Mario Kart World for the first time. How exactly is this going to signal something fresh, something new, something different from what we’ve had before? After all, it’s headlining as a Switch 2 launch title, and in my mind, it had to deliver.
As I entered the game’s main menu, it didn’t take long for me to start noticing some changes. With my eyes following Mario drive around a huge, never-ending map in the background, one of the first things to grab my attention was the option to enter the new Free Roam mode. Instantly intrigued, I jumped straight in without hesitation, and when I say jumped straight in, I mean it. The game seamlessly transitioned me from being a viewer to the driver, suddenly placing me in control of Mario and allowing me to explore the open world.
The best way to describe Free Roam mode is that it’s like being a kid on Christmas Day. You wake up full of excitement and energy, open all of your presents thinking everything is cool, and then before you know it, you’ve lost all enthusiasm and fall asleep again.
While it’s a great concept, it became boring quite quickly. Besides unlocking new costumes, practicing courses, and playing mini-challenges, Free Roam feels relatively empty, and beyond those activities, there aren’t a lot of reasons to revisit the mode. That said, there’s clearly a lot of potential to work with, and hopefully, Nintendo has plenty of tricks up its sleeve to make it more appealing for players moving forward.
Anyway, that’s enough of the negatives. Thankfully, it only gets better from here! I then decided to check out the Grand Prix mode, a fan favorite competition where you compete against AI characters from the Mario universe in a bid to win each cup at the end of four races set in varying environments. Although it brings along some new features, tricks, and tracks, it’s the same classic formula that players have grown to love over the years.
Admittedly, I didn’t play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe religiously, so the prospect of adjusting to new tracks and their layouts wasn’t as daunting as it probably was for more dedicated, long-term players.
Before taking to the track, I went through the familiar process of choosing my character. At first, there appeared to be an impressive amount of racers to choose from, seven pages worth in fact, but it then became clear that most of the locked silhouettes are the same characters with different costumes and appearances, which I thought was a bit misleading. New characters are obtainable, but I found myself unlocking alternate attire for pre-existing ones more often than not.
Then there’s the tricky and often overthought case of choosing your vehicle for the races ahead. Here, there are numerous karts and bikes on offer, each providing different statistics for Speed, Acceleration, Weight, and Handling. While there are not as many options compared to character selection initially, the varying types, designs, and stats more than make up for it, with additional options becoming available along the way.
The choice of wheels and gliders has been removed, and while it might come as a slight disappointment for those who enjoyed that extra customization option, it wasn’t something I particularly noticed at first, nor missed.
Once my character and vehicle were chosen, the final task was to decide which cup I wanted to participate in and what difficulty I wanted to play on. You can select any of the seven available cups right from the start, with an eighth unlocking once all previous cups have been completed.
There is no designated path to follow when selecting which cup you want to play; however, I always like to begin with the option that appears at the front before making my way up to the end of the list. There are 32 tracks in total, with most of them containing three laps, though this depends on the track’s size.
In terms of gameplay and my overall time on the Grand Prix mode, I honestly had an absolute blast. Each race felt smooth, and the graphics were genuinely impressive. The crisp and bold colors of each track and its accompanying environments were a joy to behold.
The same can also be said about the sound design, which captures each and every noise around you really well, adding to that sense of immersion. From the visuals to the audio, I can’t recall encountering a single stutter, framerate drop, or issue. It felt thoroughly well polished and designed.
For how the gameplay itself felt, explaining that without sounding cliché is tough.
I suppose it’s your classic Mario Kart experience with some slight tweaks to handling, and of course, the introduction of new features like the rail grind and wall ride moves. On the topic of handling, drifting and approaching corners does feel more challenging. There were occasions where I found it hard to execute turns perfectly, causing me to crash into the walls or barriers and subsequently fall behind. What I would say, though, is that it’s something I started to grasp the more I played, so it’s definitely a learning curve anyone can adjust to over time.
The rail grind and wall ride moves offer variation in terms of how you approach certain parts of the track, giving you slight advantages in certain situations. However, I wouldn’t say they are major game changers. Sure, they add something slightly different into the mix and are nice options to have when looking to switch up tactics and techniques. But in my opinion, these features are nothing to write home about.
Away from Grand Prix, Knockout Tour is a new addition to the game mode lineup in Mario Kart World, and probably the one that provided the most fun. Knockout Tour throws you into a sudden-death race where survival means staying at the front. Imagine Grand Prix condensed into one thrilling race: 24 drivers, six interconnected tracks, and no breaks in between. Each track’s finish line acts as a checkpoint, eliminating the bottom four racers until only four remain to battle it out for first place on the final track.
Because there was so much at stake and an extra emphasis on staying ahead, this mode naturally provided more of an exhilarating gameplay experience. While it’s not a groundbreaking mode for racing games, it’s a really fun time which brings that little bit of added tension for competitive players, and one I’d highly recommend trying.
I ended my Mario Kart World playthrough with some online Grand Prix action. While the only difference here was the fact that I was up against real players, the shift in difficulty was eye-opening. I’m not entirely sure how the matchmaking system works, but it consistently paired me with players who felt significantly more experienced, which did make it less enjoyable.
To be fair, some of it is probably down to a skill issue on my part, although more lobby variation when it comes to opponents' levels would be nice, especially for casual, part-time players like myself.
Despite the emptiness of its open world, I can only draw this review to a close by reiterating just how much of a good time I had with Mario Kart World. Grand Prix is as entertaining as ever, Knockout Tour ramps up the chaotic fun to a whole new level, the graphics are great, the audio is on point, and the performance is faultless.
While it may be different for those who are jumping in straight off the back of Mario Kart 8, drawing comparisons to that and Mario Kart World isn’t something I focused on, simply because it’s been so long since I played the last entry. In a way, my lengthy absence from the franchise made me feel like a rookie racer, with Mario Kart World doing an excellent job of throwing me back into the weird and wonderful experience Nintendo so masterfully produces. Honestly? It felt like I’d never been away.
Because of its responsibility for leading the pack of Switch 2 launch games, there is no hiding from the fact that Mario Kart World lacks one or two finishing touches, especially in the Free Roam mode. I can’t deny that I expected more, so it was a slight dampener on what was otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable ride.
Nonetheless, Mario Kart World is undoubtedly one of the best games available on the Switch 2 right now, and if developers add more content to it further down the line, I think it will easily retain its place at the top of the charts.
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