Mario Kart World (2025)

Mario Kart World left me more frustrated than impressed. I genuinely do not understand why this new Mario Kart turned out the way it did. It feels as if executive decisions shaped features that sound ambitious on paper but add little to the actual gameplay experience.

The idea of an open world initially seemed like a logical evolution. Other racing franchises such as Gran Turismo 7 or Forza Horizon 5 have embraced open environments successfully. Nintendo attempting something similar makes sense in principle. The issue lies in the execution. Driving around the open world feels directionless. There is little clarity about what has already been completed and what remains undone. The challenges themselves might have been interesting, but without structure or meaningful tracking, exploration becomes aimless rather than engaging.

The races, expanded to larger grids, also suffer. Outcomes feel increasingly random, and it becomes difficult to understand why you finish first in one race and last in the next. That unpredictability undermines the sense of mastery and makes the experience less satisfying.

Overall, the game feels overdesigned. The predecessor, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, struck a far better balance. It worked both as a competitive racer and as a cohesive package. Here, neither the racing nor the world design fully convinces. It is a disappointing step, and one that feels somewhat emblematic of Nintendo’s recent direction.

The new mechanics and brilliant art direction cannot save this game's poor implementation of open-world gameplay, not to mention the new intermissions tracks being mostly boring. Unlocking all the characters like fish bone is also a huge chore (or not if your extremely lucky). The new Kamel item is really sad once you've unlocked all the characters.

Where this game fails the most is giving you no incentive for anything beyond stickers that are so tiny and misplaced that you can't even appreciate them during gameplay. Sakurai did it right with Kirby Air Riders I'm feeling the game with tons of cosmetic items and a full-on mode to customize your own machine all over. It's so sad that for only a few grand prix's you unlock characters, and for the rest you get a meaningless trophy. Older Mario karts knew what they were doing because you would unlock new characters and karts and modes for each Grand Prix you completed, not to mention for time trials you complete like in Mario Kart Wii. Unlocking the karts with coins does not feel great either. It's much more fun when you learn how to unlock something specifically and then go straight to that unlockable in a new playthrough.

Even though this game looks beautiful, this Mario Kart is the worst one. Playing it with my friends multiplayer has not been as fun as any other Mario Kart at all. I have a more fun time playing the original on Super Nintendo because I don't have to deal with the insanity of the item system combined with 24 racers, even if the original's turning felt weird. Mario Kart 8 (and deluxe) I felt much better with the competition online as well even though it had the same sad system of unlocking things with coins.

It's such a sad thing that a game can be so expensive and so bad for that price. There's no such thing as price equaling quality with Nintendo even though that's exactly what they want you to believe. 2 stars because it really is wonderful to look at.

I was looking forward to this game more than any other game in 2025, but I ended up being disappointed. I just wanted another solid kart racer that continued using the formula, but I should have known with how the Booster Pass courses in the MK8D DLC were designed that I wouldn't like the direction the series was headed in.

I played through all grand prix and knockout tours at every speed and can barely recall and memorable turns or tracks. I really do not like the open-world aspect, it's big and empty and I'm not really into exploration in my kart racing games. It was fine in Diddy Kong Racing because the scope was so narrow, but in MKWorld it's overwhelming and largely uninteresting. The open-world aspect makes each track suffer too because it's often not clear what terrain will slow you down vs what off-road path is intended to be driven on. It's also pretty hard to tell what's the valid turn when all of the maps are intended to look open, so they all look valid.

I was pretty excited for missions to come back because I was thinking they'd be similar to MKDS. The missions do a good job teaching mechanics, but they don't make me enthusiastic to scour every corner to find all of them. Really wish there were a checklist for collectibles to actually make it feel like there was a tangible goal to reach for.

I appreciate the increased emphasis on more complex mechanics, but realistically I don't think I'd ever be able to capitalize on them. I'm not great at finding shortcuts or wallriding or min/maxing lines, so I'm just going to stick to the ground thanks.

Really don't like how most items got nerfed into the ground. Mushrooms and mushroom adjacent items got a buff simply because of how bad the rest of the items feel.

I don't appreciate the lack of i-frames. Going from first to last feels way worse in this game than in others, but that might just be recency bias.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't play this game if it didn't have Mario Kart in the title. It's a game that I'll be playing with friends, but don't think I'd play otherwise.

Mario Kart World is the Nintendo Switch 2's launch title as their first (and hopefully last) $80 first-party game. If it wasn't for the console bundle including a digital copy of the game for $50, I would've had to sit this one out.

The latest entry in the Mario Kart series has exciting new features such as a photo mode, open world exploration, side-missions, costumes, updated character rosters, and 24 player races with new ways to navigate tracks. Yet much of this content feels undercooked, especially with the amount of tracks and costumes (what do you mean there's no Shy Guy or Yoshi color variants??). To be fair, Mario Kart 8 was also lacking in its initial release and has since grown into arguably a masterpiece of the franchise, but it also wasn't being sold for $80.

Regardless of its flaws, at the end of the day this is a solid Mario Kart but don't let FOMO pressure you into purchasing it over other games, especially with that high price tag, unless you're dying for a new multiplayer game to play with friends.

I would recommend this game only through the console bundle deal.

When Nintendo made its Switch console, it was almost as if they decided their first-party games were going to be the ultimate versions of each of their franchises. For example, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are both the biggest worlds that the LoZ franchise has ever offered players, Super Mario Odyssey felt like a celebration of everything Mario had done up to this point, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, well, felt like the ultimate version of the game. This was also true of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which took a great game for the failed Wii U and vamped it up with racers, tracks, and everything you could want from a Mario Kart game. It truly felt like the ultimate version of this series that could never be outdone.

But...then Nintendo made the Switch 2, and it couldn't just let these franchises die at their peak. For the system's launch title, Mario Kart World, I imagine Nintendo had to ask a tough question: is there a way we can go bigger, while also trying something new in this format? Mario Kart World is that game, for the most part, but having played it off and on for several months and enjoying myself, this is certainly a good game, but not entirely the direction I want the franchise to go down from here on out.

Now here's the thing: I really like a lot of what Mario Kart World is doing. I like the new tracks that showcase the multitude of options racers have, and this has to be the largest lineup of new tracks in the franchise's history. I love the number of character options and unlockable characters (although I hate the way certain characters have to be unlocked), and the new Knockout Tour is a great way to keep this franchise fresh. There are a lot of new elements that work for me here, and I have the best time with this game when I'm merely racing the Tours, going through these various Cup races, and engaging with the game by and large the way I have played this franchise for decades.

But there are quite a few changes here that just never got off the ground for me. The big one is the free roam option, which allows you to ride around the tracks at your own leisure, check out the areas that connect these tracks, and just discover hidden secrets throughout. Yet the world is too massive and without enough to do. Every once in a while, you'll find a P-Switch, a ? block, or a Peach coin, and it's a pleasant surprise, but it's never as exciting as it needs to be. If there was something I could win that would allow me to find these hidden secrets more easily, I might have enjoyed exploring this world, but there's just not enough to do in this option.

I also never appreciated the new ways you can maneuver your actual cart. The grinding on rails is a decent addition, but I often couldn't tell if it was helping or hurting my position in the race. I particularly don't like the option to wallride or jump your kart, and unfortunately, many of the challenges in the free roam mode require a mastery of these techniques. Naturally, the grinding reminds me of Tony Hawk Pro Skater, but the other techniques reminded me of when the THPS kept going and felt the need to find new tricks for your player — each of which was more annoying than the last. These new tricks felt like Nintendo struggling to find new ways to innovate this concept, instead of just making sure that the racing and open-world aspects of this game were more perfectly refined.

I do find the racing itself to be the best it has been in a while. I find the 150cc courses far more manageable than in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and the drifting especially helps in races that are too close. I really like the grander courses and the attempt to do something bigger, but some of these changes don't quite work for me. I'd love it if there were later patches that added more to the open world, or gave us even more classic tracks to enjoy with these new moves. It's a very good update on the Mario Kart World brand for the most part, but I think if I want my Mario Kart fix, I'm probably going to eventually go back to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe instead.

Mario Kart World is more Mario Kart, plain and simple. While it does new things, mainly the new half-baked open-world experiment, it doesn't really set the world on fire (pun not intended) with its novelties. It's the tried and true, regular old-ass vanilla karting that hits the spot. Ok, to be fair, knockout tour is quite a fun new game mode and the rails and wall-riding can be nifty but mainly what works here has worked before.

What Mario Kart World does better, though, are the visuals and the music. Never has Mario Kart looked more alive and vibrant. More importantly, never has Mario Kart sounded so god damn groovy. The soundtrack ranges from lo-fi beats to Sonic-Adventure-esque cheese rock all the way to jamming jazz fusion. Great stuff.

As it should be, it's fun times to be had here, especially in multiplayer. Though, can't really see why this is the game to slap a price hike on but Nintendo does what Segasn't Nintendo does.

Mario Kart World has been a long time coming. It is a launch title for the brand new Switch 2 and the game that is going to bring in the next generation for Nintendo. (Wait, do console generations even exist anymore? Nintendo and Sony seem to be just doing upgrades and Microsoft is selling subscriptions so even your toaster can be an Xbox). Mario Kart World has a seriously big role to play and shoes to fill. Thankfully, for the most part, I think it has pulled it off okay but this is one of those games you keep dipping back into over years and it will likely be updated, so maybe things are not completely clear yet. Another game for the Switch 2 launch was needed though and the Welcome Tour game should have been packed in. I think I have put in enough time now to share some thoughts. I have completed the Grand Prix and Knockout Tour modes including on Mirror mode. I have all the main characters and their variations and I have played a decent bit of time online. I dipped my toes into battle and the time trials. I have put a good amount of time into free roam too but I don’t think I’ll ever 100% it and this is where I want to start, which feels like the best place as the open world is the big new change.

While you can seamlessly jump straight back in, exploring the open world, which is called Free Roam, is tucked away in Map. It doesn’t even seem presented as a main mode and I don’t think that it is. Free Roam serves as two things. The first is like a training mode. You can explore while learning the new abilities and finding paths that can be used during races. The little hop jump, the rail riding, wall driving, the feather item and bouncing off things are taught and practiced through the challenges found throughout the world. The little collectables, the Question Mark Panels and Peach Medallions, force you to figure out what can be done with these new tricks to reach them. So the second thing that Free Roam functions as is obvious then. This is a laid back, kart/bike, 3D platformer. I enjoy this mode despite my usual problems with open worlds and their shallowness, repetitive tasks and lack of density. It is something I like to dip into for little bursts here and there and messing around in it did help me to quickly come to grips with the changes. The world is not presented as a check list that you run through but is instead player led, meaning that you actually get a sense of discovery rather than following markers. The little mini map in the corner with a more over head view is good in assisting with this. I liked going where my mood took me and enjoyed figuring out how to reach collectables in my own way. Maybe the third thing it functions as is a cosy game, as you cruise around, with the time cycle and changing weather, spotting Toads fishing and camping, Shy Guys waiting for a bus or a Yoshi just chilling. There are random little things as well and it can be used to hang out in and take pictures in too. It is not something I can play very long without getting bored but I don’t hate this. It is a nice little side thing that you can keep coming back too for a long time. But this game having an open world isn’t just a side thing. It informs the entire game’s design, from the mechanics, to track design and the modes on offer.

The new moves feel like they would have come about naturally as they were developing an open world Mario Kart as a way of navigating the space and verticality in a kart or bike. The open world means that the tracks can be wider with all that space and they combined this with the new tricks. So there are these different paths and levels but you need to earn them. The space and different paths help make the increase in racer number work well too. The new tricks are really well done. They are simple enough that anyone can use and understand them but some people are going to go crazy with it and find all the things you can do and all the time that can be saved. These new moves can all be chained, they have risk/reward built in and they really thought about how to implement them. You can be knocked off the rails. The shells travel along them, items function with them and a faster player can just knock you down too. The other thing they added was the rewind function, which again feels like it stems from open world exploration, so you wouldn’t have to make your way back on top of something after taking a tumble. But then Nintendo was like, let’s make this a racing mechanic too, so you can fix yourself after a mistake and even use it to dodge stuff.

The way the tracks look and feel is impacted by the open world. You can see way off into the distance giving you the best sense of place and backdrops ever for this series and it looks fantastic. This links back to the open world too as you can spot areas to check out next time you’re free roaming. It reaches its climax on Rainbow Road as you’re up in the clouds racing above the entire world and every track you just went through. Of course the racing is impacted as you race to and from the courses instead of just on them. This allowed for the knockout mode which has racers at the back continually eliminated until the final four are left fighting for first. The implementation of the open world feels thoughtful and impactful without this becoming a different game, this is still very much Mario Kart. It’s like the ideas and additions just feed into each other making this a big cohesive offering. Nintendo still really knows what they are doing but there are still some nitpicks, some things missing and some complaints.

Unfortunately the open world comes with some negatives. When you are out exploring the world it can feel barren pretty often. There are enough panels, challenges and Peach Medallions but more was needed. It’s lacking and just needed maybe one or two more additions. Maybe daily, weekly and monthly challenges and events would have livened things up a bit. More collectable types would have been great, like kart/bike parts and paint colours. Then there are the intermissions where you are racing from place to place. These are just very noticeably less enjoyable than the tracks. I’m surprised they didn’t do something more interesting with these. It seems obvious that they could have been improved by adding more vertical layers, more paths to take and by adding a lot more opportunities for using grinds and wall rides. They could have used these sections to make you think differently about the racing and to reinforce the new mechanics. It was a missed opportunity and we are left with races that are flatter, simpler experiences but they make knockout mode possible.

Knockout mode starts off chaotic, too chaotic, and I think they knew this because the items effects feel slightly nerfed. But eventually the chaos gives way to more skilled racing as the numbers decline. There is a good tension in it and it works okay as I was able to consistently do better more often than not but I have already taken a break from this mode. There are only so many times I can go from 2nd to 22nd right at a knockout line before I break my controller and then use that broken controller to commit a murder. Holy shit this game has gone too far into the chaos. Mario Kart always felt like a good balance of chaotic fun and skilled play, not anymore. The number of racers means constantly being pelted with items and the items themselves feel more impotent to help alleviate this. There are too many times when it just wasn’t fun. If I hit someone with a red shell not far in front I want to catch them, not watch as they tumble but keep momentum and quickly recover. Being in the top three right at the end of a section only to have multiple people boost past so I get knocked out always felt unfair. Every time I take a top three position by moving up like ten spots in the last 100m I don’t feel good, it’s empty. Why try? A game that punishes you for playing well isn’t going to have good longevity. I know this how Mario Kart is, we all hear the blue shells in our nightmares, but if feels like it has been cranked to 11 here. Speaking of how Mario Kart is, I hope you enjoy rubber banding that is just a bit too much as well.

This extends beyond Knockout mode and into the rest of the game as well. Playing Grand Prix is better because at least you have more laps to make it back to the front instead of your race being done. The mess is here too though and I tested it. I sat at the start line of an online race and waited to give everyone a massive head start. I not only caught up but finished 9th. That wasn’t my skills. That was items and the way this game has been tuned to keep the pack together. You’re often left feeling like how you performed didn’t matter or at least it didn’t matter as much as it should. It isn’t broken or totally down to luck; I can finish in the top eight consistently enough, but the balance and tuning feels wrong. Maybe it is about the journey and the fun you had along the way and not where you finish. However, the journey is getting blasted by items over and over, loosing items over and over before you get to use them and when you do use the items they feel weaker. The way that you end up playing has shifted to something much more defensive. You use the rails and walls, not for a better or faster path, but to escape the carnage. You hang onto boost, but not for a place to cut across, it is for recovering after being hit. You hold your three red shells instead of firing them because you need the protection. Good item use and making sure you always get an item feels like the most important aspect of play and that skilled driving and course knowledge has been made a bit less so.

I wish that there was a classic Grand Prix mode alongside the regular Grand Prix and Knockout. A mode that drops down the number of racers, boosts the item impact and lets you always race repeating laps on the tracks. While I’m on things that should be added, there could have been more tracks, there is room on this map to squeeze in a few more. The online multiplayer needs more options and features. For some reason a lot of the characters have little to no variations while others have a good selection. Kart customisation and something beyond just stickers would have been nice too. I don’t mean just picking parts before a race but a proper kart/bike customisation option from the menu. So you could go in swap out parts, and colours and also slap those stickers all over and then save it. This would have massively increased the number of unlocks to earn as well. When it comes to the unlocks that are here, I do like the way they have done them as it encourages you to use all the characters and play all the modes, and I don’t have an issue with the non main characters coming randomly during play. Also am I missing something or did they really omit 200cc mode? It might be that they plan to continually add to the game over time. Being Mario Kart, and a launch title that will sell millions, it does make it an excellent cross promotional tool. We could see characters, events and other content added around the release of new Nintendo titles. I just hope they keep it Mario and don’t turn it into a Nintendo Kart or something like Smash Bros. I like the way that it is nice and cohesive at the moment.

There is also the battle mode and time trial mode on offer. Battle mode has been fun so far but almost none of the courses are designed specifically for this mode. They just take place in areas from the world. There was plenty of space to drop some battle arenas around and I think this is the reason for this mode being a bit flat. The time trials are good, it is a test of your skills and course knowledge against the clock and the leader boards. You can enjoy just practising here or get sweaty pushing for impressive times. Unfortunately for me I am an intermediate Mario Kart player at best and I have no interest in pushing it to the limit here but I am always grateful for this mode and it is done well.

I feel like I have been bashing this game for a while now so I should make it clear that I like it. I’m having fun overall. The good side of excessive chaos is that it creates funny and interesting moments. It keeps you on your toes. It makes each race feel unique and helps to stop things from getting too repetitive. The game looks gorgeous, runs well, has bundles of charm, plenty of great details and has worked perfectly in docked and handheld mode. I really do love the way it looks, from the grand views, to the character designs and even the menus and fonts. I like the snow and mud getting in the tyres and how the tyres deform. How the karts and bikes look and react when weight is shifted around. How they get dirty is great and so is the way the lights come out and turn on. Obviously the world is full of great details too and the way weather and time shifts and alters the look is wonderful. The sound track is phenomenal and joyful and the sound effects are exactly what you want. Has Shy Guy always sounded like Old Tom though or have I just not been paying attention to Shy Guy. The differences between characters and vehicles could have been more nuanced but I like how this plays. It controls great, I love how it feels to hold down brake and accelerate at the same time. Turning, drifting and jumping are spot on and the new additions fit in perfectly.

I have four favourite Mario Kart games, in no particular order. Mario Kart 64 is the one I have the most love and nostalgia for. Mario Kart DS I put the most effort into getting good at. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is up there for being the most robust offering and I have played it regularly with my kids. The final one is Mario Kart Double Dash for its high quality and being the most interesting and unique. When I first started Mario Kart World I thought it would shake up my top four but after putting a lot more time into it my top four remain the same. I love Mario Kart World but it is slightly disappointing and it doesn’t feel like it is everything it could and should be. Maybe it will get there over time and despite my complaining I’m still really enjoying it. Mario Kart World is a must play for Switch 2 owners and Mario Kart fans. Just don’t expect it to be the best of the series all around.

Mario Kart 8 was my favorite entry in the series, particularly once it hit the more powerful Switch and received loads of DLC tracks. I’ve thought for some time that it’s a really tough act to follow in a way that doesn’t feel like either more of the same or a downgrade. This entry continues a lot of what made that game great and makes some nice smaller additions, but the worries were somewhat valid as its big swing to mix up the formula doesn’t really connect.

That titular gimmick this time is an open world which places the racetracks on a big map where you can freely drive between them. Peppered throughout are little isolated challenges which can be pretty tricky sometimes, and some collectibles and such. Honestly it’s a pleasant chill mode to mess around in briefly here and there, and I like the concept of placing tracks into a coherent world, but it’s just not engaging enough to spend significant time in. It works in Forza Horizon because that game has more fun fundamental driving mechanics and a much greater variety of stuff to do, scoring, RPG systems, etc. Here it’s just like yeah, this is a fine place to drive around for a little while and that’s about it.

The impacts of this open map extend beyond free roam, infiltrating other modes such as the classic Grand Prix. Now, you drive the road between the locations and often only end up doing one proper lap on the actual destination track. The paths between the tracks are fine but just not as exciting as a normal Mario Kart track. It’s disappointing that this can’t be disabled in Grand Prix mode for a classic experience and that the UX for selecting tracks in even normal versus races has been worsened to accommodate this concept.

A few minor new items add some variety, most notably a feather that lets you jump over obstacles or set up interactions with the new driving mechanics. Grinding on rails gives you opportunities to pass people and speed up by repeatedly using the trick button. Wall riding is also kind of interesting even if I don’t really find myself engaging with it in casual play. Generally the racing feels very familiar even with the new additions, with more racers on the track just meaning the middle of the pack can get too chaotic and messy feeling sometimes.

More competitors in each race means more characters to choose from, and while a lot of them really feel like filler where you’d prefer actual widely-liked characters, it’s still a fun roster. The core characters in general feel very vibrantly rendered, expressive and distinctive in a nice way. A wide variety of costumes for each main character can be unlocked by eating certain regional food items while controlling that character, and a bunch of these costumes are surprising and really well-done. It’s just a little awkward that they are each listed as separate characters, leading the character select screen to feel cluttered and overloaded despite a very basic sort option.

The main tracks are all fun and live up to the great visual standard of the prior game in terms of graphics and design, and the soundtrack is again some top-tier stuff. You really can’t mess up Mario Kart too badly at this point, and I think this one’s issues are mostly minor when you’re just sitting down to do some multiplayer racing. This will definitely be a major part of the Switch 2 gaming rotation for years to come.