Mario Kart World Review

The Mario Kart series is beloved and iconic in the gaming world. It’s a series that has been around for most of

my life. I think I’ve played every iteration of Mario Kart and most of them, quite extensively. It’s always a feel-good game that you can throw on to get away for a little while. The series has undergone significant changes since Super Mario Kart first appeared on the Super Nintendo. It has evolved from a simple kart racer to a more fantasy-style game, where you can fly and drive upside down. That’s why I was so interested to see Mario Kart World as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2. Are the open-world, new wall ride, and grind mechanics enough to make this one worth the purchase? Let’s take a look!

Presentation

Graphics

Mario Kart World looks great, whether it’s played in docked or handheld mode. I was somewhat unsure whether this game would live up to all the pre-release videos once I got my hands on it, but those fears were needless. The framerate remains a solid 60fps, regardless of the chaos on the screen, which is even more impressive considering the bump to 24 racers. The graphics may not blow you away, but the higher resolution makes things look significantly smoother. I was also impressed by the game’s draw distance in the open world. You can see for miles into the distance. The water impressed me with its reactivity to everything. If you get hit by a blue shell or a bob-omb, you’ll see the water react to the weapon organically. It’s a small thing, but that extra bit of detail goes a long way.

Audio

There’s something to say about a game that has you humming instrumentals hours after you’ve stopped playing it. Mario Kart World is one of those games for me. There’s a nice mix of brand-new songs and nods to classic franchises among the arrangements in the game. I had fun in the middle of a race trying to pick out where I’d heard a piece of a song before in the annals of Nintendo history. The sound effects are equally as memorable in the game. Something I took note of was the wooshing of the shells as they get closer to you. It was terrifying to hear those things coming at me through my back speakers as I tried to move just enough out of the way. The only thing I wasn’t too happy with was when I hit another racer with a projectile. It doesn’t quite feel as impactful. I’m not sure why that is, but it just doesn’t give you as much of an audibly satisfying hit.

Gameplay

New Mechanics

The much-publicized new mechanics of wall-riding, charge jumping, and grinding are interesting but poorly implemented. My main complaint about many of these mechanics is the need to charge your jump to perform them. This requires you to stay straight and charge the jump for a few seconds. It takes too long, and I don’t care if that’s an unpopular opinion. It does. If it didn’t take so long to jump, it would be different. It just doesn’t feel good or intuitive like it needs to in an arcade racer. Imagine trying to grind a rail in Tony Hawk but having to wait a few seconds to jump. Now apply that idea to a race setting, and you can see how it’s beyond annoying.

These new mechanics aren’t terrible. I’ve had moments where I’ve done some incredible things, like landing on a power line after a jump and doing tricks down the road up there as the racers went around the corner below me. I’ve had other instances where I’ve ridden the wall halfway up a mountain. The potential is there, but I think it needs to be tuned a bit because it’s just a little too slow to use effectively at the moment you want to use it. If your response is “Git Good”, you’re not understanding the audience for Mario Kart World. Luckily, the main mechanics of the game, like drifting, feel pretty much the same, perhaps a bit less effective to compensate for the new stuff.

Customization/Unlockables

This game isn’t quite as customizable as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. You can no longer customize your kart, which significantly speeds up the selection process. Instead, you pick your character and choose a kart, and you’re ready to go. Additionally, you can select a single sticker to place on your kart. Costumes are unlocked by consuming different types of Dash Food, which can be obtained from drive-thrus. Characters are unlocked by winning each cup, and when someone uses a Kamek item to transform you mid-race. It isn’t very sensible, as you have to hope you’re on the right track for a character you don’t have. There could have been a much better system here that rewards you for wins or for finding them all in the open world.

Open-World

Mario Kart World was heavily touted for its open-world aspect in previews leading up to its launch. This made me wonder how important it would be to the game as a whole. I was under the impression that it would be like a hub world to get to races, which was not at all correct. You can go into the open world at any time by hitting the shoulder buttons at the same time. Pick your character and kart, and you’re off on your own. You can change your character and kart at any time, which is helpful if you are having trouble doing a particular task in the world that might require a bit more speed or a bit better handling. There are tons of starting points littered all over the map to drop into when you’re ready to go. There’s also a rewind feature if you want to try something again without having to drive back to that exact point.

Collectibles

I’m not going to sit here and tell you that the open world is lush and full of things to do because it isn’t. There are coins to collect, which give you access to new vehicles, and those are counted across all game modes. You’ll find significantly more in certain places in the open world. I saw several piles of them on my journey. One of the most interesting aspects is the question mark pads that are found on random surfaces. There may be one on a wall, or there could be one on a tower that you have to figure out how to get up to. Peach Medallions are also scattered throughout the world, but they’re much harder to find. The player is given the freedom to figure it out in any way they can. There are power-ups throughout the world that you can pick up and use to your advantage to get to that hard-to-reach spot as well.

P Switches

P Switch missions are scattered throughout the world and are the main thing to do in free roam in Mario Kart World. These are generally enjoyable to complete, but sometimes frustrating. No matter what, I still kept going back to them time and time again to see what incredible challenge the game was going to give me. One of my most memorable runs had me grind into a cannon and hop off a boost pad to execute two wall rides, then fly to hit a flagpole. They’re mostly time trials and collecting blue coins, but they incorporate enough variety that they don’t seem too generic.

Progress

The puzzling thing about Free Roam is that the map doesn’t track your progression in the typical way an open world would. There are hundreds of P Switches, but you can only see the total amount you’ve completed. You have no idea how many more are out there or where they are. Considering the reward for completing many of these tasks is a sticker, it’s not worth worrying about too much.

Game Modes

Grand Prix

Grand Prix mode has undergone a significant transformation due to the open-world nature. You play a few laps on the first course, and then you drive to the next course on two laps of the highway. You then get one lap on the next course before doing the highway thing again. It’s a fun idea until you realize just how much you’ll be driving down the highway when you’re trying to get three stars in the gold cup. I wish they had the option to play on the courses and forego the highway sequences. It just wasn’t necessary for this mode, given how prevalent it already was in Knockout Tour.

Knockout Tour

I didn’t expect to love Knockout Tour mode as much as I did. It’s one of the most frantic and enjoyable modes in the game. You’ll race across five segments of highway, followed by a lap at the destination course. The bottom four drivers get eliminated from the race at each cutoff point. It’s fast-paced, and you can be knocked out of the race in the blink of an eye. Trust me, I’ve had my share of 3rd and 4th place finishes after leading in the last turn of the race.

I did find that it was challenging to keep your spot in Knockout Tour. It felt to me as though the rubber-banding was amped up to 11. It feels less about skillful driving and more about finding the right spot to collect valuable items. If you’re at the top of the heap, you’re only getting bananas and coins. If you sit back a little, you have a bit more to work with. I’m hopeful that this will become a bit more balanced in the future, as it’s noticeable right now. I still had a ton of fun with the mode, and it’s been my go-to mode online.

Battle Mode

Battle Mode exists and was mildly entertaining during the few online runs I played with it. Balloon Battle and Coin Runners are the only two options available, so you’ll just be bouncing back and forth between those two modes. I had an issue with the maps. Most of them are just pieces of an existing track instead of actual Battle Mode tracks. It’s fine, but it leaves a lot to be desired. I’m hoping we’ll see more updates here as the game starts to receive updates.

VS. Mode/Time Trials

VS. Mode gives you the option to race under traditional rules, excluding highways. This is only in the offline mode though, so you’ll still have to run down the highways if you want to race online in VS. Time Trials are what you would expect with staff ghosts to challenge. These are also strictly on the courses.

Items

Mario Kart World doesn’t introduce any surprising new items to use on your opponents. There are now hammers that you can throw in a line and are more of a close-quarters projectile. The feather makes its return and is a game-changer for hopping over red shells. It also allows you to access shortcuts and hop over gaps more efficiently. I feel that it’s one of those items with a limited use case and can be annoying to have unless you’re near the top of the leaderboard. The Kamek power-up summons Bowser’s minions to go after the leaders. The rest of the items are standard to the series.

Tracks

There are 30 tracks included in Mario Kart World, and they don’t disappoint. Many of the tracks utilize the new boat and plane vehicles, allowing you to switch between them seamlessly. Dino Dino Jungle was one of my favorites, where I saw massive dinosaurs walking around and tried not to get squished. The new Bowser’s Castle will test your driving skills. It was an exciting track to run through. The new Rainbow Road is by far the standout here and is probably my favorite one in the series. It’s the showpiece. There’s something here for everyone, and I like that there are plenty of re-imagined tracks among the new ones.

Final Thoughts

I could go on and on about Mario Kart World. There is much to discuss about what some consider a simple game. I think it has the potential to overtake Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but in its current form, I’m not sure it beats that game for me yet. There are many things I love and many that leave me scratching my head just a little bit. It’s a fun racing game to play with friends, the tracks are great, and the open world is a pleasant diversion. I believe there’s still considerable room for growth.