Review #032 – Mario Kart World

Following up the uber-popular Mario Kart 8: Deluxe and its obscene amount of content was always going to be a huge undertaking for Nintendo. They really pulled off a fantastic successor with World though, crafting a fresh experience without having to fundamentally change the series’ familiar core gameplay.

The game’s biggest new feature is the open map, hence the “World” name. It’s really cool — you can freely roam around the environment and complete P-Switch challenges or find hidden “?” panels. But it’s implemented into other modes too like having to race between all four tracks in Grand Prix. It is slightly strange that they limit tracks 2, 3, and 4 to only one lap though.

There’s a few other cool new elements like the frantic last-racer-standing Knockout mode, unlockable costumes, or the new jump, rail grinding, and wall riding mechanics. It’s just such a well made Mario Kart that feels amazingly smooth to play, especially on the Switch 2’s upgraded, fancier hardware.