Is this more than just Mario Kart 9?

A sprawling world of courses. Speed across plains, cities, water, volcanos, and much more. Everything is connected. Go beyond the course. There’s more to racing than just the course. Hop off the course and race the distance to the next one.

It’s a shrewd move for Nintendo to launch a new console with a Mario Kart title. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold extremely well for Switch and still continues to do so, they even kept adding extra courses until just recently, ever expanding its audience. Mario Kart World has its work cut out for it for to compete, but can it reach pole position as the next best kart racer? Or did it need more time in the pitstop?

This new entry comes with a vast roster of characters ranging from typical Mario characters that you would come to expect, and then some random ones you wouldn’t like the Moo Moo cow. There is an open world to drive around, but besides a few challenges scattered, it’s pretty empty and feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe they’ll add more content to it over time? I hope so, anyway how about the rest of the game?

The Grand Prix has the traditional set of 4 races per cup, but the difference is that you will drive to the next track as part of the following race. It’s interesting and you’ll come across food trucks and shops that will grant you new costumes when you consume meals like burgers, pizza and ice cream to name a few. The new courses allow you to grind on rails in certain areas, which is a new mechanic for the series and one that works very well.

There’s a good variety between the courses and you get the typical weapons like the Blue Shell and so on, so there isn’t any real surprises to be found…but it’s still the Mario Kart you all know and love. There’s also other modes like Knockout Tour which does exactly what you would expect, alongside Battle Mode and the typical online races. The scale of racers that can be in any race is the highest in the series by a considerable amount, which I was shocked at first.

The Switch 2 proves it has got what it takes in terms of tech to run the game as smoothly as possible with all the action going on. The courses are nicely designed and memorable, while new designs to classic characters like Donkey Kong are welcome and overall are nicely animated. The soundtrack is also very impressive.

The Verdict

Mario Kart World is a great launch title for the Switch 2. It provides classic karting action but on a larger scale than ever before. The open world may feel empty, but here’s hoping they’ll add to that over time. Is it better than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? It’s maybe too early to tell, but the signs are all positive.

Score: 9.0