Mario Kart World Review

Mario Kart is a series I have had a very long history with. 

As a kid the original SNES release blew my mind, and quickly became one of my most rented games of all time. I loved being able to freely drive around the tracks in "3D" and I spent countless hours just playing around in the battle mode. This freedom was unlike anything else I had seen at the time, and despite not ever owning it myself, it kept me coming back for more and more. As the years went on I'd eventually play Mario Kart 64 and rent Mario Kart Double Dash, but finally own Mario Kart DS (which was also my first online console game). 

It didn't take long for Mario Kart DS to become an all time favorite, and one I would return to time and time again until the release of Mario Kart Wii. From there I'd spend day after day in the summer playing local online with friends and family, and the game would become our go to when we had nothing else to do. Mario Kart 7 would replace it for me later on, and I received Mario Kart Super Circuit thanks to being a 3DS ambassador, but 7 eventually became one of my most played 3DS games in general. Mario Kart 8 was actually the first title in the series I didn't care about as much (although I still played with family when I had the chance), but the Switch release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe once again became an addiction. 

After everything was said and done, Mario Kart is a series that has been special to me nearly my entire life, and I can't help but think back on all the memories I've made while playing it. All those late nights with friends and family, all the crazy online matches, and the holidays where my family would gather around the TV to get some races in; these are moments I'll always treasure, and I honestly can't even imagine a world where Mario Kart didn't exist. It would've changed so much for me if it hadn't. 

That being said, the announcement of Mario Kart World didn't necessarily excite me, but I was still really happy to see the next entry in the series finally be announced. I knew it wouldn't feature all of my favorite tracks (thankfully Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still there for me on that front), but the new open world did sound interesting, and the new gameplay mechanics caught my eye as well. I liked what I saw with the new version of the wall riding, and the vast roster of characters of characters reminded me of the good old days of countless unlockables (oh Mario Power Tennis how I still miss you). Still, I was curious just how well the open world would actually be handled, and how the new gameplay structure would actually hold up. 

Besides being a Mario Kart fan, I am a huge racing fan as well, and I've played countless open world racers in my time. From Need to Speed, to Forza Horizon, to Midnight Club, and Test Drive Unlimited and The Crew; racing games have always been a "comfort" game of sorts for me, and one can't help but think back to these titles when seeing Mario Kart World's change in format. However after spending quite a bit of time with the game I can safely say that comparing Mario Kart World to other open world racers isn't really fair, and that this game really should be thought of as its own entity. This is Mario Kart to its core, with an extra layer added onto it.

The Core Gameplay:

The core of Mario Kart has not changed with Mario Kart World. This is a racing game with different gameplay modes and goals to complete. Your standard race has you trying to get to the finish line first, and to do that you have only a handful of tools and abilities at your disposal - many of which fans will already be familiar with.

Pressing accelerate during the initial count down will give you a speed boost to start. Drifting will build up different levels of speed boosts. Going over bumps and hitting the right triggers or shaking the controller will perform a trick and also give a speed boost. Hitting boost panels on the ground will, well, boost you as well, and there are also some that will send you flying into the sky. This is all standard for recent Mario Kart titles, with the real difference here being the new jump charge that lets you gain a boost, and also lets you jump onto walls or rails. This can be used to reach higher paths (or even make paths of your own), and once again a speed boost will be waiting for you once you land back on the ground. This new feature does actually take some time to get used to, as the controls will initially be a bit tricky, but give it time and eventually you'll master launching yourself into surprising new locations that just might end up winning the race for you! If you mess up there is a rewind feature, but this only backs you up and keeps the rest of the world moving. 

On top of this, the other major change is the removal of the glider and underwater sections, which have been replaced with your kart sprouting wings, and water now transforms it into a boat. Car customization has also been removed, and the game has adopted the original "unlock a kart and select it" format seen in games prior to Mario Kart 8. This streamlines the experience slightly, but the large selection of characters means there are plenty of ways to mix and match your characters, allowing for multiple stat builds to give you an edge. Of course coins make their return in this title as well, which helps your characters go faster the more they hold (with a cap of 20), and one cannot forget the random items picked up from item boxes in races. 

These also help give you an edge, with better items dropping for those in back, and more defensive items being selected when you are up front. Mario Kart World features some new items and balance changes to existing ones, but for the most part it is the same old system we've come to know and love (and sometimes hate)! 

 

With the game now also featuring races of 24 players, there is a larger number of players who will receive better items based on their placement, and that helps make the races even more chaotic than in the past. The new item balance goes a long way to help keep even the 24th placed player in the game, and players in 1st have more ways to dodge the dreaded Blue Shell as well. In other words, those who fear that 24 players might be a bit overkill and break the game's previous balance can rest easy, as the game doesn't seem any less fair than the games that came before it. There might be a few things here and there that could be improved, but for the most part everything works just as intended.

That being said, the gameplay modes offered here are actually quite a bit different from the past, even though some of them are technically returning ones. 

Grand Prix:

The Grand Prix mode is the classic Mario Kart experience. Pick a cup, race through four stages, and earn points based on what you placed. Ideally you want to get first in all of them, but with how hectic races can become, that isn't always going to happen. Due to the point system however, winning them all isn't needed to get first, as it all comes down to who placed what, and when. The player in 1st in the first race could easily place last in the next, and those points will not matter. This means everyone always has to try their best no matter what, and letting your guard down in any race can spell the end of it all.

While this core part of the Grand Prix mode hasn't changed in Mario Kart World, the rest of it is actually a lot different...

When picking a cup for Grand Prix, players will notice that the tracks within it are located close together on the world map. This is because while the very first race of a cup is your standard circuit race (multiple laps around the same track), moving past that it is very different. The second race begins with the racers in motion, and the first "laps" are actually a sprint race to the next location. Once there you get to do laps around the next track, but it isn't a full circuit race around them. This is how the rest of each cup actually plays out, with the next race technically being multiple tracks and paths, only to then end after doing a lap around your destination. It keeps things from getting repetitive, sure, but at the same time it takes away from what classic a Mario Kart Grand Prix has always been, and not everyone may like this change.

Once you finish all four races you are given a trophy based on how you placed, and star ratings based on how much you actually destroyed the competition. There are three difficulty modes to race in within each cup, with the ultimate goal of earning gold trophies and three stars across all cups in all modes. With a little over 30 "standard tracks" to play on, this will take quite some time to complete, offering plenty of replay value within just the Grand Prix mode alone.

But this is only a fraction of what makes Mario Kart World, Mario Kart World.

Knockout Tour:

The Knockout Tour mode is a knock out race mode. This isn't new to racing, but it is new to the Mario Kart series.

To put it simply, players race across the map, and those who are in last place when crossing checkpoints get knocked out. The goal is to stay at the front of the pack as long as possible, and hopefully finish in first by the end. Like in Grand Prix this mode has multiple cups to race through, with multiple difficulties as well, but these races are fully linear without the laps. They focus almost exclusively on the paths between the tracks, and take players through unique locations they might not see otherwise.

Technically this mode is what one might consider the "star of the show" in World, but the cups are limited compared to what free play races allow you to do.

Versus Mode:

The standard Versus Mode matches have also slightly changed, but this is also where you can find the "standard" Mario Kart experience.

When starting a versus match, you can change settings and set the rules, and you can select the standard tracks to do full circuit races on them. Unlike in GP, this is full on pure classic Mario Kart, and that might be exactly what some fans are looking for. However this mode isn't just filled with the normal stages, but it includes all of the in-between races as well!

As crazy as it may sound, Mario Kart World features a little over 200 unique races, and these in-between paths being designed with multiple routes and offer different experiences depending on which direction you are traveling down them. Many of them are also based off of prior Mario Kart tracks, without being actual recreations of them. This is where the open-world aspect of the game is really put to use, and offers tons of replay value. Assuming each race can be finished in three minutes, it would take roughly 10 hours to complete each race at least once.

The Open World:

Outside of races, the world is completely open for players to freely explore. This is done by simply selecting free roam mode, or you can open up the world map and click on one of the character's currently driving around. This will instantly put you into the driver seat of said selected character, and you can freely swap between other characters on the fly (either at your current location, or by selecting them on the map again). Once in the world, it is up to you what you want to do, and this is where it might become a bit mixed for some people.

While other open world racing games give you non-stop rewards while driving around the open world, or have countless extra races and what not to discover, Mario Kart World focuses more on the simple gameplay of "explore just because you can" gameplay. Drive around, take in the sights, discover characters from the Mario universe doing their thing, and hang out with your friends online. You can of course also use it to practice tracks or find secret pathways to give yourself an advantage, but honestly it might just be easier to play the race itself.   

On the flip side, this open world isn't entirely devoid of anything to do, as the game's extra challenges are hidden here.

Although it may not be full blown races like in other games, hidden throughout the world are P Switches that will trigger mini challenges once you hit them. These challenges are typically driving (or flying) through rings, collecting coins within a time limit, and challenges that require you to make use of the new wall ride ability. Most of them push your Mario Kart skills to the max, and using the game's new rewind ability doesn't really save you when there are such strict time limits on these. It is pure skill, and a handful of them can be pretty frustrating based on some dumb luck (such as getting T Boned by a Koopa driving a car down a random street). Still they are actually a lot of fun to tackle, its just there isn't much of a pay off for doing these, as the rewards are simple stickers to equip on your kart. The open world also has hidden coins and "? Block Spaces" to run over and discover, but again the rewards are nothing substantial. 

All of this plays back into the open world's focus of "doing it just for fun" and not everyone may appreciate that. But as I said at the start of this review, this game really shouldn't be compared to other open world racers, and adults playing should always remember one thing. This game isn't just for those of us who grew up playing Mario Kart, but it is for the new generations that have came after as well.

Looking back at my own childhood, I spent hundreds of hours running around a small map called Bob-omb Battlefield in Super Mario 64. The map is made up of a small intro area, some steps to climb up, a slightly bigger open area, a bridge, a chain chomp, a final open area, and a small mountain with some paths around it. There's also a tiny floating island, and you can shoot yourself out of a cannon and fly around. There isn't much to the map, but it was a playground for little kid me, and I came back to it day after day after day. I got no reward for simply playing around, and I was perfectly fine with that; it was a world I enjoyed being in, and I made up my own games and stories within it. That is the magic of being a kid, and Mario Kart World is for sure going to be something very special for the current generation, and the ones yet to come. While we adults may not fully appreciate it, this open world is a dream come true for many, and in that way it does fully succeed.

Time Trials:

Like with past games in the series, Time Trials are back, and they allow you to select a stage and beat it as fast as possible. The game will record your own times, which you can then race against to beat, but you can also race against the ghost data of other players as well. It is your standard mode to help you improve your overall times, without the headache of dealing with items or other players. These are pure races from start to finish.

Battle Mode:

Mario Kart World's battle mode has two modes within it. You can either do a balloon battle, or a coin battle.

Balloon battles sees players being thrown into one of the areas designated for battle mode, and asks them to drive around, pick up items, and take out as many opponents as possible before time runs out. Getting hit causes you to lose a balloon, and losing too many will result in you being knocked out. Of course you score points by dealing damage to the other players, so simply hiding isn't an option here. With Mario Kart World's increased player count this mode is more hectic than ever, and you never know what is going to happen.

On the other hand coin battles asks players to pick up as many coins as possible, and hold onto them. You can attack other players to steal their coins, and of course they will be coming after yours as well. Thankfully the mini map does display where coins on the map are, but everyone else sees this as well and will be gunning for them. Again, the increased player count really helps this mode out, but this is honestly the extent of this mode. 

Like with more recent Mario Karts, there are no missions to complete in battle mode, but the open world part of the game does have a handful of "take out the target" objectives to make up for it. 

Unlockables:

Mario Kart World does feature a very large selection of unlockables, mostly in the form of the karts and the characters themselves.

Karts are unlocked by collecting coins during races (or in the open world), while the characters are unlocked by picking up specific food hidden across the map. These locations can also be found during races, but when playing in the open world you can actually speed things up. By finding a food location you can grab something to eat, face the food stand or cafe, and eat the food right then and there. The item itself will give you a speed boost, but facing the cafe will cause you to crash into the wall and not move. Your character will unlock a new outfit, and you can then swap to a different character to repeat the process. 

Not every character has alternate costumes to unlock, nor does every type of food give a character something new, so trying out all food spots with each character becomes key to finding them all, but does not always give you a reward. Additionally completely new characters can be unlocked by winning races, or by being transformed into them in a race by the Kamek item. These transformations typically grant you a new character based on the area you are in (such as turning you into a cow in Moo Moo Meadows), and are a bit luck based. Simply playing the game will eventually unlock them all, but there isn't really a good way to quickly unlock them like with the costumes.

As mentioned above stickers are also unlocked by completing challenges, and there are actually a few hidden surprises to find as well. We will not be spoiling these in the review, but one in particular is pretty huge.

Multiplayer:

And finally, what would a new Mario Kart be without online multplayer?

As with past titles, Mario Kart World allows players to either jump into multiplayer solo, or with one other friend for split screen play. It offers both standard races and the new knockout mode, and of course battle mode is here as well. Players all begin with a ranking of 3,000 in this mode, and your rank gets increased or decreased based on which position you are in when the race finishes. Obviously first nets the most rewards, while losing will drop you down.

The game is setup to match you with other users around your same skill level, but there is also the option to play with friends. If you jump into a friend's match who is lower or higher ranked than you, then it is possible to be put up against lower or higher ranked players as well. This is how it has always been for Mario Kart, but with how crazy and over the top World's races have become, it all balances out in the end.

Multiplayer also allows you to free roam with friends, and it can also be played while waiting to be put into an actual race. It is basically an extended lobby, and hang-out spot. Nintendo encourages players to make use of the Switch 2's new Game Chat feature as well, which lets you share your screen, voice chat with others, and even display a video feed of yourself if you have the new Switch 2 camera. This is the most social a Mario Kart online mode has ever been, as previously there was no way to communicate in game.

Another hidden feature of online multiplayer is also the ability to create a private room and play free roam with another friend locally in split screen. This is actually the only way to play free roam in split screen, as local multiplayer is actually locked out from it. Of course there are limitations when using online to achieve this (players can't get too far apart and there are no challenges), but it is better than not being able to do it at all.

Outside of free roam, all other main modes can be played via local multiplayer, which includes split screen and wireless local play.

Should you play it?

If you are a fan of Mario Kart, then there is little to no reason to skip out on Mario Kart World. There is no denying that the $80 price tag is steep, but the game itself is a lot of fun and a very nice change of pace for the series. 

The gameplay feels great, the map design is excellent, the large roster of unlockable characters and karts is exactly what a series like this needs, and having over 200 races is just flat out insane. The change to Grand Prix isn't going to make everyone happy of course, but the Knockout Tour is a lot of fun, and even the little challenges hidden across the map provide a lot of replay value. 

I also can't ignore just how amazing the music is this time around as well. Not only do we get new versions of classic Mario Kart songs, but we get great remixes of songs from the ENTIRE Mario series! From Yoshi's Island opening song, to Super Mario Bros 3, and of course newer titles like Super Mario Odyssey are all represented here, and it is perfect. These songs play in the open world, in the between paths, and on the title screen, and really help set the tone for the game in general. 

If there is any actual "issue" or "let downs" with the game however, it would be with some of the features missing from the open world in general. 

Not being able to play split screen without using an online lobby is a strange design choice, and the lack of a true map that marks challenge locations you've discovered is pretty odd. In theory you should just keep replaying them until you complete them, but if you need to come back later you simply have to remember where they were; something that isn't that easy for such a large open world. 

There's also the fact that the rewards aren't anything too crazy, but Mario Kart World sticks to the idea of "you should do something simply because it is fun," and it for sure is an open world that younger players may enjoy more than the adults. Not saying there isn't something magical about getting to explore such a large world within the Mario universe, but there is no denying that we do lose our childlike imagination with age. It is an unfortunate fact that comes with growing up, and those who can hold onto their old mindset are truly lucky! I guess this is where roleplaying comes in, which the online mode and Game Chat features can greatly help with this, but even that isn't for everyone.

Overall Mario Kart World is an outstanding new entry in the long running series, and it is a worthy launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2. Its unique gameplay prevents it from being a replacement for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and allows for both games to exist on the same console side by side. Anyone who enjoys Mario Kart should for sure give this one a chance, and it is the perfect introduction for new players as well. 

VERDICT: Essential