Video Game Blog 052: Mario Kart World!

I’ve played a lot of Mario Kart over the last couple of years. A LOT. I started playing the series with my brothers on the very first installment for the Super NES. Aside from trying a race or two with them every now and then, that was pretty much it for me. But when Mario Kart 8 came out for the Wii U, I got back into the series bigtime, playing with my family or with my wife, but mostly alone against the CPU racers.

The race begins! (Credit: Nintendo)

Determined to catch up, I tracked down every other installment that I had missed, and even got the Deluxe edition of Mario Kart 8 for the Switch. I even got the port of Mario Kart Advance for the Wii U virtual console. My wife gifted me Mario Kart Double Dash for the GameCube, which was the last one I needed. I played through every title over the course of the last two years, mostly focusing on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. (I’ve cleared all the 150 cc cups and most of Mirror Mode as of now.)

So, of course, when Mario Kart World was announced as a release title for the Switch 2, I was very excited. I was already hyped for the Switch 2 (I’m pretty shocked I haven’t worn out my old Switch with how many hours I’ve logged into it the last five+ years.) and seeing the long-awaited follow up to my favorite Mario Kart game was coming as a bundle with the console sealed the deal and I took the plunge in preordering it.

Title screen. (Credit: Nintendo)

Mario Kart World was released for the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025. Three days before this post is going up, actually. I jumped right on this review!

Grand Prix mode. (Credit: Nintendo)

As this is a Mario Kart game, the gameplay is much as would be expected. You select a Mario-themed character, choose a vehicle and a cup, and get to racing. You have various tricks and items to help you advance in the standings and obliterate your opponents.

Grand Prix mode is the main game mode and consists of 8 cups with four courses each, for a total of 32 new courses. You can additionally select the speed/difficulty of the races between 50 cc, 100 cc, and 150 cc. (No Mirror Mode or 200 cc yet, but I expect that will be a patch later down the road. Pun intended.)

Grinding the tracks. (Credit: Nintendo)

All the usual mechanics remain from Mario Kart 8 including turbo boost at the start, drift boosting, jump boost, and boosting in an opponent’s wake. You can glide over pits. In this one you can also grind on rails and flip off of them, which gives you a boost when you land. You can now drive on the surface of the water as your kart has jet ski capabilities. Jumping on any incline allows you to do tricks in midair.

A big change is the upgrade in the number of players. This game consists of 24-person races, which is the most of any Mario Kart game. (Mario Kart 8 supported half this number online.) You can play with 2 players locally on one console, up to 4 on one screen (wireless), and up to 24 online.

Huge races. (Credit: Nintendo)

Possibly the most significant change is that all the tracks are connected in a large world. While in the cups, you drive from one course to the next, with this expanse being counted as part of the next course. This means much of the game is played out in straight lines rather than circuiting a traditional race track.

Some other changes include food you can pick up to change your character’s costume and provide a boost, a photo mode for your racer to take selfies, and day and night between tracks. You can make use of the Switch 2 camera and chat features with this game while playing online.

Bowser looks badass like this. (Credit: Nintendo)

There are 50 characters in all, 92 counting the different costumes. Once you unlock a costume, it shows up in your character roster so you can race in that costume. At various times in the race, Kamek the Magi-Koopa can fly by and temporarily transform you into an enemy ahead of you on the track. If you are turned into an enemy you haven’t unlocked yet, after the race they’re unlocked as a character.

Collecting coins in the courses unlock new vehicles for you to use when you reach the requirements. As with the previous games, collecting coins will make you go faster, and the coin cap is raised from 10 to 20.

My growing sticker collection. (Credit: Nintendo)

By accomplishing various feats in the game, you are rewarded with stickers to add to your collection. You get these by driving or gliding set distances, doing tricks, collecting coins, completing cups or missions, and more. You can select one sticker of your choice to decorate your vehicle, character icon, and the home screen.

(Note that I actually have WAY more stickers than what’s shown above. This was an early screenshot. I didn’t want to spoil anything by showing my most recent acquisitions.)

One small corner of the world. (Credit: Nintendo)

Grand Prix is just one mode. As usual, there are multiplayer modes, where you can play online with up to 24 racers. The usual games modes make an appearance: Time Trials, Vs, and Battle. A really fun new mode is the Knockout Tour, which challenges you to play six courses without a break, placing increasingly higher in order to continue racing. If you don’t reach the requirement by the end of the checkpoint, you’re out. In this mode you start with 24 racers and end up with only 4 by the last track.

The other game mode is Free Roam, accessed by selecting the map from the home screen. This allows you to drive all around the world at your leisure, exploring, finding shortcuts and secrets. So far I haven’t found any coins or ? Blocks. But again, this is an earlier screenshot and I currently have 5 P-Switches. I also had to chase Nabbit in one area, which was fun.

Press the button, Mario. (Credit: Nintendo)

The P-Switches are additional challenges you can complete in Free Roam. These consist of wall driving, mini-races, gathering blue coins in a limited amount of time, and more. Like I said above, I’ve completed five. I’ve attempted more than five, but some of them will take a lot of practice to complete.

The turtle and the cow. That’s how the fable goes, right? (Credit: Nintendo)

I actually got Cocoashade to play against me the first night I got it, and she was surprised by how much fun she had with it. She’s played Mario Kart with me before, but not often and she typically doesn’t like racing games. But with this one, she was actually asking me to play the second night!

It was a close one! (Credit: Nintendo)

So far we’ve raced twice and she came in a close second both times It won’t be long before she beats me, and I’m looking forward to that. I love that she’s enjoying this game. It’s one more thing we can share.

The map of the world. (Credit: Nintendo)

Clearly I love this game and I know I’ll get years of enjoyment out of it. (Especially once they release DLC or booster tracks like they did with Part 8.) So far I’ve completed all of Grand Prix in 50 cc, first place and three stars. I’ve only tried the first Knockout Tour cup and logged maybe around an hour in Free Roam. I have a lot more to play and I’m looking forward to it.

Mario Kart World a very player-friendly game, with so much to explore and collect, and lots of game modes to keep you busy. The sheer number of characters and costumes is very impressive and the unlock methods are creative. Without spoiling anything, I will say that the final track in Grand Prix is possibly my favorite in the entire series.

While some may be disappointed in the connected courses taking the place (for the most part) of the traditional circular tracks, I feel this gives the game an epic scope and sets it apart from the other 8 titles in the series. It really feels like one vast connected world, which you can see much better in Free Roam mode. This game has a truly epic scope that so far serves as the pinnacle of the franchise.

This seems unsafe. (Credit: Nintendo)

Thank you for joining me in this quick review of the newest Mario Kart game! I hope you enjoyed the post and if you were one of the fortunate ones who scored a Switch 2 along with this game, happy racing! I’ll be back soon with more, so keep posted!

Wheeee! (Credit: Nintendo)