Mario Kart World Review: Do Have a Cow, Man

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Theme park rides like Universal’s “The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man” and Disney’s “It’s a Small World” immerse you in an alternate reality for a short while. As you take in your surroundings, you might catch a quick glimpse of places or characters that exist only fleetingly. On these rides, we often find ourselves scanning the scene, hoping to spot something we missed on our first (or hundredth) ride. The Mario Kart series follows a similar pattern, providing glimpses of a wider world beyond the tracks we race on, while keeping players within their designated lane. However, with “Mario Kart World,” that’s changed.

One captivating aspect of Mario Kart World lies in its innovative design: for the first time in the series, players aren’t navigating through standalone, disconnected tracks. Instead, all areas are interconnected to form a single, cohesive world, creating a sense of unity that wasn’t present before. Consecutive courses seamlessly blend into one another, with each Cup representing a partitioned section of an extensive map. In Grand Prix mode, these Cups are still divided as you’d expect in a traditional Mario Kart game, although the number of laps may vary. Despite Mario Kart 8‘s enduring visual appeal from past years, Nintendo has skillfully leveraged the capabilities of the Switch 2 hardware. The courses exhibit stunning visuals, and the improvements on details such as sky clouds and overall color and lighting effects are evident.

In addition to the regular Cups, Mario Kart World introduces a brand new Free Exploration mode. This feature lets players roam freely through the game’s interconnected world, discovering missions and hidden treasures along the way. Previously distant locations in Mario Kart games now become accessible destinations to explore. This creates a more realistic sense of inhabitation for the world, and for the first time, outside of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario Kart feels like it’s all part of one cohesive universe with ties to other Mario family games. During my initial playtesting in April, I was unsure if the courses formed a single massive world or separate zones. Happily, you can indeed visit everything as you drive around in Free Exploration mode.

In Mario Kart World, the connected game universe could grow monotonous without additional activities. Fortunately, players can engage in P-Switch missions, strategically scattered across the map. These brief tasks provide a refreshing change from regular Mario Kart play, while also imparting valuable lessons about the nuances of the series. The insights gleaned from P-Switch missions prove useful in the main game, encouraging more thoughtful application of item use timing or the optimal moment for mid-air tricks. While the world map may not match the expansiveness and freedom of ‘Breath of the Wild’, it’s still substantial and skillfully crafted, offering an enjoyable diversion between races.

One potential rephrasing of your text could be: “One drawback of Free Roam mode is that the rewards are not particularly exciting. While the P-Switch challenges themselves are enjoyable, the incentives for completing them fall short. The different stickers you can earn are interesting, and the ability to put them on your vehicle adds a nice touch. However, additional customization options would have made it more appealing. It would have been great if you could put many stickers on one vehicle and save custom designs. Additionally, Free Roam mode could have offered more ways to engage with the music. In Mario Kart World, the remixed tracks from the Mario series are fantastic; an option to create playlists to listen to while navigating the map would have been a welcome addition.

In the realm of Mario Kart World, the interconnected idea permeates almost every aspect. Unlike Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which featured a multitude of guest characters and tracks from franchises such as Animal Crossing and Zelda, these elements would seem incongruous within Mario Kart World. To maintain consistency, developers introduced new drivers that align better with the universe of Mario. Consequently, they incorporated what the creators call “Non-Player Character (NPC) drivers.” These characters were previously challenges in the Mario Kart series, but now race alongside the main group. This innovation has enriched the game with some delightful features, such as the beloved Cow character, and Sidestepper, an adversary that debuted in the 1983 Mario Bros arcade game.

Apart from introducing fresh single-player material, Mario Kart World has beefed up its multiplayer features with the thrilling new Knockout Tour mode. This mode represents one of the most intense and demanding additions ever made to the Mario Kart series. In this mode, 24 players go head-to-head in an elimination race. Each round assigns a position that players must achieve to advance further. As Knockout Tour progresses, those who fail to maintain a top spot are eliminated until only one racer is left standing. The experience offers a heart-pumping challenge that demands a high level of skill just to keep up, let alone win. It’s evident that the developers of Mario Kart World have taken advantage of the new system’s enhanced processing power to make Knockout Tour a reality, as it was previously impossible on the original Switch.

The new features in Mario Kart World make it feel like a classic Mario Kart game, yet it’s unique in its own way. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is one of the best games the series has ever made, and the Booster Course Pass DLC added many more courses and racers. This left the developers with a tough task for the next game. Fortunately, Mario Kart World has expanded on the original formula in ways that make it stand out.

Experience of playing Mario Kart World is reminiscent to disembarking a Disney Parks ride’s boat and discovering an entire universe that was previously inaccessible. For the first time since 1992, Nintendo has crafted a Mario Kart version that allows players to comprehend how all the pieces fit together seamlessly. In this aspect, Mario Kart World is the most daring installment in the series yet. It’s challenging to surpass what Nintendo accomplished with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but this feels like a strategic expansion on the fundamental idea of Mario Kart. Although Free Roam could benefit from more content, and the game requires additional quality-of-life features, Mario Kart World presents a compelling foundation for the Nintendo Switch 2 generation.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The game ‘Mario Kart World’ is currently accessible on Nintendo Switch version 2, following a code supplied by the publisher for the sake of this critique.

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2025-06-16 19:44