Mario Kart 8 will always be a very special game. For more than a decade, it ruled the roost. It was the first Mario Kart for an entire generation of console gamers, and with its relaunch on Nintendo Switch, it cemented its legacy as an all-time great. But I know, in my heart, the second I get my hands on Mario Kart World, I’m dropping Mario Kart 8 immediately.
Thanks to Nintendo, I recently spent a solid few hours with Mario Kart World, and it swiftly convinced me of its brilliance. I’ve been hands-on with the game before, during the Switch 2 Experience in New York. But jet-lagged and frantic was not the ideal condition to fully recognise this game’s game.
Being in a room full of friends, consistently taking out 2nd or 3rd place in rounds of races, battles, and Knockout Tour, was euphoric. In fact, playing the game in a recent preview turned a complex, very difficult day into a completely breathless joy.
As part of the organised preview, I was able to run through most of the main modes of Mario Kart World, tackling any stages, except for a lucky few. Free roam was available, as were various multiplayer versus modes.
Kicking off solo mode by trialing Waluigi and Boo as racers, the first delight was in discovering how each course in Mario Kart World is connected. The quirk of this particular game is that each course leads into another, and they’re all part of an interconnected world of tracks. When you finish one course, it bleeds into the next. You’ll start your second round of racing at the end of the first track, and then find yourself slowly discovering new sights and sounds as you move.
In custom races, you can also determine which track leads where, setting up your journey with multiple variations. The transitions are seamless, making each four-track course feel like a genuine Grand Prix.
That’s not to mention just how gorgeous the whole experience is along the way. No matter which tracks you link, you’re consistently treated to bright, colourful, cutesy visuals. The skies overhead are cotton candy pink, or crystal blue and sparkling with diamonds. There’s an entire course set on an ice cream sundae, complete with a pastel palette of rainbows.
Bowser’s Castle returns as a major stage in Mario Kart World, complete with lava pits and terrifying beasties. There’s a Wild West-themed stage set in the desert, where you can transform your characters into Mad Max protagonists. There’s a jungle stage filled with all sorts of leafy greens. One stage is a lot like Delfino Square, with similar twists and turns through a European-style city.
There’s been a clear edict here to make each stage feel as different as possible from the next, ensuring a real diversity, no matter which map you’re racing through.
Free roam gives insight into a whole new world
The best part is that aforementioned free roam. When you’re not fighting for your life at 150cc, you can activate a special open world mode that lets you run around each racetrack and its surrounding area, completing challenges. These areas are big. And if you’re a keen enough explorer, you’ll find plenty of secondary challenges along free roam mode’s many winding roads.
Free roam isn’t just a chance to analyse courses and discover new hidden pathways (of which there are many). You’ll also be able to find hidden collectible coins in this mode, and take on a variety of missions.
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Most of these involve variant races (smaller, longer, with special obstacles, requiring you to run up or along walls) but there’s also other neat surprises in these missions, like homage tracks. Each “P-Switch” mission hides some new secret, so roaming widely is strongly encouraged. Any rock overturned could be hosting a treasure.
I can see myself spending hours simply roaming Mario Kart World for the joy of it, or for that lovely brain-tickling musical refrain when you find a new coin for your collection.
Not only is this mode packed with little activities, it also helps you see the grandeur of Mario Kart World, as a whole. Without time restrictions or being locked into a certain track, you can stop to admire the detail in this game. Take a look at passing trees, or use your eagle eyes to see where a track secretly bifurcates, for a shortcut that may give you an advantage in your next Grand Prix.
You can even jump “out of bounds” on most tracks, to discover another track underneath, and see just how many layers of the world exist outside the linear pathways. If you’ve ever been the type of person to play through a Mario Kart (or any game, really) and wonder exactly what’s in the distance, and how much of a virtual world has been rendered, this game was made for you. There’s no more wondering here. If Mario Kart World shows it to you, it’s real, and you can probably touch it.
When your curiosity is satisfied, you can turn to the rest of the game, and find equally rich parts elsewhere. In my preview session, Knockout Tour was perhaps the richest experience of all.
The joy of a multiplayer Mario Kart World session
The Switch 2 Experience event I attended in New York let me get hands-on with a single round of Mario Kart World‘s Knockout Tour mode, with sessions held against a room full of strangers (and again, not in the best mindset or sleep state to really appreciate it). I had a blast even then. But playing with folks I knew, in a small room full of whoops of excitement and shouts of frustration, it was easy to be caught in a wave of heightened emotions.
For a quick rundown, Knockout Tour is a new mode in Mario Kart World where you’re competing against a flock of racers to make it past various checkpoints. In a single map, there’s multiple barricades for success. At first, you have to be in the top 20 racers, then the top 16, then the top 12, top 8, and so on, until there’s a squad of four vying for victory.
Practically, this is just another way to compete in Mario Kart. But having actual knockout conditions adds in such a fun and riotous pressure. It’s shameful if you don’t make the final four. Of course you want to succeed. So, as you’re rushing around courses, you’re constantly aware of your position, and your performance, in a way you usually aren’t in standard courses.
There’s also so many layers to this experience, including strategy for those looking to stay on top. Veteran Mario Kart players will know that slow players are typically rewarded with boost items to push them ahead, while fast players are given standard coins or less useful items. So, do you hang back and wait for a boost item to push ahead, possibly right before the next player cut-off? I’m not saying I did this, but it’s certainly a tactic that works.
When there’s a pack of evenly-matched players, an item can make all the difference. So there’s an element of luck, as well as skill, in Knockout Tour. This mix is what makes the mode so compelling – because even if you do fall at the final hurdle, it’s not necessarily your fault. You have an excuse to try again, and a new hope of succeeding next time.
I still blank in fear at the idea of competing with global Mario Kart World players – I’m not sure my personal esteem can take being thrashed by legitimate pros – but the hunt for glory is calling my name. Perhaps with a weaselly technique or two, I can make some serious inroads in Knockout Tour.
My recent preview of Mario Kart World ended with one final round of this mode, after hours of exploring race tracks and discovering hidden secrets. The experience left a hole once it was over, because everyone in that room wanted more. After placing second in an earlier round, I know I had the hunger. I was so close to victory, only beaten by an item advantage, and perhaps a few slips on my drifts.
I know next time I’ll get it. I want that crown for myself.
At the very least, Mario Kart World is now on the cusp of release, and I’ll have the chance to test my resolve very shortly. I would invite everyone to meet me on the raceway on 5 June 2025, when the game launches alongside the Nintendo Switch 2.
Whether a world of pain or joy awaits you will depend entirely on how much you want that victory.
Mario Kart World was played as part of a preview day held by Nintendo. To attend, Leah J. Williams was provided with flights to Melbourne.
