Though the Switch 2 has an impressive lineup of launch titles, there are only a handful of exclusives that are limited to Nintendo’s newest console. Leading the pack is Mario Kart World, Nintendo’s flagship launch title and the first new game in the kart racing series since the days of the Wii U.
So is the latest version of the iconic kart racer worth your hard-earned coins? I’ve been playing almost non-stop since launch, so here are my early thoughts.
What Makes Mario Kart World Different?
Aside from being a Switch 2 exclusive, Mario Kart World is the first proper new Mario Kart entry since 2014’s Mario Kart 8 debuted on the Wii U. The game went on to receive a Deluxe re-release on the Switch, becoming the platform’s best-selling game and receiving an additional 48 circuits and eight characters as part of the Booster Course Pass.
Nintendo has made some big changes this time around, taking an open-world approach that many fans have been asking for. The circuits within the game are integrated directly into the world, with a Grand Prix now also consisting of the drive between courses.
The result is a game that’s quite unlike any Mario Kart we’ve seen before, while the gameplay basics remain true to the series’ roots. As part of this new approach, Mario Kart World includes a Free Roam mode that’s littered with challenges and collectibles and through which players can explore the map.
Other changes include an increased limit of 24 racers, a new Knockout Tour “battle royale” mode, fresh vehicle types and characters, wall riding and grinding, and a handful of new mechanics to master. It feels like a game that has been designed from the ground up for the Nintendo Switch 2 and is a great showcase for the platform’s improved visuals, load times, and multiplayer features like GameChat.
Mario Kart World
- Released
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June 5, 2025
- ESRB
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Everyone // Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
Nintendo’s Polish Is Hard to Fault
It’s worth noting that this is the first time we’ve seen a Mario Kart title that targets 4K resolution, and it looks suitably impressive. Based on Nintendo’s past record, this was never in doubt. Few series better demonstrate the idea that art style trumps technical proficiency (just look at how good Mario Kart 8 Deluxe still looks today).
Fortunately, Mario Kart World has both the art style and the technical proficiency. Nintendo’s colorful world, lovable characters, and attention to detail are the perfect recipe. Even when you’re drifting around a corner, dodging bananas, and trying to line up the perfect green shell snipe; it’s easy to appreciate the smaller details like the texture on the roads and how good the fluid animation is in water sections.
Mario Kart features some of the most iconic music in all of gaming, and World is no exception. The Switch 2’s improved speakers make it easy to appreciate the soundtrack. A lot of this feels like a formula that Nintendo perfected long ago, so it’s easy to take for granted. If World is your entry point to the series, you’ll be blown away by the overall level of polish that’s gone into it.
Of course, this extends to the gameplay itself. As a longstanding fan of Mario Kart since the SNES days (with the Wii and Wii U versions being personal favorites) jumping back into World took only a few seconds to settle in. I played a fair few Grand Prix events with my partner on launch night, and we both came away suitably impressed and wanting to stay up way past our bedtime to keep playing.
Of course, this is still Mario Kart. As good as it feels to execute a perfect powerslide and boost into the final turn, disaster is always only moments away. This game has those moments in droves. You’re either going to love it or hate it, but it’s hard to fault the bones of the game even when you’re cursing Daisy’s stupid red shell.
Free Roam is a Bit Underwhelming
Free Roam mode is accessed from the main menu by simply hitting the plus “+” button on your controller. This drops you into the map, with whichever character happens to be on the screen at the time. From here you can drive anywhere you want on the continent that makes up the game’s open world.
Jump around from the map screen by selecting another racer, or simply drive where you want to go. Tap down on the D-pad and get a Forza Horizon-style rewind feature. That’s about as close as the comparison with Microsoft’s racer gets, and I’ll confess that I just haven’t been that thrilled with free roam.
The bulk of the content in this mode seems to be challenges that you access by driving into P buttons. What I’ve seen so far has been fairly mundane: get across a Frogger-style busy road, avoid the enemies on the curve ahead, or collect all the blue coins before the time runs out. Do this successfully and you’ll get a sticker.
For me, the fun of Mario Kart is the bumper-to-bumper racing, the precision of a perfectly executed powerslide, and clutching victory from the jaws of failure (and the inverse). Repeating the same section of track in order to get a slightly better time or avoid a pesky objective just isn’t that much fun.
That’s not to say there isn’t fun to be had. The driving mechanics are great, so simply heading out for a drive and exploring the world has its charm. I found the actual world exploration to be most interesting, discovering levels of detail in the world that are easy to miss in Gran Prix mode.
There’s a Decent Amount of Content (For Now)
Officially, there are 32 courses in Mario Kart World. These all make up the main “overworld” map, with sections of driving in between them. Nintendo claims that with all these variations in mind, you could argue there are more than 100 courses in the game.
Having played the game, I wouldn’t say that. But what I would say is that there’s a good amount of variety in the game that makes even racing on the same courses time and time again remain interesting. Both Gran Prix Knockout Tour modes use the same courses, but the way races are strung together makes them feel genuinely different.
The game includes both new courses like the bustling Crown City, and a good number of returning courses. So far I’ve probably been most impressed by the reworked Wario Shipyard which first appeared in Mario Kart 7 on the Wii. There are also weather patterns and a day-night cycle to make these courses feel even more varied.
On top of this, there are 50 characters to unlock including a Piranha Plant, a Goomba, a Cow, and Monty Mole. These characters all have additional costumes for a bit of added flair.
I get the distinct impression that Mario Kart World could become the perfect platform for Nintendo to evolve over time, though no expansion plans have been mentioned yet. It would be easy to add a new continent, tweak the map for seasonal events, or get more creative with Zelda-style underground or sky sections.
Knockout Tour Is the Killer Mode
For me, Knockout Tour is the most fun you can have in Mario Kart World. 24 racers start and are slowly whittled down to just four who compete for the top spot across four interconnected courses. This non-stop rally-style mode perfectly suits the open-world approach that Nintendo has taken this time around. You’re not doing six laps of the same course, so the race is fun right to the end.
It’s tense and exciting, with more focus than just mindless racing. You have micro-goals of working your way to a “safe” position and surviving one more round, then worrying about gaining positions and potentially winning the event later. It goes right down to the wire, and it’s heaps of fun online.
Is Mario Kart World Worth It?
If you like Mario Kart, you’ll like World. There’s very little here for returning fans to complain about, even if the Free Roam mode is a bit of a letdown. The open-world formula genuinely refreshes the series and its inclusion is what makes the Knockout Tour mode such a success.
Because it’s a Mario Kart game, it’s arguably at its best when you’re in a local multiplayer environment, with up to four players competing on a single Switch 2 console. You can do eight-player wireless play too, but you’ll need two consoles for that. Alternatively, play online with GameChat and a webcam or just jump into multiplayer lobbies.
If you’re getting a Switch 2, this one is a no-brainer unless you’re particularly averse to kart racers and local multiplayer. But whether it’s worth shelling out $500 for the Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle or two separate charges of $450 and $80 for the console and a physical copy of the game is a harder question to answer.
On the one hand, a lot of people bought a Wii for Wii Sports and a Switch for Breath of the Wild (which seem easy to justify in hindsight). A Switch 2 for the first new Mario Kart game in more than a decade doesn’t seem all that ridiculous, especially if you sunk hundreds of hours into the last one. With such a strong first-party offering, Nintendo is arguably doing more to justify a day-one purchase than either Sony or Microsoft did with their last Xbox and PlayStation launches.
Buying a console for a single game isn’t for everyone. The Switch 2 has some more great titles on the horizon including Donkey Kong Bananza on July 17 and a Switch 2-optimized version of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond later in 2025. The console is also receiving some optimized versions of older games, including the last two Zelda titles and free updates for mainline Mario and Pokémon titles.
Check out our full list of pros and cons to buying a Switch 2 this early in the game.
- 4K Capability
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Yes
- Brand
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Nintendo
The Nintendo Switch 2 is the company’s latest hybrid home console, with more powerful graphics and processing, a larger 7.9” LCD touch screen with support for HDR, and more online features.