The Mario Kart franchise sat an an interesting crossroads at the end of the Nintendo Switch generation. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the best-selling game on the platform, and it was pretty much the ultimate celebration of the kart racing series. The game featured remakes of tons of tracks from the past, characters from across the Nintendo universe, and an outstanding soundtrack. How on Earth could Nintendo create a proper sequel? Mario Kart World answers that question with brand-new gameplay mechanics, an open world that appeals to gamers of all ages, and the Knockout Tour racing mode creating a whole new world for kart racers to play in for years to come.
Do a barrel roll!
Mario Kart World features the most detailed gameplay mechanics ever featured in series history. The game embraces Mario’s platforming roots with a new moveset for racers to reach new heights in tracks by jumping, grinding, barrel rolling, and wall riding to multiple pathways and shortcuts.
The game’s meta continues to evolve as speed runners figure out new ways to exploit these new gameplay mechanics. Several world records have been set with perfectly timed Feather jumps and wall ride exploits that involve jumping off of tree trunks and chaining together a series of crazy jumps to shave off time.
One other major change to the Mario Kart formula is the advent of hovercraft water racing gameplay as opposed to the underwater races of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It’s a change of pace that is a bit slower and features less grippy turning than the rest of the game. The implementation of water in some courses feels a bit off and changes the otherwise faster pace of the game.
Turning, power sliding, and cornering are much more responsive in Mario Kart World leading to a new level of control when navigating the larger tracks featured in the different modes.
A new cast of characters
Mario Kart World elevates several non playable characters (NPCs) from the Mario universe to the racer roster. Players can now choose between Coin Coffer, Penguin, Para-Biddybud, Stingby, Wiggler, Sidestepper, Monty Mole, and most importantly Cow from Moo Moo Meadows. The resulting character select screen ends up being a mess filled with tons of racers.
An even more baffling design element of the character selection screen is how Mario Kart World displays the different outfits as individual racers. It’s a similar pain in the neck to trying to find an item in Tears of the Kingdom’s inventory menu, and players will definitely be spending way too much time picking racers once all cosmetic options are unlocked.
KO!
Knockout Tour is a new take on what Mario Kart online multiplayer can be. The mode combines 24 players in a battle royale death race with eliminations after each segment. It’s super cool to cross the island on the different set paths in the game mode. Knockout Tour amps the rubberbandy brutality of the Mario Kart series to 11, so it is hard to take the mode too seriously from a competitve perspective, but it is undoubtedly the most fun new thing in the game.
It’s getting better all the time
Mario Kart World’s devs may have had some missteps earlier this year with the VS Mode patches, but Nintendo is paying attention to the game’s community, and even elevating some of the larger streamers. The Big N is even supporting Mario Kart World as an esport. This year’s Nintendo Live in Japan featured a competition with some of the world’s best players facing off with UNLV Bear on the mic.
It’s exciting to see the best creators and speedrunners in the space continue to evolve the meta, and modes like Time Trial have become a great place to lab your own strategies while watching world record runs via Ghost recordings.
Immaculate vibes
The new Free Roam mode has become my happy place in video games this year. I love driving around Mario Kart World, stumbling upon P-Switch Challenges, and sometimes just vibing to the music while I take pictures with friends. I wish there were more things to do with friends in the mode, and the splitscreen mode is a bit wonky because both players have to stay close to each other or one gets warped back.
Last but not least, this soundtrack is simply outstanding. Mario Kart World’s OST is a celebration of all games in the Mario extended universe and adds to the overall vibe of the game. It’s similar to how GTA’s radio enhances the gameplay experience and that is true across every mode of the game.
Nintendo finds the game in pretty solid shape as it enters 2026. There will undoubtedly be some DLC courses, characters, and cosmetics added over time, and Mario Kart World will continue to be a game that I will return to throughout the entire Switch 2 console generation.
