After more than a decade of dominance, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been retired as the king of the Mario Kart franchise, put to bed by the excellent and altogether new Mario Kart World.
Prior to its release, there was much debate about what the franchise’s future would be, and how Nintendo could keep it feeling fresh, after all these years. With a wink and a nod, Mario Kart World has eclipsed all bounds placed upon it, arriving as a novel, heart-pounding racer with a real sense of freshness.
The tweaks here are not revolutionary, but rather small and clever by design. The primary difference returning players will notice is an increase in racers on the field, with a whopping 24 karts now joining races, for higher stakes and more shame in losing. It adds a frantic chaos to every race track, no matter which mode you’re racing through.
There’s also the matter of the game’s worlds, which are now interconnected. Rather than taking part in siloed races, you’re travelling around roads that all lead somewhere – through canyons, mountains, and valleys, and across sweeping terrains of all sorts. You begin a race, and slowly, you find yourself blazing past new territory, with even seasons changing as you advance. It’s novel to see this flow, and to feel like you’re really charting a whole new world.
Free roam mode is a nifty add-on for Mario Kart World
When you’re looking for a slower pace, you can also explore this world in a new-to-series Free Roam mode that is a very welcome new feature. Here, you can roam along tracks you’d typically be racing through, discovering all sorts of little secrets. If you spot a shortcut or an opportunity for wall riding (another new feature), Free Roam lets you sit back and figure out exactly how to take advantage of these tools. You can attempt a trick, back up, reverse (using a new rewind feature) and figure out all your angles. As a tool for pro players, or just those looking to impress their friends, it’s a neat inclusion.
Free Roam mode has other secrets, as well. As you roam, you’ll be able to find collectible gold coins in hard-to-reach places, as well P-Switches to unlock novel mini-games – like coin-collecting marathons, and track remixes. While these do feel relatively sparse, as Free Roam mode is quite large, when you stumble across a new coin or P-Switch challenge, you always get a fun little puzzle to conquer.
The track remixes are particularly cool. Travel along DK Spaceport in Free Roam, and you’ll find a P-Switch challenge that tasks you with charting the whole course, backwards. It’s one of the tougher challenges included, and makes for a very frantic time, as you’re speeding past a robotic Donkey Kong, flaming enemies, crabs, barrels, and more.
Some of the challenges feel near-impossible, and some coins are so far off the beaten path that it takes puzzling to work out how to collect them. Their inclusions spice up Free Roam considerably, encouraging hours-long investment in this mode.
And when you’re keen to pick up the pace, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to blaze your way through various highways, byways, and speedways in more demanding fashion.
Online mode is brutal, intense, and euphoric
Playing Mario Kart World in its launch week has been euphoric. Across multiple modes, talented players are already blazing a trail, amping up the stakes of matches and adding plenty of excitement and stress for online games.
As I’ve previously written, Knockout Tour is currently pumping, thanks to talented players, whose efforts spice up every loop around the track. For those unfamiliar, 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.
Read: I’m losing in Mario Kart World, but it hardly matters
Knockout Tour is all about the thrill of the chase. It sparks tension and anxiety like no other mode in Mario Kart. With shaking hands, you’ll be rallying to stay within the cut off – and your heart will race as you slip or make a mistake, or get hit by a roving object.
In this mode, it’s not only about talent. You can also get lucky with an item box, or pick up a power-up at just the right moment to make it through the next player cut-off.
In those moments, you feel you’ve escaped the jaws of death, buoyed by the machinations of the game’s luck system, and sometimes, the bad luck of other players. Over the last week, I’ve returned to this mode most often, buoyed by thoughts of winning another game, knowing luck and talent both play a part.
Of course, in other modes, there’s still a degree of stress – but a more buoyant sense of fun, as well. Across each Grand Prix, you always have a chance to win or lose, with the fun arriving in your final placement, rather than when you’re completely cut off and forced to finish a race.
Racing around the world
No matter which races you’re taking part in, even if you performing under par, Mario Kart World lets you revel in the feeling of going fast. Not only does the racing feel good – smooth, intuitive, fast-paced, and snappy – the world of the game is equally a draw. In those losing moments, you can look at a nearby tree, or the sky, or a cloud, and find something fascinating to occupy yourself with.
The entire game is a scenic tour, with visuals bumped up from past games thanks to the power of the Nintendo Switch 2. You get cool, crisp sights, new and colourful terrains, and towards the end of the game, lovely rainbows and magical flourishes, all speeding past with aplomb.
Lush visuals elevate each race, allowing you to chart space stations, raceways, deserts, fields, galleons, and beyond. It’s a wild world out there, and you can explore it to your heart’s content – whether racing, roaming, or simply gazing at stars.
Mario Kart World has it all.
In the months ahead, I suspect the game’s online modes will become more competitive, with an ever-shifting high bar for talent and perseverance. But that layer of challenge will certainly serve the game well, with its races benefitting from a new, tougher pace, and larger numbers of racers to keep the action flowing, frantic, and ultra-fun. Whether you’re going pedal to the metal, or just popping in for a casual race or two, Mario Kart World delivers in spades.
Four-and-a-half stars: ★★★★½
Mario Kart World
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch 2
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: 5 June 2025
A copy of Mario Kart World was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.
