Mario Kart World review: Nintendo Switch 2 debut lives up to expectations

How do you keep players coming back to a game for 10 years? Many studios have failed miserably at finding an answer to that question, but Nintendo has done a great job of solving it with Mario Kart World.

The first major exclusive game for Nintendo Switch 2 seems tailor-made to capitalize on the decade-long success of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and break into the mainstream. Everything in the game is designed to keep that momentum going for as long as possible, from the excellent new elimination mode to the open world where you have to collect items. It’s an armored car, reinforced with layers of steel designed to protect its engine from the inevitable red shells of long-term gameplay until the Switch 2 runs out of fuel.

Will it be enough to win the gold cup after 10 years of challenge? Quite possibly. Mario Kart World offers fine-tuned racing, strong multiplayer potential, and plenty of unlockable elements that make every game fun.

Reliable Racing

Although Mario Kart World adds some important new components to the series, Nintendo stays very close to its predecessor’s formula. And who can blame her for that? I’d be following Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s ghost data too if I were trying to set a new record. World is still a three-button racing game that balances casual fun with high-level skill. It’s all about racing around themed tracks, mastering the art of drifting, and dealing with the chaos created by items that change laps.

The secret to the success of the Mario Kart series is that winning isn’t just about getting ahead of your rivals. It’s equally a game about managing dangerous situations. The winners are those who can keep their cool when they’re hit by projectiles and lightning in quick succession. They know that there is always a way to get back in the game if they behave calmly. World takes this idea to the next level by giving players more tools to help them regain momentum and get back in the race.

Most important of the new tricks is the addition of greening and driving on walls. Cars can now utilize scenery elements such as road dividers, suspension bridge cables, etc., giving them more potential acceleration points to use during the race. As a result, the new World tracks open up a multitude of possibilities for players, placing more emphasis on daring experimentation to get back into the race rather than following the rules of the road.

This change comes with a new technique: the charged jump. By holding down the drift button without touching the joystick, players can charge jump and release it to bounce in the air. This will allow them to drive on a wall, reach rails they can’t otherwise reach, or even dodge flying objects with proper timing. It’s a great idea that will benefit highly skilled players looking to become even more competitive, but its implementation is a bit discouraging to casual players. I often accidentally enter a drift when I want to jump, as both actions are tied to the same trigger. Considering there are so many unused buttons on even one Joy-con, it’s a bit odd to see two basic functions duplicated.

Knockout Mode

Virtually all of the major modes from past games in the series return in this supersized sequel. Grand Prix mode remains the center of gameplay, as its four races are perfect for multiplayer sessions. Versus modes such as Balloon Battle add a bit of variety for those who want to compete, although they are limited to only eight arenas at launch. The most experienced players can still aim for records in Time Trials and share their results online. That alone is a complete package for the genre.

The clear star of the show, however, is the new Knockout Tour mode. Bringing the undeniable appeal of battle royale games to Mario Kart, the new addition is a 24-player race across six maps in one continuous challenge. The slowest players are eliminated at the end of each course, with four players remaining in the final lap. It’s an extremely tense addition that makes every moment of the race even more important.

It’s because of this mode and the open world map that makes it possible that I find one flaw in World’s design. There are 32 new tracks, which are a bit uneven. This means that sometimes you have to take a lap around a boring straight track to get to a level with an interesting theme that players would really like to see.

Take DK Spaceport, for example. The new level is the highlight of the package, as it sends players along a winding path surrounding a moored spaceship. This path is full of obstacles that are reminiscent of the original Donkey Kong, including a mechanical monkey that throws barrels in one of the straight sections. In Grand Prix mode, it’s preceded by a two-lap run through several unsightly highways that take players from the previous canyon-themed level to a more standard highway leading to the track.

The game’s two-lap run is preceded by a two-round race through several unsightly highways that take players from the previous canyon-themed level to a more standard highway leading to the track.

Free travel, forever

Nintendo goes even further with the game’s most ambitious feature: free movement. At any point in the main menu, you can press the plus button to enter a completely open world. I get unlimited access not only to tracks, but also to the spaces between them that we only imagine in Mario Kart games. It feels like real magic the first time around, which allows me to really appreciate how much detail Nintendo puts into spaces I barely get a glimpse of during races. This is best seen in Crown City, the urban race track in Grand Prix, which in free-roam mode is a densely populated city with lots of detail.

It’s also an impressive visual demonstration of the Nintendo Switch 2’s hardware capabilities. It’s incredible that you can drive from one end of the map to the other in 10 minutes without a single load, all while traversing fully functional race tracks. Yes, there are some «seams» when flying high into the air and noticing objects lightly appearing beneath me, but that doesn’t detract from how much I can see when looking at the world of bright colors, running animals, and karts rushing down the highway.

Experiences of free movement outside of pure artistic admiration are scarce. There are three main items to collect scattered around the world in large quantities. Each track has a set of question mark panels to drive through, the world hides hard-to-find Peach coins, and P-Switches offer hundreds of racing challenges. The latter make up the bulk of what players do when playing alone, taking on small challenges that usually boil down to reaching some sort of finish line or collecting eight blue coins.

It’s an odd decision, given that World is filled with more substantial unlockables elsewhere. Completing Grand Prix cups brings new characters, and there are plenty of karts that can be earned over time by collecting enough coins in all modes. There are also a huge number of character skins to unlock, but these can only be earned by collecting bags of food around the world.

Nintendo wants you to feel like this is a game you can play for 10 years, and it’s gone a little overboard to achieve that goal. But it won’t become the kind of game that consumes all of players’ free time and attention. It will be like running a game of solitaire on your phone – a comfortable game that you want to return to periodically. And therein lies the undeniable appeal of Mario Kart.

The Mario Kart World review: Nintendo Switch 2 debut lives up to expectations was first published on ITZine.ru.