Much like David Attenborough, I spent the evening of the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch observing a wonderful migratory pattern. Around 4:00pm AEST, the notifications for my console were popping off. Edmond logged into Mario Kart World. Steve logged into Mario Kart World. Then Ugg, Ree, Bibby, and more. Slowly, the working folk were migrating from the CMS and spreadsheets to the bright, colourful world of Mario Kart.
If online chatter is any indication, the game brought them all just as much joy as it brought me.
Knockout Tour alone shines with the power of a thousand suns, and it’s swiftly become my core reason to love Mario Kart World, and to keep striving forward. On launch night, it was very clear that many other folks felt the same way.
As I’ve previously discussed, this mode is a 24-player bonanza where everyone is competing to be ahead of the pack. Like in Fortnite, there’s a cut-off zone as you race. You must be in the top 20 players to make it through the first segment of gameplay. Then, you must be in the top 16, and so on – until only the top four racers are competing in a break-neck battle.
Playing online was revelatory. While I’d played Knockout Tour in two separate previews, it was always against newbie players of varying skill levels. Hours into the global launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, there were already absolute pros on the scene, and Knockout Tour benefits greatly from their presence.
The real Mario Kart World party takes place in Knockout Tour
Knockout Tour is all about the thrill of the chase. It sparks tension and anxiety like no other mode in Mario Kart, playing into FOMO. If you get knocked early, you won’t see the tracks ahead. You won’t get to taste glory, or know that you’re amongst the top-ranked Mario Kart players, worldwide. Plus, you also lose a few points in the global rankings – and that’s the greatest shame of all.
Read: Spending a day with Mario Kart World fixed all my ailments
What makes Knockout Tour such a brilliant mode is just how much it presents a level playing field, inviting in talent and luck as variant factors that define each of your matches. Sometimes, you’ll be on an absolute tear in the game, and you’ll be thwarted by a combination of random item drops, and the subterfuge of other players. Sometimes, you’ll be the one to benefit from luck, gaining a speed item at just the right time to cross the next finish line within its pole position requirements.
Because you’re facing off against real players, there’s also another very cool quirk to Knockout Tour. As you race, you’ll usually end up in a big clump of racers. Most folks are at about the same skill level, so you’ll end up in a pack, with a few outliers. What that means is there’s little difference between position 24th and position 4th – and you’ll constantly be climbing and falling up the ranks.
It makes Knockout Tour very, very spicy, because being in 24th position means you could get a Bullet Bill power-up, or a glowing star, or a mushroom speed boost, that takes you immediately from last place to first place. So many times in Knockout Tour, the person who came first was the beneficiary of an ultra-powerful item. Sometimes that was me!
It all adds to a sense of chaos that makes Knockout Tour such a dazzling, high-intensity scene. I can only imagine the mode is going to get harder and harder to beat as more players flood in, but at the very least, that wild element of chance will keep victory feeling possible in the months ahead.
When I finally win my next Knockout Tour bout (I’m currently 2-8) that feeling of euphoria will be amplified tenfold, knowing I’m on top of the world. The mode really does make you earn your victories, but when they finally arrive, the joy is unmatched. On balance, it makes losing feel motivating. You want to forge ahead, to keep driving, to keep winning.
It’s been a long, long time since I’ve enjoyed an online game like this. But in its fantastic mix of talent and luck, Mario Kart World is so, incredibly moreish.
Mario Kart World is now available for Nintendo Switch 2.
A code for Mario Kart World and a Nintendo Switch 2 was provided to ScreenHub for the purposes of news and reviews.
